Photo: Alora Griffiths, Unsplash
Business Isn’t The Only Source Of Freakonomics. Now Gyms Are Too!:
A couple of themes that keep coming up in the H&W space are 1) How interconnected everything is.
And 2) How much deeper things go than just face-value.
For example, there are supplements for every specific you could think of. But most of them affect several things.
Researchers are also finding out pretty much everything that’s good for your heart is also good for your brain.
So it’s not surprising another team is finding out exercise is good for WAY more than just weight-loss and looking buff at the gym…
The Short Answer:
- Weird combinations of things are all around.
- For example, people who do both weights and cardio live longer than either group independently.
- Surprising, because you’d think the cardio folks would be more fit.
- Please do not tell anyone in CrossFit about this.
- To find more weird & unexpected benefits, UCSF looked at 1 million subjects for data on lean body mass.
- After correlating this to disease, subjects who had higher lean mass longer had a 12 percent lower chance of getting Alzheimer’s Disease.
- These subjects also had higher cognitive performance.
- The reason behind lower dementia is believed to be helpful body chemicals that come from muscle mass.
- Lower muscle mass subjects had a higher correlation to Dementia as well.
- Previous research has shown that muscle mass also releases powerful anti-inflammatories.
- Cardio has also been found to clean out the brain, improve its immune-system, and cause new brain-cells to grow and be kept.
- One other body-chemical resulting from exercise is the body’s version of pot substances, called endo-cannabinoids.
- These dull pain and also keep the brain from paring-back new brain cells.
- There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, but perhaps with some cardio, weight-lifting & lean mass, we can try to prevent it.
Read on to find out the details…
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Welcome To The World Of Unexpected Benefits!:
So to get the ball rolling,
Something came out a while ago that is really unfortunate for all the people who can’t stop telling you about CrossFit.
It said that people who do both weights and cardio live longer than either separately.
Somehow both understandable and completely out-of-left-field at the same time.
You could probably agree that the cardio peeps will be long-lived and super-fit, like thoroughbred horses.
But the plodding dolts on the weight-lifter side of the gym? -WHAT?!!
And that leads us to another unexpected benefit beyond the face-value of things.
UCSF Looks At A Million Subjects To Find Exercise Magic:
In a special type of study, Iyas Daghlas’ team as UCSF looked at health data for people based on their bodies’ amount of lean mass.
They checked the stats for a staggering 1 MILLION DOLLARS! people, including more than 450k from the UK.
The results were clear: People who have more lean mass for longer in life have 12% lower rates of Alzheimer’s Disease.
I know. Just like the people doing both weights and cardio living longer.
WHAT?!!!
These subjects also showed much better cognitive performance as well.
The Freaky Details Of What They Think Is Going On:
Other work shows being overweight/obese is associated with inflammation and harmful proteins
It also shows these can make their way into the brain
The study authors suggest what’s at work is more related to muscle than it is to fat!
Some of these factors are:
1) The body releases more helpful internal chemicals during exercise
2) Some of these are BDNF (makes new brain-cells), Irisin, and Cathepsin
3) Lower muscle mass has been previously associated with Dementia
And some previous work shows the stealthy output of muscles & exercise as well.
Previous Research Reinforces The Point:
Researchers from Duke found that exercising muscle, usually under weightlifting conditions, releases powerful anti-inflammatories.
They’re so powerful, they work on the exact same pathways as the prescription-strength stuff!
Other docs from Queensland just found that exercise improves the function of the brain’s immune-system and this helps it make new brain-cells.
Those new cells also grow right in the memory-center of the brain, too!
And running is fantastic at growing new brain-cells, clearing out Alzheimer’s junk from your brain, and setting up the environment so the new cells are kept as well.
Your Body Also Makes Pot-Chemicals During Exercise:
So not only is there new evidence for the magical products of exercise, ie: lean mass.
There is plenty of previous evidence to support similar ideas as well.
Who knows which bio-chemicals are doing all the amazing work, besides BDNF?
One really interesting type is Endocannabinoids.
-Yup. Pot-chemicals that your body makes all on its own.
They get produced when you exercise, and they also let the new brain-cells stick around.
But there are probably many more in this amazing recipe.
So Maybe Weightlifting Is Not So Underpowered After-All?:
Maybe we shouldn’t call [all] the gym-bros “meat-heads”?
That lean-mass they work so hard to get brings a lot more than just what meets the eye.
It may not be possible to fix Alzheimer’s once someone has it yet.
But scientists think that 1/3 of all cases may come from factors that are preventable.
So really, anything you can do WAY before the age when most cases occur to prevent it is a good idea.
Even though previous experiments showed that running is the real superstar.
It’s starting to look like getting some more lean mass in addition to your regular cardio is another valuable tool in the toolbox!
JUMP BONUS! For Everyone Who Loves Exercise Comedy Techno-Metal, “Pump It”, by Electric Callboy:
References & Links:
• Source(s): EurekAlert | UQ
• Source Studies:
•BMJ – Genetically proxied lean mass and risk of Alzheimer’s disease: mendelian randomisation study
•Aging Cell – Exercise rejuvenates microglia and reverses T cell accumulation in the aged female mouse brain
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