Fasting Leptin Is a Metabolic Determinant of Food Reward in Overweight and Obese Individuals during Chronic Aerobic Exercise Training

Abstract EN

Changes in food reward have been implicated in exercise-induced compensatory eating behaviour.

However, the underlying mechanisms of food reward, and the physiological correlates of exercise-induced changes in food reward, are unknown.

Methods.

Forty-six overweight and obese individuals completed 12 weeks of aerobic exercise.

Body composition, food intake, and fasting metabolic-related hormones were measured at baseline, week six, and postintervention.

On separate days, the reward value of high-and-low-fat food (explicit liking and implicit wanting) was also assessed at baseline, week six, and postintervention.

Results.

Following the intervention, FM, FFM, and V O 2 peak improved significantly, while fasting leptin decreased.

However, food intake or reward did not change significantly.

Cross-sectional analyses indicated that FM ( P = 0.022 ) and FFM ( P = 0.046 ) were associated with explicit liking for high-fat food, but implicit wanting was associated with FM only ( P = 0.005 ).

Fasting leptin was associated with liking ( P = 0.023 ) and wanting ( P = 0.021 ) for high-fat food.

Furthermore, a greater exercise-induced decline in fasting leptin was associated with increased liking ( P = 0.018 ).

Conclusion.

These data indicate that food reward has a number of physiological correlates.

In particular, fasting leptin appears to play an active role in mediating food reward during exercise-induced weight loss.