It helps not just your body, but your mind too.
There is no question that you have heard throughout your life that exercise is good for you, so the real question is, why? What kinds of benefits can daily exercise give your brain and body? This article will focus specifically on the effects of exercise on the brain and how it affects blood flow, attenuation of disease, neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity and other facets of brain health. My hope is that we can learn how to keep our brains fresh and functioning at their highest capacity for the longest amount of time.
You’ve heard throughout your life that exercise is good for you, but have you ever wondered why? What benefits does daily exercise give your brain and body? This article focuses specifically on the way exercise impacts the brain through blood flow, disease prevention, neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity and other facets of brain health. My hope is that we can learn how to keep our brains fresh and functioning at their highest capacity for the longest amount of time.
Increases Blood Flow
Exercise increases blood throughout the body including the brain. Our capillary network is extraordinary. Our brain’s capillary network is brought up and into the brain through two main arteries and then branches off so small that red blood cells can only flow through in single file fashion to pass through these infinitesimal canals. These red blood cells carry oxygen molecules and as they pass through the capillaries, the oxygen is used by the nearby tissues to carry out their daily processes. When we exercise, our body temperature rises. As our temperature increases, it becomes easier to detach the oxygen molecules from the red blood cells, our brains and tissues are oxygenated more efficiently. When our brains are not oxygenated efficiently it is called hypoxia. Under these conditions, the brain cells not getting appropriate amounts of oxygen will die, taking with them the function they once performed (Budd).
Promotes Neurogenesis
This leads us into the second mechanism gifted to us during exercise, neurogenesis. This is the formation of new neurons. Our brains are very complex and receive incomprehensible amounts of sensory information every second of every day. For example, take a second to listen or see what your brain is processing around you, can you hear a clock ticking, birds outside your window, cars driving by, the temperature in the room that you were not consciously aware of before that question was asked of you. Subconsciously, your brain is taking all of that information in and deciding whether it is important or not to what you are doing.
Furthermore, the brain continuously generates new neurons to differentiate and hone down stimuli so that you can recognize them faster and more efficiently. For example, the first time you hold a quarter and a nickel, you may not be able to tell them apart without looking, but as you get older you learn that quarters have rough edges and nickels do not. Nickels are smaller than quarters, and so on. It is the same with sights and smells. Maybe you wake up in the morning as a child and can smell breakfast cooking but you can’t decipher what is being made. As you get older and learn to differentiate smells and sounds, you might be able to tell that Mom made waffles or Dad made eggs and bacon because your brain made new pathways to separate and identify those smells. When we exercise regularly, it keeps our brain functioning at that high level, allowing us to continue learning and expanding our knowledge even as we age. If we let our health deteriorate with our age, we can expect our brain function to deteriorate as well. However, if we maintain a healthy diet and a regular habit of exercise, the common misunderstanding that learning as we get older is more difficult will be proved false
Keeps Cells Healthy
Lastly, exercise is crucial for maintaining the health and vitality of brain cells. Let’s talk specifically about one type called astrocytes. These are responsible for maintaining structure in your brain, keeping cells from tangling and keeping harmful substances in the blood from seeping into the cerebrospinal fluid. These cells make sure that your brain lives in a steady, nutrient-dense and pathogen-free environment however, without exercise they are subject to wear and tear without any opportunity for regeneration and are thought to be the reason behind Alzheimer’s and other mental diseases.
There are numerous benefits to the brain alone of physical activity, but is the cost of being healthy and active greater than the benefits? Many people complain that a gym membership or the cost of equipment is too expensive. Let’s do some math: if you were a member of a gym that costs $35 a month for 20 years, you would spend a total of $8,400. That’s a good amount of money. But let’s say instead you get a job and start to become stressed. You get out of the habit of exercising each day and starting eating out a lot because your job is so demanding. 20 years down the road you need a heart bypass surgery, and that costs you around $40,000. That is going to cost you somewhere around $40,000! But what if you are lucky and your heart isn’t the issue but you have a stroke? Those typically cost $16,000 to $32,000 in medical expenses! Two to four times as much as that gym membership that seemed too expensive to budget for 20 years ago. To top it all off, gym memberships aren’t required for getting the exercise you need. 30 minutes of brisk walking, going for a run, hiking, or working out from home can deliver the same results for free (Wang).
Exercise is not glamorous. It takes motivation and determination to stick to an exercise pattern that is right for you. Some days it may be all you can do to just get started but the results are worth it. Think of the years of health that lie ahead of you and the quality of life you can have by devoting a small amount of time to you and the future you each day.
Resources
Wang, Guijing, et al. “Costs of Hospitalization for Stroke Patients Aged 18-64 Years in the United States.” Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases : the Official Journal of National Stroke Association, U.S. National Library of Medicine, May 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23954598.
Budd, Samantha L. “Mechanisms of Neuronal Damage in Brain Hypoxia/Ischemia: Focus on the Role of Mitochondrial Calcium Accumulation.” Pharmacology & Therapeutics, vol. 80, no. 2, Nov. 1998, pp. 203–229. Science Direct, https://www-sciencedirect-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/science/article/pii/S0163725898000291#