Your Own Natural High

One reason I exercise and raise my heart rate is for that "runner's high". I just feel good afterwards. And I can't believe I'm saying this, Dave: You're lookin' good these days! Well, I'm about forty pounds lighter and exercise is one of the reasons.

For years, we've credited endorphins with that post workout high because they're natural pain killers released by our bodies. Except the problem is that endorphins are proteins which are too big to cross the blood-brain barrier. And recent studies show when endorphins' effects are blocked, people still felt the high.

That's why now studies point to another cause: endocannabinoids which are like the active ingredient in marijuana! These are small fatty acids that humans naturally produce in response to food, exercise, sex, obesity, injury and stress. We have receptors for endocannabinoids throughout the body and the brain. They stimulate pain relief, reduce anxiety and stress, enhance learning and memory, and affect hunger, inflammation, and immune functioning.

A meta-analysis of many studies shows acute exercise like a thirty-minute run consistently increased their levels. Other exercises that didn't raise heartrate weren't as effective. And get this Dave, the first endocannabinoid to be discovered was anandamide whose name comes from the Sanskrit word "ananda" or internal bliss.

How appropriate! I wouldn't go that far but hey, I'm just grateful I feel good at all after a workout!