Ever wondered why you felt a strange elated sense of euphoria on completing a marathon ?
This elated sense of ecstasy was, for a considerable period, attributed to a sense of accomplishment. After all, burning feet wrapped rubber over paths seldom traversed is indeed a personal milestone.
Physical activities are known to stimulate the release of a cocktail of mood enhancing neurotransmitters, such as endorphins,dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin.
For runners, an explosion of endorphins - a hormone produced and stored in the pituitary gland was credited for this sense of euphoria.So...what are endorphins ?
ENDORPHIN = ENDOGENEOS (from within the body) + MORPHINE (Opioid pain reliever)
A good example on the effect of endorphins is reflected below :
The hormone interacted with receptors in the brain and mitigated perception of pain and triggered a positive feel.
Or so, it was believed. A similar apotheosis in distance runners came to be known as 'runners high'.
'HIGH' ?.....as in intoxication, tipsy, stoned or inebriated !! Like after a drag of marijuana... ?
Yes.....Move over endorphins, make room for your own body produced shot of cannabis. Yes...our body does produce its own form of the weed - Endocannabinoids. One of the most protean and extensive signalling molecules in the body.
New research coming out of Europe has identified a lipid soluble endocannabinoid called anandamide that traverses through the blood-brain barrier to trigger this elated sense of ecstasy in distance runners which came to be known as 'the runners high'.
Running increases the concentration of anandamide molecules which bind to receptor cells in the brain invoking this stoned feel.
Well....so if you are waiting on your drag of self synthesized cannabis.....
Don those sneakers, lace up and hit the track for that overdose of joy which this form of aerobic activity renders.......unhindered !!
