Exercise & the Brain
10 Ways Exercise Improves Our Mood, Lowers Anxiety & Protects Our Brain
Exercise - The Next Antidepressant?
“Exercise is expected to be popular in the clinical treatment of depression in the future,....” I just read that in a research review in Frontiers in Psychiatry. Treatment….in the future. Do we need research to tell us that moving our bodies is a good idea? Do we need to wait for the future for it to be prescribed?
Despite our modern lifestyle, we live in bodies designed to move. If our ancestors sat and stared at their favorite rock all day, we wouldn’t be here. They had to move to find food and avoid danger. We may work at a desk all day and be able to order takeout, but that doesn’t change our fundamental design and physiological needs.
I am glad mainstream psychiatry sees the importance of movement and exercise. I just wish, as a culture, we weren’t so in the left brain - so disconnected from our bodies - that we need an expert to prescribe movement.
“A meta-analysis showed that when compared with established psychotherapy (cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and cognitive therapy) or antidepressant treatment, there was no difference in the therapeutic effect of exercise. Another meta-analysis specifically compared exercise therapy and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant treatment and found no difference in efficacy.”
That’s a big deal! Exercise is as effective as SSRIs and as effective as psychotherapy for depression.
I won’t tell you you should exercise, but I will tell you all the amazing things it does for the brain. It turns out we weren’t just made to move so we could find berries and avoid lions. We were made to move so we’d want to be here, so we’d have more meaning and enjoyment in our lives - so we’d better serve each other.
In this newsletter, I’ll discuss:
The mood-enhancing chemicals we receive from our body and brain when we move and exercise.
The ways exercise improves our cognition and protects our brain as we age.
The types of movement and exercise.
Exercise Intolerance
How we can mentally move beyond all-or-none thinking, avoid overdoing it and learn to meet our body where it's at.
Types of Exercise
There are several ways to categorize exercise.
Low intensity - yoga, stretching, mechanical exercises
Moderate intensity - moderate increase in sweating, breathing and heart rate. Able to speak but not sing
High intensity - a substantial increase in sweating, breathing and heart rate. Unable to speak or sing.
Aerobic - stride walking, treadmill, cycling, cross-training
Muscle strengthening, resistance training, weights
Mind Body - Yoga, pilates, Tai Chi, Qigong
Though all of these types have shown benefits, most of the research has focused on moderate intensity. There are many arguments for combining types of exercise.
All-Purpose Prescription
Though I’m focusing on the brain here, there is robust research showing the effects of exercise on decreasing hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and asthma. It has also been shown to be protective effects against COVID. While the body benefits for some of the same reasons as the brain, there are some unique mechanisms when it comes to the brain.
10 Ways Exercise Improves Mood & Lowers Anxiety
Endorphins
Endorphins are natural hormones released from the pituitary gland and hypothalamus in the brain to relieve pain and stress. The more we move, the more endorphins are released, which can improve our sense of well-being.
BDNF or Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
This protein is “expressed” in the hippocampus, cortex and basal forebrain. It is vital for memory, learning, and higher-level cognitive functions. BDNF is important in the survival of neurons, the development of new neurons the connections between neurons. It’s important in neuroplasticity. Exercise increases levels of BDNF in the brain, which can improve cognitive function, decrease anxiety and depression and impact our energy levels, appetite and sleep. It may delay the onset of neurodegenerative disease. As a bonus, it also modulates angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) and may improve cardiovascular function. One study found that aerobic exercise caused a 32% increase in serum BDNF in adult males, while serum BDNF decreased 13% in sedentary people.
Myokines
The brain is not the only organ releasing feel-good chemicals. When muscles contract with exercise, they release myokines. These small proteins are cytokines released from our muscles (myo). They help communicate between muscles and other parts of our body, including our brain. They decrease inflammation, improve brain function, and reverse damage caused by our modern lifestyle. One example is Interleukin-6 (IL-6). Though normally considered a pro-inflammatory cytokine, when it is secreted by muscle during physical activity, it has regenerative and anti-inflammatory functions.
Serotonin, Dopamine and Norepinephrine
When we exercise, feel-good neurotransmitters are released in the brain. Serotonin promotes a sense of well-being and restful sleep, dopamine is involved with pleasure motivation, and norepinephrine gives us energy. It’s no wonder exercise is being “prescribed.”
Oxygenated Blood
When we exercise, more blood and, therefore, more oxygen gets to the brain. Cerebral oxygenation increases with higher exercise intensity.
Detoxification
Increased blood flow also moves more blood through our detoxification organs - the liver and the kidneys. Our brain is especially susceptible to toxicity. Anything that leaves our body (stool, urine, sweat, breath) takes toxins with it. When we exercise to the point of sweating, we are detoxifying. Exercise helps us have more regular bowel movements, which allows us to get more toxins out. When we exhale, we are removing toxins, including carbon dioxide. Exercise also stimulates the lymphatic system, which helps remove waste.
Lowers Oxidative Stress
Because it's impossible to keep all toxins out, we need an effective antioxidant system to protect us from toxins. When toxins overwhelm or deplete our antioxidants, we develop oxidative stress. Most people with brain symptoms have a degree of oxidative stress because the brain is a great barometer of this. Exercise improves our antioxidant defense systems. For example, it increases superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase.
Lowers Inflammation
Exercise, if not to the point of exhaustion, decreases pro-inflammatory cytokines. Several inflammatory markers have been found to decrease with exercise, including two you might recognize - C-reactive protein and homocysteine.
Blood Sugar Control
Working muscles are more sensitive than resting muscles to insulin. They absorb more glucose during mild to moderate-intensity exercise, lowering blood sugar levels up to 24 hours after a workout. Not only does higher blood sugar harm the brain, but it can also feed candida (and mold), which are common in those with brain symptoms.
Improved Sleep Quality
There are many benefits to getting restful sleep, including the removal of toxins from our brains and the consolidation of memories.
And if all these biochemical advantages weren’t enough, moving connects us to our body, gives us moments to hear ourselves, generates ideas and solutions to problems, and increases our self-confidence.
Can We Get Too Much Exercise?
We can. The goal is to work within our comfort zone while working gradually to grow our comfort zone. When we exercise to exhaustion, we can:
Decrease neurogenesis - the creation of neurons and their connections
Trigger inflammation
Increase oxidative stress
Decrease the amount of oxygen getting to the muscles and brain
Raise our blood sugar
Exercise Intolerance
Many people with depression and chronic complex illness have significant fatigue. If they push their body beyond what they can comfortably do, inflammation can get triggered. It is important to honor where our body is at. I once believed that if I pushed myself hard, I would get stronger and feel better after a workout. I didn’t realize that I was likely overwhelming my stress hormone pathways (already stressed by unknown mold toxicity). Instead of getting stronger and healthier, I was overdoing it and then wiped out for a few days, which made it difficult to maintain any kind of routine. Eventually, I learned to pace myself, listen, and trust my body, which had more wisdom than my all-or-none-leaning left brain.
The current recommendation from the UK’s Mental Health Foundation is 20-30 minutes five times per week.
From the CDC: “Physical activity is anything that gets your body moving. Each week adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and 2 days of muscle strengthening activity, according to the current Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.”
Building in a Routine
We can build gradually and as tolerated. This could mean starting with a few minutes daily and increasing by 5 or 10 minutes weekly until we find a duration and intensity that works for us.
We can make it fun and do what our body likes to do. We can take breaks from the screens to get up and move. I use a little timer that reminds me to get up when writing or researching on the computer.
We don’t need a gym, expensive equipment, or fabulous weather to move during the day. If necessary, we can walk around a room.
We can find a support buddy or group. We can even have “walking meetings.”
We can schedule times into our day.
We can anticipate hurdles and start to remove them.
Perhaps most importantly, we can shift our mindset. Instead of exercising to look better or fix our bodies (which suggests we’re not good enough as we are), we can exercise because doing so makes us feel good and improves our lives.
What type of exercise makes you feel good?
Until next time,
Courtney
For a deeper dive into some of the research:
“The Effects and Mechanism of Exercise on the Treatment of Depression” (Frontiers in Psychiatry 2021)
“Physical Exercise and Health, 1: An Overview of Terminology, Guidance, Benefits, and Risks” (The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2023)
Other Related Content:
10 Mental Shifts For Sustaining. “Healthy” Habits (free)
Improving Our Posture For Mental Health (paid)
"Chronic Healing" - A Podcast Conversation with Dirk Nielandt (free)
Medical Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.