Exercise and the Brain

[imoldernu]

A no-brainer for sure... Exercise is good for the brain.

Of course!... exercise is good for the body, for longevity, for agility, for the heart... and just about everything that has to do with health... and we know why. Because it builds muscles and keeps the whole body working better.

But why the brain? Wouldn't things like mental exercise be better? Doesn't the actiity from playing chess, or solving puzzles or maybe the newer on-line brain challenges, work better to ward off mental deterioration.

So, physical exercise is innately a positive for brain health... but why?
This article discusses the actual physical action, and a protein that protects and supports cells.

Aerobic exercise seems to be the key... a very unpleasant thought for those of us who are becoming arm chair athletes, still, something more than the gererality that "exercise keeps you young".

The best brain exercise may be physical - Chicago Tribune

In the mid-1990's, Carl Cotman's team at the University of California-Irvine first showed that exercise triggers the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which helps support the growth of existing brain cells and the development of new ones.

With age, BDNF levels fall; this decline is one reason brain function deteriorates in the elderly, according to Cotman. Certain types of exercise, namely aerobic, are thought to counteract these age-related drops in BDNF and can restore young levels of BDNF in the age brain.

"In a sense, BDNF is like a brain fertilizer," said Cotman, a professor of neurology and neurobiology and behavior and founding director of the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI Mind). "BDNF protects neurons from injury and facilitates learning and synaptic plasticity."

more...

Over the last two decades, researchers have learned that exercise acts on multiple levels in the brain. The brain's wiring depends on the integrity of the brain cells or neurons, as well as the connections between the neurons, or the synapses.

As we age, the synapses are lost or break down. Cotman's work has shown that in older rodents, exercise increases the number of synapses and also stimulates the brain to develop more neurons in the hippocampus, which he called "a critical region in learning and memory formation and a target of massive decline in Alzheimer's disease."

Still, for those newly created brain cells, or neurons, to work — to help us learn and remember new things — they need to be plugged into the existing neural network, said Romain Meeusen, chair of the department of human physiology at the University of Brussels.

Exercise helps integrate the new neurons into the brain's circuitry to help improve learning, Meeusen said.

"Is Richard Simmons still on TV?"

 

[donheff]

Exercise is good for almost everything health related except weight loss.

 

[Big_Hitter]

because your head is connected to your body, that's why

 

[Which Roger]

Exercise is good for almost everything health related except weight loss.

Not true, of course.

I watched a bit of the video, and the speaker's message is that if you exercise some, then reward yourself by eating like a pig, you won't lose weight, which is rather obvious.

And I would add that even if you eat well, you may gain wait by losing fat and building muscle, which is a good thing. That's why I think we should stop emphasizing BMI as a measure of health.

 

[Big_Hitter]

agreed, I think BMI is dumb

 

[imoldernu]

Exercise is good for almost everything health related except weight loss.

Thanks, Don... Almost didn't watch this, but glad I did. Reward for exercise.... hard to think this wouldn't be true, and yet this is truly one place where the risk is in believing doing right always results in "reward"...

The problem is that when the advertising world convinces us that we're doing the right thing, it's hard to swim against the tide.

It's gonna be dull, and hard to do, but it's back to counting calories.

 

[HFWR]

Good news for us older rodents...

 

[donheff]

Not true, of course.

I watched a bit of the video, and the speaker's message is that if you exercise some, then reward yourself by eating like a pig, you won't lose weight, which is rather obvious.

And I would add that even if you eat well, you may gain wait by losing fat and building muscle, which is a good thing. That's why I think we should stop emphasizing BMI as a measure of health.

You should watch the whole thing. What he demonstrates with a boatload of studies is that exercise - even large amounts - will make little difference in weight as long as you continue eating the same things as you have in the past. He also believes exercise is the best medicine for general health that exists. But portraying it as a weight loss approach fails. The undelivered promise of weight loss can undermine motivation and lead people to stop or decrease exercise thus loosing the real benefits - including brain health to get back to the original topic.

 

[W2R]

You should watch the whole thing. What he demonstrates with a boatload of studies is that exercise - even large amounts - will make little difference in weight as long as you continue eating the same things as you have in the past. He also believes exercise is the best medicine for general health that exists. But portraying it as a weight loss approach fails. The undelivered promise of weight loss can undermine motivation and lead people to stop or decrease exercise thus loosing the real benefits - including brain health to get back to the original topic.

I don't know how other people's bodies work, but this is 1000% consistent with the way my particular, individual body works. Exercise really doesn't affect my weight although what I eat does affect it tremendously. Maybe my metabolism adjusts to compensate for the exercise, but anyway exercise doesn't seem to help my weight loss at all.

I exercise whether I am working on losing weight, or whether I am not, because I want to be as strong, flexible, and capable as I can be now that I am growing older.

For me exercise is a very serious form of preparation for old age with the objective of becoming a strong, capable, independent elderly person instead of a feeble old lady. Honestly, what person over 50 would NOT exercise when you think of the alternatives as we grow older?

 

[donheff]

It's gonna be dull, and hard to do, but it's back to counting calories.

Sorry for hijacking the thread with my pet obsession but I don't believe this is the answer. Calories count but counting them doesn't work. There is no way you could accurately judge precisely how many you need or precisely how many you are processing. What you end up doing is cutting back portions until you are hungry all the time. That is a guaranteed prescription for failure in 90%+ The better answer is to change what you eat (the whole real food thing). Once you get that right (and it can vary from person to person) you will automatically eat what you need without the constant hunger. I did that 3 years ago and lost 18% of my body fat. Since then I have stayed +-2 pounds with no portion control and no attention to calories. I do occasionally get an obsessive urge for one of my former faves - this morning I almost stopped in Starbucks for one of their double fudge brownies. kind of like the sudden urge to light up you get years after quitting cigarettes.

 

[haha]

It's gonna be dull, and hard to do, but it's back to counting calories.

Or, the truly radical and very likely effective thing you could do is to read some of the excellent studies that show that for weight loss, low carb high fat diets dominate the competition.

Not that other diet types cannot work. They can, look at Jenny Craig, or the Ornstein diet. But these require very strong motivation, because they leave the dieter feeling hungry most of the time. And sated rarely.

Except for some upper class women who are willing to undergo nail-biting semi-starvation diets, I think that I have never known a middle aged person who lost meaningful weight, and maintained the loss, on calorie counting.

Ha

 

[misanman]

Calories counting seems to work for me. Lost 30 pounds and kept it off for six or seven years. I use the Losit phone app.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[haha]

Calories counting seems to work for me. Lost 30 pounds and kept it off for six or seven years. I use the Losit phone app.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

Good work!

Ha

 

[kimcdougc]

When my husband retired in February, we started walking everyday. Around 2 to 3 miles (plus our normal walking throughout the day). Without really trying I have lost 25 lbs (mind you I need to lose much more). Of course I only eat till I am full now and listen to my body. Hopefully, the weight lose will continue. Just my 2 cents.

 

[nuke_diver]

Exercise works for losing weight. Eating more and exercising doesn't. It's always about input vs output. Exercise won't work if you (or the kids discussed in that video at least what I watched of it) eat a lot more because they exercise a little.

I ride a fair bit and when I am riding a lot it is very hard for me to keep my weight up. I know of people who ride much more than I do and they are much fatter than I am. But their rides include stops for lunch at the donut place..because they are riding 50 miles and need the energy (including eating about 250 cal/hr in addition). And they wonder why they have trouble losing weight.

Exercise is good for lots of stuff. It improves circulation (which may explain part of why it is good for the brain), releases chemicals that make you feel good and reduces stress. It also helps lose weight if done right. I think its better to market exercise for weight loss because it is a tangible thing that people can see.

 

[Which Roger]

Exercise works for losing weight. Eating more and exercising doesn't. It's always about input vs output. Exercise won't work if you (or the kids discussed in that video at least what I watched of it) eat a lot more because they exercise a little.

I ride a fair bit and when I am riding a lot it is very hard for me to keep my weight up. I know of people who ride much more than I do and they are much fatter than I am. But their rides include stops for lunch at the donut place..because they are riding 50 miles and need the energy (including eating about 250 cal/hr in addition). And they wonder why they have trouble losing weight.

Exercise is good for lots of stuff. It improves circulation (which may explain part of why it is good for the brain), releases chemicals that make you feel good and reduces stress. It also helps lose weight if done right. I think its better to market exercise for weight loss because it is a tangible thing that people can see.

That's me - stop for lunch at the donut place in the middle of a long bike ride, and basically break even weight-wise.

A few years ago, when I was running 40+ miles per week, I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted and still lose a bit of weight. During the times when I was somewhat careful about what I ate, the pounds came off quickly.

 

[haha]

Exercise is good for almost everything health related except weight loss.

I listened to roughly the first half of this talk. My guess is that if we carefully read each of these studies, we would find out that there are millions of holes in what he is suggesting are prefect studies which definitely give the truth.

We all know people and whole groups of people who lose weight or stay lean mainly through exercise. If you have done varsity sports you realize that usually you are too damn tired to eat much when you get home. Same is true of certain occupational groups. I lived for years in timber country, and I never saw a fat logger. One might guess that only lean men become loggers, but really I think it is the sociology of these areas. You get out of school, you get a job in the woods, you get a young woman pregnant, you get married or at least move in together then unless the spotted owl gets you are basically a logger until injury or age sits you down..

Also, look how many people here lost weight and maintained the loss with exercise. I'll never figure this out, because it would be a major commitment, and I have no dog in the fight. Still I am suspicious of the message that you cannot lose or control weight with exercise.


I just spent 5 frustrating minutes trying to read the original article linked by Imoder. It opens to the page, then tells me to sign up or "not now". So I click not now, and I go into a loop that keeps cycling me back to the sign up pop up- so I give up.


Can anyone give me a summary of the important points, if there are any?


Ha

 

[naggz]

anecdotal story:

16 months ago my wife and I began counting calories (my fitness pal) and excising (Treadmill / Rowing Machine / Running, and step tracking with fitbits).

Combined we lost about 130 lbs, and have kept it off since. We still count calories every day, and exercise about 5 days a week (1/2 marathon coming up in a couple weeks). While losing the weight, it was months of being "Hungry", but now we're mostly comfortable as far as hunger goes.

We eat whatever we want, and just count calories. If we have extra left over at the the of the day, we break open the ice cream, or eat something from the treat box (usually chocolate). If MFP says we're out of room, we stop eating. (We tend to make smart choices, and avoid high calorie foods throughout the day).

The year before, I had lost some weight by counting calories, got to a target weight, and stopped tracking calories. I gained all the weight back in 6 months. This time around, I lost the weight, and have kept tracking, and haven't gained a single pound back in a year.

So far, calorie counting has worked for us very well, and because we track everything, we have educated ourselves on how many calories are in foods, and how much we need. I anticipate that tracking calories will be something we continually do, but it really is easy with websites like MFP.

Edit to add: I guess to keep this somewhat on topic, anecdotal again -I notice that I am much more mentally alert and less mentally fatigued at work and home, since starting exercising. I was mostly sedentary and lazy for about 10 years after some knee surgeries in my early 20's (I'm currently 35 years old).

2nd edit to add: The Concept 2 Rowing stories and recommendation on this forum (largely driven by haha) were very inspiring and convinced me to try it out, as it was low impact on my knee. After using it for a few months, my knee strengthened enough to begin running (where a long walk used to make my knee swell up). so a big THANK YOU to all the inspiring people on this forum, it has truly changed my (and my wife's) lives.

 

[donheff]

Ha: I pulled out several paragraphs with key points. The author goes into adolescence, young adulthood, etc in more detail but I didn't see much about what studies support the thesis. Exercise is so healthful for lots of reasons that I am happy to accept this one even if the differences are placebo. I exercised throughout life and gained a pound a year until three years ago so, for my specific circumstances, I had to conclude that exercise alone is not going to do it for me. I had to change the food I eat to modestly LCHF to achieve that (or as you and others noted, probably cutting calories by counting would work - but much harder for me).

In the mid-1990's, Carl Cotman's team at the University of California-Irvine first showed that exercise triggers the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which helps support the growth of existing brain cells and the development of new ones....

As we age, the synapses are lost or break down. Cotman's work has shown that in older rodents, exercise increases the number of synapses and also stimulates the brain to develop more neurons in the hippocampus, which he called "a critical region in learning and memory formation and a target of massive decline in Alzheimer's disease."
Still, for those newly created brain cells, or neurons, to work — to help us learn and remember new things — they need to be plugged into the existing neural network, said Romain Meeusen, chair of the department of human physiology at the University of Brussels.
Exercise helps integrate the new neurons into the brain's circuitry to help improve learning, Meeusen said....

Research also suggests that exercise improves blood flow to the brain and, as a result, enhances cognitive abilities. "The blood carries oxygen and feeds neural tissues, so you're getting the benefits that come with that," Hillman said....

Sadly, the hippocampus naturally shrinks in late adulthood, leading to impaired memory and increased risk for dementia.
But research suggests aerobic exercise can increase the size of the hippocampus and increase levels of a protein that aids the growth of new brain cells, potentially holding off changes in the brain and improving memory function...

In another study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health found that people who said they exercised for 30 minutes five times a week in late-middle age did better on cognitive tests and showed less accumulation of the beta amyloid plaque, the protein that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

 

[someguy]

I couldn't bring myself to watch all of the video donheff posted, but I don't buy it. One of the issues I heard was the classic correlation <> causation mistake. Also, one of the studies he mentioned was a 10-year longitudinal where the participants self-reported their exercise habits over that decade.

Exercise is just one part of weight management. A lot of people are addicted to sugar or have otherwise been out of whack with perceived vs. needed calories for so long that exercise alone isn't going to help and may even hurt. They need to accurately count calories in and calories out (exercise). But counting accurately can be hard and it's easy to come out behind. I bet I hear at least a handful of times a month from people who use the "calories burned" display on their or the gym's treadmill/elliptical/bike. I've also helped a handful or so of folks who I'm close with and who couldn't lose despite tracking in/out and running a reliable deficit. In all but one of those, one issue was not accurately and reliably logging food intake. Either stopping by the counter and snacking and not logging it, or having a logged meal but neglecting "little" things like that 50 cal pat of butter put on piece of bread.

I see a lot of similarity to personal finance. Different things work for different people. Some people don't need to track at all, some can track top down (my net worth is going up reliably) and others must track bottom up down to the penny. Exercise is like a side job. Mathematically speaking, it always creates a caloric deficit (more discretionary income). But either can create a "hunger" that can cause one to eat or spend more than was gained by the exercise or side job.

 

[Philliefan33]

.



I see a lot of similarity to personal finance. Different things work for different people. Some people don't need to track at all, some can track top down (my net worth is going up reliably) and others must track bottom up down to the penny. Exercise is like a side job. Mathematically speaking, it always creates a caloric deficit (more discretionary income). But either can create a "hunger" that can cause one to eat or spend more than was gained by the exercise or side job.

Good analogy-- I never thought of it that way. About five years ago I was able to lose over twenty pounds by counting calories in/out, but I was very careful to measure serving sizes, track everything I ate, not overestimating calories burned, etc. Basically I didn't cheat at either end. Fooling yourself regarding calorie counting is akin to fooling yourself about what are the "needs" in your money budget.

I'm not counting calories at this time, but since ER I have been increasing my exercise and general activity. No weight loss yet, but I do feel stronger and more fit. If I decide I want to shed the five pounds I've gained since my lowest recent weight (when I was counting calories and running 30+ miles per week) I will probably have to count calories again.

 

[haha]

Ha: I pulled out several paragraphs with key points. The author goes into adolescence, young adulthood, etc in more detail but I didn't see much about what studies support the thesis. Exercise is so healthful for lots of reasons that I am happy to accept this one even if the differences are placebo. I exercised throughout life and gained a pound a year until three years ago so, for my specific circumstances, I had to conclude that exercise alone is not going to do it for me. I had to change the food I eat to modestly LCHF to achieve that (or as you and others noted, probably cutting calories by counting would work - but much harder for me).

In the mid-1990's, Carl Cotman's team at the University of California-Irvine first showed that exercise triggers the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which helps support the growth of existing brain cells and the development of new ones....

As we age, the synapses are lost or break down. Cotman's work has shown that in older rodents, exercise increases the number of synapses and also stimulates the brain to develop more neurons in the hippocampus, which he called "a critical region in learning and memory formation and a target of massive decline in Alzheimer's disease."
Still, for those newly created brain cells, or neurons, to work — to help us learn and remember new things — they need to be plugged into the existing neural network, said Romain Meeusen, chair of the department of human physiology at the University of Brussels.
Exercise helps integrate the new neurons into the brain's circuitry to help improve learning, Meeusen said....

Research also suggests that exercise improves blood flow to the brain and, as a result, enhances cognitive abilities. "The blood carries oxygen and feeds neural tissues, so you're getting the benefits that come with that," Hillman said....

Sadly, the hippocampus naturally shrinks in late adulthood, leading to impaired memory and increased risk for dementia.
But research suggests aerobic exercise can increase the size of the hippocampus and increase levels of a protein that aids the growth of new brain cells, potentially holding off changes in the brain and improving memory function...

In another study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health found that people who said they exercised for 30 minutes five times a week in late-middle age did better on cognitive tests and showed less accumulation of the beta amyloid plaque, the protein that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

Don, thank you for making the effort to give me this. I am disposed to be a believer in exercise, and these kinds of reports are good motivators to help keep the activity levels high.

It appears that individual differences are very important in response to diet and/or exercise. Just on this board people report widely differing responses to these things. I think the results of Naggz and his wife show very clearly that for some people, calorie counting leads to very impressive weight, loss which can be maintained. My own experiences are more like what you report. Diet comes first, and exercise is very important perhaps in other ways than weight and for other reasons than weight control. I think if I put my mind to it, I could make myself diabetic in 6 months, perhaps even without gaining any weight. So the wrong kind of diet would be seriously bad for me, apart from any weight issues. You can be sure that this is not going to happen!

Maybe 15 years ago my good friend that I have known since we were in junior high started having his doctor tell him to watch what he ate, and exercise because his FBS was starting to climb. About the same time I was told these same things. Since then he has progressed to T2 diabetes, multiple surgeries (amputations by degrees) etc. Right now he remains in a coma from what appears to have been a surgical mishap. Meanwhile, I have been exercising my ass off, and following a low carb diet that I have progressively tightened as I learned how I respond. My numbers and health have improved over these 15 years. I think there is no proof that our differing eating and exercise habits are involved here, but my bet would be that they are.

I think that we can all expect that we have fairly idiosyncratic ways of responding to food, exercise, even our emotions.

Here's to our common good fortune!

Ha

 

[Alan]

Six years ago DW bought me a book on keeping the brain healthy, which included exercises such as learning to do things with your opposite hand (shaving, tennis, pool etc), driving different ways to work, driving with the windows down and the radio off etc., as well varying the type of puzzles you do. The idea being to try and build new neural pathways in the brain. I did teach myself to play pool and tennis with my left hand, and to shave with my left hand. It seemed impossible to begin with, but I recalled my father pushing me to learn to kick well with my left foot to improve my chances of getting on the school's U-11 soccer team. I hated it initially but eventually with enough practice it worked, I got pretty good with both feet and made the school team.

The author also pointed out that in his opinion physical exercise was the best way to keep the brain healthy. The analogy he used was that the neural connections build up "plaque" in the way blood vessels build up actual plaque and in both cases good blood flow through exercise is an excellent way to keep those pathways clear and operating well.

 

[samclem]

A big challenge I have is that I'm not very self-aware regarding how my body is feeling day to day, my mood, aches, pains, if I'm getting a bit out of shape, etc. I would never be able to tell you how a particular food eaten hours ago impacted my mood, and I doubt that I'd be able to discern a slow gradual improvement in fitness due to exercise or diet. I just go about my daily business without thinking about these things. This, combined with all the interconnected variable of exercise, diet, etc and a natural aversion to working out, makes it really hard to keep to any exercise program. If I can somehow objectively measure an improvement in brain function or fitness as a result of exercise, I'd be much more likely to stick with it. But, other than resting heart rate (which doesn't tell much, and takes a long time to change), I'm not aware of any good objective measures. Measures of performance (e.g. maximum amount I can bench press, time to run 2 miles, etc) seem to vary a lot day to day due to a variety of factors, too much to serve as a good motivator.
Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to remain sedentary, but I know I will not successfully motivate myself to spend 3-5 hours a week doing something unpleasant --maybe for decades --if I can't actually see that I'm getting something for it.

 

[Nemo2]

A big challenge I have is that I'm not very self-aware regarding how my body is feeling day to day, my mood, aches, pains, if I'm getting a bit out of shape, etc.

Back in the 1970s, when I was running 10 miles a day, seven days a week, I recall saying to someone that I wasn't feeling too good, but that it was such a subtle deviation from the norm that, if I hadn't have been in tune with my body at the time I likely wouldn't have even noticed it; (and I was just a 'plodder' - I can only imagine how sensitive to changes top athletes are).

Just to say that, the more in shape you get, the likelihood of increased perception grows.