Part 1 of this series discussed how targeted exercise can help you deal with stress more effectively. This post will cover how you can use exercise to improve your mood, reduce cravings, get better quality sleep, increase your energy and even eliminate your migraines by improving your neurotransmitter levels.
Exercise and Neurotransmitter Balance
Exercise can provide a great boost to your weight loss efforts, not only because it helps you burn calories, but because it can actually help raise your neurotransmitter levels. Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that carry messages throughout the body. Imbalances in neurotransmitter levels can affect many organs and systems and can lead to alterations in mood, poor quality sleep, cravings (especially for sugars, sweets and carbohydrate-rich foods), hormone fluctuations, fatigue and even migraine headaches. There are many neurotransmitters; one that is studied most is serotonin, which seems to help improve mood, control blood pressure and body temperature regulation, as well as help with cravings, appetite and pain control.
Research suggests that exercise increases the functioning of brain serotonin by two different mechanisms. First, physical exercise increases the firing rates of serotonin neurons, resulting in increased synthesis and release of serotonin. Secondly, regular exercise increases the level of tryptophan, as well as markers of serotonin and dopamine metabolism in the brain, which persists after exercise. This means that getting regular exercise gets more raw materials to your brain (tryptophan) and increases neurotransmitter production, which can lead to improved neurotransmitter balance over time.
While all forms of exercise are terrific to improve strength and flexibility and relieve stress, aerobic exercise that gets your blood pumping (brisk walking, running, biking, swimming and interval training) is the most effective at increasing serotonin in the brain. However, the activity must be intense enough to get your heart rate up to 70-80% of your maximum rate, and you need to exercise at least 30 minutes on most days (at least 5 days per week) to have the greatest effect. That means walking at a casual pace around the block isn’t going to cut it; to get a boost in neurotransmission, you’ve got to really get your heart racing and get a good sweat-on! Think high intensive interval training, hitting the weight room or running/cycling at 70-80% of your maximum. Exercising in this manner will not only improve neurotransmitter balance, it will also maximize your calorie burn and improve cardiovascular fitness.
Part 3 of this series will focus on exercise and hormone balance.
