Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise with dehydration on appetite and food preference in sedentary men.
Material and Methods: Eight healthy untrained men (age 24.25±2.05 year, BMI 21.62±1.89 kg.m2) voluntarily participated in this study. Each subject attended the exercise physiology laboratory 3 times during 3 consecutive weeks, at 9:00 a.m. and after 12-h overnight fasting. Subjects completed a visual analogue scales questionnaire for assessment of their appetite and macronutrient preference, before and 10 minute after 80 minute running at 60% maximum heart rate, 80 minute exercise at 60% maximum heart rate with dehydration and 80 minute rest. The body weight of the subjects was measured each time before and immediately after 80 min of exercise or rest. One-way analysis of variance was used to measure the differences between groups performance and paired t-tests were used to campare variables before and after each session.
Results: Subjects lost 0.51±0.05 kg of their body mass after dehydration due to exercise in comparison to rest and exercise group. The 80 minute exercise or dehydration due to exercise did not have significant effect on hunger, satiety and fullness of the participants. The desire to eat was suppressed after exercise compared to after control (p < 0.05) periods. Also, preference for liquid carbohydrates was higher in the dehydration group due to exercise than the other groups (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: It can be concluded that exercise can induce a short-term reduction desire to eat. Moreover, it could be claimed that exercise with dehydration induces a short-term increase in macronutrient preference of liquid carbohydrates.