Exercise Good, Even Without Weight Loss

What you eat after a workout affects the benefits you get from exercise, according to a new study, and your body can reap benefits from exercise even if you don't lose weight.

"Many of the improvements in metabolic health associated with exercise stem largely from the most recent session of exercise, rather than from an increase in fitness per se," said Dr. Jeffery Horowitz of the University of Michigan said. "But exercise doesn't occur in a vacuum, and it is very important to look at both the effects of exercise and what you're eating after exercise."

One thing Horowitz said he found is that the body is more sensitive to insulin right after working out. That means the body can better take sugar from the blood into muscles and use it or store it. Diabetics are less sensitive to insulin.

He also said that low-calorie meals did not improve insulin sensitivity, so people don't have to starve themselves after a good workout.

The study was small, focusing on just nine healthy, sedentary men ages 28 to 30. They were kept in a hospital for four sessions that lasted about 29 hours, with an overnight fast before. In each visit, they had a different combination of exercise and meals.

Horowitz said that the results show that people can get health benefits from exercise, even if they don't lose weight.

The study was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.