Exercise reduces appetite and traffics excess nutrients away from energetically efficient pathways of lipid deposition during the early stages of weight regain
Open accessAbstract
The impact of regular exercise on energy balance, fuel utilization, and nutrient availability, during weight regain was studied in obese rats, which had lost 17% of their weight by a calorie-restricted, low-fat diet. Weight reduced rats were maintained for 6 wk with and without regular treadmill exercise (1 h/day, 6 days/wk, 15 m/min). In vivo tracers and indirect calorimetry were then used in combination to examine nutrient metabolism during weight maintenance (in energy balance) and during the first day of relapse when allowed to eat ad libitum (relapse). An additional group of relapsing, sedentary rats were provided just enough calories to create the same positive energy imbalance as the relapsing, exercised rats. Exercise attenuated the energy imbalance by 50%, reducing appetite and increasing energy requirements. Expenditure increased beyond the energetic cost of the exercise bout, as exercised rats expended more energy to store the same nutrient excess in sedentary rats with the matched energy imbalance. Compared with sedentary rats with the same energy imbalance, exercised rats exhibited the trafficking of dietary fat toward oxidation and away from storage in adipose tissue, as well as a higher net retention of fuel via de novo lipogenesis in adipose tissue. These metabolic changes in relapse were preceded by an increase in the skeletal muscle expression of genes involved in lipid uptake, mobilization, and oxidation. Our observations reveal a favorable shift in fuel utilization with regular exercise that increases the energetic cost of storing excess nutrients during relapse and alterations in circulating nutrients that may affect appetite. The attenuation of the biological drive to regain weight, involving both central and peripheral aspects of energy homeostasis, may explain, in part, the utility of regular exercise in preventing weight regain after weight loss.
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Weight regain following caloric restriction interventions appears to preferentially favor increased fat mass versus lean/muscle mass, potentially due to altered lipid oxidation.
“weight regain following CR interventions appears to preferentially favor increased fat mass vs. lean/muscle mass [123, 133], potentially due to altered lipid oxidation [134].”
From Targeting Intramyocellular Lipids to Improve Aging Muscle Function (2025) · cites this paper as [134]
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References 87 · Cited by 52
- Authors
- Steig, A. J., Jackman, M. R., Giles, E. D., Higgins, J. A., Johnson, G. C., Mahan, C., Melanson, E. L., Wyatt, H. R., Eckel, R. H., Hill, J. O., & MacLean, P. S.
- Affiliations
- Center for Human Nutrition,
- University of Colorado Denver (US)
- Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism; and
- Corresponding author
- MacLean, Paul S.
- ORCID
- Venue
- American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
- Publisher
- American Physiological Society
- Published
- 2011-09
- Volume
- 301
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- R656-R667
- ISSN
- 0363-6119 (ISSN-L)
- 1522-1490
- PMC
- PMC3174759
- OpenAlex
- W2065801316
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 87
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK48520, DK-67403, K01DK067403, R01DK038088, DK 38088, P30DK048520)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- physical activity, weight regain, appetite, energy balance, obesity, energy expenditure, lipid oxidation, adipose tissue, de novo lipogenesis, dietary fat, skeletal muscle lipid metabolism, energy homeostasis, weight loss maintenance, treadmill exercise
- MeSH terms
- Adipose Tissue, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Appetite Regulation, Calorimetry, Indirect, Disease Models, Animal, Energy Metabolism, Physical Exertion, Gene Expression Regulation, Male, Obesity, Oxidation-Reduction, Time Factors, Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Rats, Wistar, Muscle, Skeletal, Diet, Fat-Restricted, Caloric Restriction, Adiposity, Lipid Metabolism, Rats
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