Staying healthy isn’t just about watching what we eat- whole plant-based diets and minimally processed foods, it’s about staying active as well. Exercise is one of the cornerstones to our health. We often associate exercise with a weight loss program but it’s far more. Research has proven again and again that exercise lowers mortality and improves overall fitness. Exercise is a wonderful way to stop the fight or flight hormones surging through our bodies on a daily basis from everyday stressors, leading to lower anxiety and pain levels. As one recent study highlighted, reducing stress signals in the brain via exercise can significantly decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, analyzed data of more than 50,000 adults around age 60 from the Mass General Brigham Biobank. The researchers sought a better understanding of how physical activity might impact cardiovascular health in light of the fact that direct physiological cardiovascular effects only account for 59% of the benefits from physical activity. That effectively meant “other mechanisms underlying physical activity’s cardiovascular benefits may also be at play”.
Physical activity has been found to reduce the frequency of stress-related syndromes such as depression and anxiety. Data shows that physical activity also promotes long-term stress-related benefits, including chronic reductions in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) activation. To break that down, the HPA axis is the interaction between the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands. Sources share that it plays a critical role in regulating stress responses, mood, digestion, immune function, and energy storage and expenditure in the body. The pathway of the axis results in the production of cortisol.
To measure stress signals in study participants, stress-related activity was objectively measured using imaging of corticolimbic networks. The corticolimbic system is made up of the prefrontal cortices, amygdala and hippocampus, and processes a variety of behavioral and cognitive functions, including motor programming and control, decision making, mnemonic function and emotional regulation.
“Individuals who exercise more had a graded reduction in stress related signals in the brain,” said lead study author Dr. Ahmed Tawakol, a cardiologist at Mass General Hospital and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “We found nice associations that exercise appeared to, in part, reduce heart disease risks by decreasing stress-related signals,” he added.
This study not only found that cardiovascular risks decreased with exercise, but it generated more than a twofold benefit in those who had a diagnosis of depression. For people without any history of depression, the benefit of exercise on cardiovascular disease reduction plateaued after about 300 minutes of moderate physical activity a week. But for people with depression, the benefits continued the longer they exercised.
The significant benefits related to moderate exercise is something none of us should ignore. If we take a step back and consider all the ways that exercise helps us, it seems that not exercising shouldn’t be the norm, but yet it is. Most Americans are inactive, with many of us not reaching even 2,200 steps per day, let alone getting any regular exercise. Unfortunately, that is our current reality- by 2030, it is estimated that more than half of the U.S. population will be obese. While that is our current trajectory, it is also true that we can turn the tide at any point.
To recap, exercise can:
- Lower the risk of heart disease.
- Reduces the risk of diabetes.
- Helps achieve and manage a health weight, reducing the likelihood of obesity.
- Prevents osteoporosis.
- Decreases the risk of some cancers.
In fact, people who work out on a regular basis are thought to lower their risk of dying from many of these illnesses by up to 50%.
But that’s not all, exercise:
- Helps maintain a healthy blood pressure
- Can help manage cholesterol
- Is a factor in reducing pain and inflammation
- Increases endorphins
- Promotes better sleep
- Helps with weight loss
- Builds strong bones and muscles
Physical activity may specifically benefit the brain in a number of additional ways, apart from what was found in the study discussed above, such as:
- Improving blood flow to the brain
- Reducing inflammation
- Lowering levels of stress hormones
- Better cognition
Exercise is one of the most-cost effective and attainable ways that we can help our bodies. One saved expense may be in avoiding the need for medications to help manage the variety of health concerns that may crop up as a result of inactivity. But there are also other costs:
- Indirect costs: loss of work due to short or long-term disability, premature death, illness, appointments, higher insurance premiums due to health concerns, etc.
- Direct costs: health appointments, labs, radiology, etc.
The most recent data, which shows the significant potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by way of reducing stress signals in the brain only further makes the case: we must get moving, even if we only start in small increments.
-https://www.jacc.org/doi/full/10.1016/j.jacc.2024.02.029
-https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/physical-activity.htm#:~:text=Not%20getting%20enough%20physical%20activity%20can%20lead%20to,pressure%2C%20high%20blood%20cholesterol%2C%20and%20type%202%20diabetes.
-https://www.livestrong.com/article/377725-what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-dont-exercise/
-https://www.jacc.org/doi/full/10.1016/j.jacc.2024.02.029#bib3
-https://www.nature.com/articles/nm.4050
-https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032713001869
-https://www.cwilsonmeloncelli.com/hpa-axis/
-https://www.simplypsychology.org/hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis.html
-https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-med-060619-022943
-cnn.com/2019/12/26/health/exercise-physical-activity-cancer-study/index.html
-washingtonpost.com/health/the-big-number-more-than-15-percent-of-american-adults-get-no-physical-activity-during-their-leisure-time/2020/01/24/2f8b4d54-3dfc-11ea-8872-5df698785a4e_story.html
-heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/aha-recs-for-physical-activity-in-adults