Research

Hormonal

Acute vigorous submaximal exercise (67% VO2max for 60 minutes) significantly increases circulating GDF15 levels in humans, with levels continuing to rise during the recovery period.

Performing vigorous exercise (around 67% of your max capacity) for an hour triggers a significant rise in GDF15, a hormone linked to appetite suppression and energy balance. This rise continues for at least two hours after you stop exercising. While this doesn't mean your muscles are releasing the hormone directly, the systemic effect is real and substantial.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Vigorous submaximal exercise increases circulating GDF15 levels in humans... Plasma GDF15 levels increased 34% with exercise (p<0.001) and further increased to 64% above resting values at 120 min (p<0.001) after the cessation of exercise.
Maximilian Kleinert et al. · Molecular Metabolism · 2018

Why this rating

Small sample size (n=7) and short duration limit generalizability, but the within-subject controlled design and rigorous sampling (arterial/venous) provide high internal validity.

Source

Exercise increases circulating GDF15 in humans

Maximilian Kleinert et al. · Molecular Metabolism · 2018

DOI 10.1016/j.molmet.2017.12.016

crossover · n=7Cited 172×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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