In a recent article published by Nottingham University, a study was highlighted connecting exercise to decreased inflammation and increased cannabinoid receptors. In a new study, published in Gut Microbes, experts 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.
A group of scientists, led by Professor Ana Valdes from the School of Medicine at the University, tested 78 people with arthritis. Thirty-eight of them carried out 15 minutes of muscle strengthening exercises every day for six weeks, and 40 did nothing.
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.
My take: Yet another reason you should be exercising regularly. However, this study details the mechanisms in which the body manifests the positive benefits of exercise. What would be interesting to see in a future study would be an exercise protocol compared to anti-inflammatories in managing pain and inflammation in the body.
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