Skip to main content

Exercise May Help Ward Off Addictive Tendencies!


Everyone knows that going to the gym and working out helps to build up energy, and get your body in shape, but did you also know that exercising might help prevent an addiction to drugs or alcohol? According to the Associated Press, recent studies are displaying clues which imply that physical activity may trigger those areas of the brain that can get hijacked by substance abuse. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that teens who exercised daily were half as likely as their friends to indulge in smoking and 40% were less likely to experiment with marijuana.

The government is pushing hard for more research to be done to explore these findings. If you take a look at many drug treatment centers, most include exercise as a part of their daily regiment. Exercise is, in essence, used as a distraction for the brain. Brown University took a group of smokers to the gym three times a week and found that with the inclusion of exercise in their everyday lives, the smoker’s chance of quitting the habit had been doubled.

At this point, the research and findings are not solid enough to truly prove that exercise has an affect on halting substance abuse, but the outlook is positive. The biggest problem is not whether this theory actually works, but how in our technology driven society we can get teens and adults back out into the streets to play some basketball rather than staying inside glued to the couch playing video games. The nation as a whole is becoming more sedentary and this is one of the largest problems this theory may face in its future studies.

If more people will get off their couches and start becoming more active, there is a strong possibility that we may be able to train our brains to ward off substance abuse, without seeking any additional help. But thankfully, if self-therapy doesn’t work there is always a drug treatment center within reach to get healthy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Olympic Diet of Michael Phelps!

By Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD WebMD Health News Questions and answers about the high-calorie diet that fuels the Olympic swimmer's championship performance. Aug. 13, 2008 -- His body may resemble the trim, athletic figure of Michelangelo's statue of David, but the diet of Michael Phelps sure doesn't sound like the stuff of champions. The U.S. Olympic swimmer told ESPN that he eats roughly 8,000-10,000 calories a day, including "lots of pizza and pasta." In addition to stuffing down carbs, he's said that he routinely eats foods like fried egg sandwiches. So exactly how do all those calories help fuel the most decorated Olympic athlete in history? Here are some questions and answers about the Michael Phelps diet. How can Michael Phelps eat 10,000 calories a day and still be so lean? There is no doubt he packs away a ton of food, but it is unlikely that he actually eats that many calories a day, an expert believes. University of Pittsburgh Director of Sports...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Stay Fit and Healthy

You did it! You met your fitness goal! Now that you have achieved some of your health-related goals, you'll need to focus on  staying  in shape and maintaining a healthy diet. You may have changed a lot of things about what you eat, your lifestyle, and/or your exercise routine. Sometimes keeping up with all the great changes you've made to be more fit or healthy can be daunting. Many people have difficulty maintaining these changes long-term. It can make you feel overwhelmed or get tired or bored with the lifestyle you've developed. But there are a lot of ways that you can stay motivated and keep up with your healthy lifestyle. 1 Touch base your doctor and registered dietitian.  When you are changing your focus from losing weight or meeting a certain goal to maintaining the healthy body you have fought hard to achieve, your dietary needs may change, too. Before becoming fit and healthy you likely met with your doctor and/or a dietitian, and now would be a good t...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Tell if Someone Is Being Sarcastic

1. Most of the time, people will change the tone of their voice when they are being sarcastic. 2. Listen for a flat, uncaring tone, or an overly-emotional tone. 3. Try looking for extra emphasis on one or two words, like the word "The" can be said like the, or with the E sound at the end. 4. Watch for these words; like, well, the, and, sure, etc. Someone may say the word longer than they would normally in a normal conversation. 5. Try listening for words like, "yeah, uh-huh, sure," and, "as if." 6. If whatever they're saying sounds outrageous, they may be sarcastic. 7. If none of these steps work, then you are dealing with a master of sarcasm. Take whatever they say with a grain of salt. 8. Look out on the internet as well. People who are being sarcastic on the internet (could be considered trolling) are usually clearly sarcastic. Always look for stupidity in others' posts.
Post a Comment
Read more