New work in mice suggests that limiting access to food at certain times not only increases levels of the “hunger hormone,” ghrelin, but also encourages exercise.
Exercising to stay in shape, or even to lose a few extra pounds, is all about willpower. But how do you manage to stay motivated over several weeks and thus hope for real results?
According to a new study published in the Journal of Endocrinology, the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates our appetite, could be of great help. According to its authors, attached to the Kurume University School of Medicine, in Japan, limiting access to food at certain times would encourage us to exercise voluntarily.
The key role of ghlérin, the hunger hormone
To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied the relationship between ghrelin levels and exercise in rodents. The mice were separated into two groups: one where they had constant access to food, and another where they were only fed twice a day for a limited time. The researchers then observed which mice used the wheel the most in their cage.
They then found that although both groups ate the same amount of food, the restricted mice ran much faster. At first, mice genetically modified not to secrete ghrelin and whose access to food was restricted, exercised less than mice which were given free access. However, this situation was reversed when they were given ghrelin. In addition, the mice given free access to food received much larger amounts of ghrelin. These results therefore suggest that ghrelin may play an important role in motivation, both for diet and exercise.
New therapeutic perspectives
“Our results suggest that hunger, which promotes ghrelin production, may also help increase motivation for voluntary exercise when diet is restricted. Therefore, maintaining a healthy diet, with regular meals or fasting, could also encourage motivation to exercise in overweight people, ”says Dr. Yuji Tajiri, lead author of the study. .
However, he adds, “these results and previous reports are based on animal studies. There is still a lot of work to confirm that this response to ghrelin is also present in humans. If it can be established in clinical practice, not only does it pave the way for new, cost-effective diet and exercise strategies, but it may also indicate a new therapeutic application for ghrelin-mimicking drugs. ”
He and his team now plan to conduct further experiments to confirm these findings in humans and to better understand how ghrelin works in the brain to generate motivation to eat or exercise. They hope in particular to be able to derive a real clinical benefit from it in the treatment and prevention of obesity.
.
