According to researchers of a newly published study, exercise increases the body's own cannabis-like substances, which in turn helps reduce inflammation and could potentially be useful in a wide variety of health disorders such as arthritis and heart disease.
In the new study, published in Gut Microbes, researchers from the University of Nottingham found that exercise intervention in people with arthritis did not just reduce their pain, but it also lowered the levels of inflammatory substances (called cytokines). It also increased levels of cannabis-like substances produced by their own bodies, called endocannabinoids. Interestingly, the way exercise resulted in these changes was by altering the gut microbes.
Exercise is known to decrease chronic inflammation, which in turn causes many diseases including cancer, arthritis and heart disease, but little is known as to how it reduces inflammation.
The researchers tested 78 people with arthritis, of which 38 performed 15 minutes of muscle strengthening exercises every day for six weeks, while 40 did no exercise. At the end of the study, participants who did the exercise intervention had not only reduced their pain, but they also had more microbes in their guts of the kind that produce anti-inflammatory substances, lower levels of cytokines and higher levels of endocannabinoids.
The increase in endocannabinoids was strongly linked to changes in the gut microbes and anti-inflammatory substances produced by gut microbes called SCFAS. In fact, at least one third of the anti-inflammatory effects of the gut microbiome was due to the increase in endocannabinoids.
Lead author Amrita Vijay, first author of the paper, said, "Our study clearly shows that exercise increases the body's own cannabis-type [substances, which] can have a positive impact on many conditions. As interest in cannabidiol oil and other supplements increases, it is important to know that simple lifestyle interventions like exercise can modulate endocannabinoids."1
When elderly people stay active, their brains have more of a class of proteins that enhances the connections between neurons to maintain healthy cognition, a new study has found. The new study, appearing in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, is said to be the first using human data to show that synaptic protein regulation is related to physical activity and may drive the beneficial cognitive outcomes.
The researchers found that elderly people who remained active had higher levels of proteins that facilitate the exchange of information between neurons. According to co-author William Honer, MD, this result dovetailed with his earlier finding that people who had more of these proteins in their brains when they died were better able to maintain their cognition late in life. He and his team found that the effects ranged beyond the hippocampus, the brain's seat of memory, to encompass other brain regions associated with cognitive function.
"It may be that physical activity exerts a global sustaining effect, supporting and stimulating healthy function of proteins that facilitate synaptic transmission throughout the brain," he commented.2
References:
1. Vijay A, et al. “The anti-inflammatory effect of bacterial short chain fatty acids is partially mediated by endocannabinoids.” Gut Microbes, 2021; 13 (1)
2. Casaletto K, et al. “Late‐life physical activity relates to brain tissue synaptic integrity markers in older adults.” Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2022;
Feature
According to researchers of a newly published study, exercise increases the body's own cannabis-like substances, which in turn helps reduce inflammation and could potentially be useful in a wide variety of health disorders such as arthritis and heart disease.
In the new study, published in Gut Microbes, researchers from the University of Nottingham found that exercise intervention in people with arthritis did not just reduce their pain, but it also lowered the levels of inflammatory substances (called cytokines). It also increased levels of cannabis-like substances produced by their own bodies, called endocannabinoids. Interestingly, the way exercise resulted in these changes was by altering the gut microbes.
Exercise is known to decrease chronic inflammation, which in turn causes many diseases including cancer, arthritis and heart disease, but little is known as to how it reduces inflammation.
The researchers tested 78 people with arthritis, of which 38 performed 15 minutes of muscle strengthening exercises every day for six weeks, while 40 did no exercise. At the end of the study, participants who did the exercise intervention had not only reduced their pain, but they also had more microbes in their guts of the kind that produce anti-inflammatory substances, lower levels of cytokines and higher levels of endocannabinoids.
The increase in endocannabinoids was strongly linked to changes in the gut microbes and anti-inflammatory substances produced by gut microbes called SCFAS. In fact, at least one third of the anti-inflammatory effects of the gut microbiome was due to the increase in endocannabinoids.
Lead author Amrita Vijay, first author of the paper, said, "Our study clearly shows that exercise increases the body's own cannabis-type [substances, which] can have a positive impact on many conditions. As interest in cannabidiol oil and other supplements increases, it is important to know that simple lifestyle interventions like exercise can modulate endocannabinoids."1
When elderly people stay active, their brains have more of a class of proteins that enhances the connections between neurons to maintain healthy cognition, a new study has found. The new study, appearing in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, is said to be the first using human data to show that synaptic protein regulation is related to physical activity and may drive the beneficial cognitive outcomes.
The researchers found that elderly people who remained active had higher levels of proteins that facilitate the exchange of information between neurons. According to co-author William Honer, MD, this result dovetailed with his earlier finding that people who had more of these proteins in their brains when they died were better able to maintain their cognition late in life. He and his team found that the effects ranged beyond the hippocampus, the brain's seat of memory, to encompass other brain regions associated with cognitive function.
"It may be that physical activity exerts a global sustaining effect, supporting and stimulating healthy function of proteins that facilitate synaptic transmission throughout the brain," he commented.2
References:
1. Vijay A, et al. “The anti-inflammatory effect of bacterial short chain fatty acids is partially mediated by endocannabinoids.” Gut Microbes, 2021; 13 (1)
2. Casaletto K, et al. “Late‐life physical activity relates to brain tissue synaptic integrity markers in older adults.” Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2022;
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