New research suggests certain metabolites released by muscles into the bloodstream during exercise enhances the cancer-killing properties of immune cells.
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The science behind why exercise keeps us healthy
It is no newsflash to suggest exercise is beneficial for physical and mental health, but exactly how activity confers those benefits is still not entirely clear. Researchers are now homing in on the physiological mechanisms to finally explain exactly how exercise can slow cognitive decline, reverse diabetes, prevent vision loss, and even help kill cancer. Even more intriguing is the research looking to harness the effects of exercise by just taking a pill!
The first experimental evidence showing how exercise can directly slow, or even prevent, macular degeneration.
“This suggests that even short training programs of 6–12 months are enough to positively influence the health of people suffering from metabolic disorders,” says Carl Johan Sundberg, an author on the study.
The newly published results of a clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of diet and exercise as a front-line type 2 diabetes treatment reveal nearly two-thirds of patients achieved complete disease remission after just 12 months of lifestyle interventions.
The study focused on the long-term changes to cerebral blood flow stemming from aerobic exercise in subjects already presenting with age-related mild cognitive impairment.
Using transcranial magnetic stimulation, the team measured the changes in the subjects' neuroplasticity before and after exercise. The most profound changes followed 20 minutes of high-intensity interval training or 25 minutes of continuous moderate aerobic exercise.
"We found that listening to high-tempo music while exercising resulted in the highest heart rate and lowest perceived exertion compared with not listening to music," one of the authors of the new study suggests.
After seven months of regular treadmill exercise, women reported a 22-percent reduction in menstrual pain.
The results were compellingly clear, aerobic exercise significantly reduced both negative symptoms and general psychopathology in all subjects compared to the control group that embarked on lower-intensity exercises.
Two new studies led by researchers at the University of Illinois have delivered the first clear evidence that the composition of gut bacteria can be changed by exercise alone.
Exercise in a pill
It's well known that the way to increase fitness and endurance is through training, but what if the same effects could be achieved with a drug, a kind of "workout pill?"
