Exercise Improves Mental Health
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It is proven that exercise has positive effects on the brain. For example, Duke University demonstrated that exercise has antidepressant properties. Research has shown that exercise can improve the brain functioning of the elderly and may even protect against dementia.
Some of the mental health benefits of exercise include the fact that exercise triggers the production of endorphins. Endorphines, natural opiates, are chemically similar to morphine. Endorphines may be produced as natural pain relievers in response to the shock that the body receives during exercise. However, researchers are beginning to question whether endorphins improve mood. Studies are showing that the body's metabolism of endorphins is complex, and there are likely additional mechanisms involved in the mental health effects of exercise.
Studies have found that exercise boosts activity in the brain's the hippocampus and frontal lobes. Animal studies have found that exercise increases levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. These neurotransmitters have been associated with elevated mood, and it is thought that antidepressant medications also work by boosting these chemicals.
Exercise increases the levels of "brain-derived neurotrophic factor" (BDNF) and is thought to improve mood. BDNF's primary role to help brain cells survive longer, so this explains some of the beneficial effects of exercise on dementia.
The bottom line, most of us feel good after exercise. Physical exercise is good for our mental health and for our brains. Someday we will understand it better -- but we can start exercising today.
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