Research

Hormonal

Reallocating 30 minutes of daily sedentary time to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in young, healthy, active adults increases daily energy intake by approximately 113–120 kcal and alters appetite hormones (higher fasting ghrelin, lower postprandial PYY) to compensate for energy expenditure, without affecting hedonic food reward traits.

If you are already active and healthy, increasing your moderate-to-vigorous exercise by 30 minutes a day will likely make you hungrier and cause you to eat about 120 more calories. This is your body's natural way of balancing energy. To manage weight, you must consciously account for this increased intake rather than assuming exercise alone creates a deficit. If your goal is performance, use this hunger to fuel your activity.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Reallocating 30 min/day of sedentary time to MVPA was associated with higher energy intake in free-living (+113 kcal/day, 95% CI: 34–192) and laboratory settings (+120 kcal/day, 95% CI: 55–185), along with greater postprandial hunger and prospective food consumption, reduced fullness, elevated fasting acylated ghrelin, and lower postprandial PYY.
Sundus Malaikah et al. · Nutrients · 2025

Why this rating

Cross-sectional observational study using isotemporal substitution modeling; not a randomized controlled trial, limiting causal inference.

Source

Replacing Sedentary Time with Physical Activity and Sleep: A 24-Hour Movement Behaviour Perspective on Appetite Control

Sundus Malaikah et al. · Nutrients · 2025

DOI 10.3390/nu17193163

cross_sectional · n=119
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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