We are living in an age where things can be acquired almost immediately and with little effort. You could have instant foods, instant dating, instant entertainment, almost everything it seems is instant! Even your health-care could be in an instant, there is a pill for almost anything, you name it! Headache, body pain and there’s even a tablet for our mood regulation and sleeping cycle.
But here’s the reality, every time we consume a quick-fix medicine such as pain relievers, steroids, and sleeping pills, our body becomes increasingly dependent on these artificial drugs so that finally we’ll end up needing ever higher doses of them in order to experience the same level of relief when we first tried them.
Unknowingly we are trapped by this endless cycle of pain and pain-relieving drug consumption. Yikes! Take migraine sufferers for example, migraine is a chronic pain condition that could put a patient out for a day to even a week and because of the excruciating pain a migraine sufferer often resorts to high dosage pain relievers just to function in their everyday lives. Take note that this is not a one-time scenario but instead one that is constantly repeating every now and then.
Now remember, these drugs don’t come without a bite, almost every pill has its own unique process and mechanisms to induce some form of side effects and overtime these may lead to different imbalances and disorders in our system. Medicinal drugs in general are not harmful but unsupervised usage of them may result in drug dependency and organ damage.
So what can we do if long-term use of medicinal drugs especially for chronic pain may ultimately cause more harm than good? Well, the answer is so simple you may have not thought of it: Exercise.
“Exercise is Medicine” – John Ratey (medical doctor)
Exercise may be nature’s ultimate pilland one that we have almost always taken for granted. There’s a lot going on inside a human body during exercise, so imagine a single pill that targets multiple organs in your body without any negative side effects, how cool is that?!Very cool and best of all it can be obtained for free.
1.0 The Brain
During exercise our brain is overwhelmed with Dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for happiness and feelings of accomplishment. This results in elevated mood, decreased stress and increased in self-worth. In fact exercise is so good that it is now prescribed by medical doctors to patients suffering from stress and anxiety.
Exercise also enhances brain functions such as attention and memory. Centers for the elderly in the United States consistently provide exercise routines for senior citizens to keep them active and to delay the onset of dementia memory loss and other age related disorders.
Exercise is not just beneficial in this way for the older population, if maybe you are a student preparing for your exam finals, perhaps you should take a break now (well,after you finish this article) and try running around the building a couple of times before you start your study session then see just how improved your cognitive functions can be!Even if you only have time and space to jog on the spot a while don’t despair, every little bit helps!
2.0 The Heart and Lungs
Your heart and lungs work hard in order for your body to meet its greater demand for oxygen during physical activity. This constant blood pumping and air exchange in your body increases the strength of your heart muscle walls and eventually leads to decrease in your blood pressure.
This will decrease the chance of you having a heart attack or stroke.
3.0 Gut Function
Regular exercise improves your metabolism and aids your digestion. As weird as it sounds, exercise also balances gut bacterial growth and prevents growth of harmful microbes in your stomach.
I guess we could all finally say goodbye to frustrating wind cramps, constipation or unsettled bowel movements every morning huh?
4.0 Pain Centers
In the recent decade there have been a lot of studies about pain management, and exercise always finds its way to the spotlight among thousands of research articles about pain.
Exercise directly and indirectly inhibits the pain pathways in our body, this means that exercise is potent in activating our natural pain killers!
5.0 Metabolism
Obesity is on the rise in every country around the world today, this silent sickness is linked to early death and various critical health conditions. Whether it is due to genetics or eating habits (or both), one thing is for sure and that is to counter the effects of obesity one must undergo a weight loss program.
By now, it is universally acknowledged that exercise effectively reduces your body weight, and that it plays an important role in body transformation. Even if you’re a healthy person exercising is one way to keep your body weight in check.
Exercise is so effective that there is an entire field of medicine dedicated to it. Physical Therapists use exercise as their prescription to patients who are suffering from injuries and pain.
There’s a lot of benefits to exercise that we haven’t covered in this article,but one thing is for sure, exercise ultimately produces a positive impact on our overall health.There are hundreds of reasons to choose exercise over drug medications.That is where true power comes from, your ability to choose and to be in control of your health.
Note: This article is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice from your registered health professional and remember, if you have any underlying condition please consult your doctor before engaging in planned exercise.
