When everyone from celebrities to your next-door neighbor is losing jaw-dropping amounts of weight thanks to drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, it can feel discouraging trying to drop pounds the old-fashioned way through diet and exercise. But at least as far as the latter is concerned, new research shows that a certain workout may very well induce Ozempic-like weight loss.
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A new (albeit small) study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society looked at the relationship between exercise intensity and the hormone ghrelin in men and women. Produced in your stomach, ghrelin is also known as the "hunger hormone."
"It signals your brain when your stomach is empty and it’s time to eat. Ghrelin levels increase between mealtimes and decrease when your stomach is full," explains Cleveland Clinic. "People who have obesity often have low ghrelin levels, while people who significantly restrict their calorie intake have high ghrelin levels."
Ghrelin is present in your body in two forms: acylated (AG) and deacylated (DAG). The latter makes up roughly 78 percent of ghrelin in your body, but AG is primarily responsible for suppressing appetite, explains the study.
The drug semaglutide, best known by the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, works by imitating another naturally occurring gut hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which regulates blood sugar, signals our bodies to feel full, and slows the emptying of food from our stomachs. (It should be noted that Ozempic is only approved by the FDA to treat type 2 diabetes but is often prescribed off-label for obesity, whereas Wegovy is approved to treat obesity.)
With this context in mind, the study found that high-intensity workouts "suppressed ghrelin levels more than moderate intensity exercise," reported lead author Kara Anderson, PhD, of the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia Health System, in a press release. "In addition, we found that individuals felt ‘less hungry’ after high intensity exercise compared to moderate intensity exercise."
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To arrive at their findings, the researchers asked eight males and six females to fast overnight and then perform moderate- and high-intensity workouts. The participants' blood lactate levels (lactate is produced when you exercise) were measured for both exercise intensities and when they were at rest. They then self-reported their appetite following their workouts.
Women had higher baseline ghrelin levels than men, but both males and females had reduced DAG levels with high-intensity workouts compared with moderate-intensity. However, only females had "significantly reduced" AG levels after completing a high-intensity workout.
Moderate exercise, on the other hand, "either did not change ghrelin levels or led to a net increase," the study noted.
While this data points to a more pronounced response in women, Anderson said, "Exercise should be thought of as a 'drug,' where the 'dose' should be customized based on an individual’s personal goals."
"Our research suggests that high-intensity exercise may be important for appetite suppression, which can be particularly useful as part of a weight loss program," she added.
