A recent study came out recently in Scientific American suggesting that exercise can make us actually feel more full.

To further explore this association, the Brazil-based research team examined energy use in both lean and obese rats that swam or ran on a treadmill. After the exercise, both the lean and the obese rats had lower insulin levels, but the rats that had been fed to become obese went back to eating more like their lean peers. By sampling the biological profiles of some of these animals, the scientists found that the exercise had changed the obese rats’ hypothalamic chemistry, which included boosting IL-6. Rats that were given an antibody to inhibit IL-6 before exercise did not show the same biochemical or feeding patterns afterward.

This story is very technical and very scientific but I’m personally not convinced that the findings of the rats equate to humans. They started the article off with something that from my own experience and basic logic should still hold true.

By a simple food-in/energy-out model, a run on the treadmill or swim in the pool should make you want to eat more.

It will be interesting to see if more data is released on this subject in the coming months. I can say one thing for sure though: I jogged three miles last night and I was starving a few hours later.