Author(s): KAMEMOTO, K., MIYAGUCHI, A., WANIFUCHI, M., HIRAMATSU, J., HAYASHI, N., SAKAMAKI-SUNAGA, M., Institution: WASEDA UNIVERSITY, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 947

INTRODUCTION:
Increased appetite before menstruation is a symptom of premenstrual syndrome, and is observed in many female athletes (Kamemoto K et al., 2021). While appetite can be divided into homeostatic and non-homeostatic system, premenstrual increase in appetite also includes changes in the reward system of appetite control, which is classified as non-homeostatic appetite (Strahler J et al., 2020). Although a recent study revealed acute exercise altered food reward in healthy males (Thackray AE et al., 2023), no study has investigated the influence of acute exercise on food reward in females. This study examined the effects of acute high-intensity exercise on the food reward system during the luteal phase (the premenstrual phase) in female athletes.
METHODS:
Four female athletes (age: 21.8 ± 1.0 years; VO2 peak: 39.6 ± 9.7 mL/kg/min) with normal menstrual cycles, completed a resting trial (RE) and exercise trial (EX) in the luteal phase. In the exercise trial, after consuming a standard breakfast (29.3 kj/kg body weight) and seated rest for 45 min, participants performed repeated sprint cycling (consisting of two sets of 8 × 6-second maximal pedalling with a 30-second recovery period). Blood samples, subjective appetite and food reward data were obtained and assessed before exercise (PRE) and immediately post-exercise (POST). Food reward and subjective appetite were assessed by the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire in Japanese (LFPQ-J) and a visual analogue scale (VAS), respectively. The LFPQ-J is a computer-based task that directly measures explicit liking and wanting, and indirectly measures implicit wanting using images of 16 foods familiar to the Japanese, including high-fat savoury, low-fat savoury, high-fat sweet and low-fat sweet foods (Hiratsu A et al., 2022). The luteal phase was confirmed by serum progesterone and estradiol concentrations. All participants were asked to record their food intake for the trial day. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Effect sizes (ES) (Cohen’s d) were calculated to indicate the magnitude of the differences between trials.
RESULTS:
Overall, subjective appetite scores were higher in EX than RE (P < 0.05, ES = 0.58), indicating that participants were hungrier in RE than EX. The results of LFPQ-J showed that relative preference for high-fat foods was higher in RE than EX in POST (P < 0.05, ES = 0.52), but with no significant differences between the trials in PRE (P = 0.23, ES = 0.13). There was a main effect of trial on taste appeal bias, with EX having higher values than RE (P < 0.01, ES = 0.34). It means that participants were more likely to prefer sweet foods during exercise trials. Energy, protein, and fat intake after the trial were significantly higher in RE than EX (all for P < 0.01).
CONCLUSION:
Repeated sprint exercise by female athletes during the luteal phase decreases appetite, particularly the preference for high-fat foods.