That amazing feeling you get after going on a long run is surprisingly similar to smoking up some pot, a new study has found.
Typically called a “runner’s high,” the feeling of completing a vigorous workout floods the body with endorphins and make you feel good — or maybe there’s something else at the root of it, something a bit more illicit sounding: endocannabinoids, or receptors in your body that are almost like a self-produced cannabis in the body, according to a Washington Post report.
The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that there may be another cause of those feeligns of euphoria and reduced feelings of pain you have after a good workout. Scientists from the Central Institute of Mental Health of the University of Heidelberg tested these endocannabinoid receptors in mice, having them work out vigorously on a running wheel. Then they blocked these endocannabinoid receptors with drugs and watched to see what happened: they found that not only did the mice not experience a runner’s high, but that they had the same amount of anxiety and pain sensitivity as before.
Other studies have been conducted to look deeply into how the brain functions after exercise using mice. Scientists at the University of Montreal this summer were focused on the hormone leptin, which is believe to cause feelings of satiety, signaling to your body when it has received enough food and resulting in a satisfied feeling. It is believed that leptin levels drop during workouts, causing a hunger signal — a reward — to be sent to the brain. By genetically engineering mice to not have a leptin-sensitive protein, they were able to test this hypothesis, and found that these mice ran twice as far as normal mice.
The practical implications of these findings are that it could give researchers new leads in developing new drugs that could help people exercise more or better watch their health.
Or, you could just realize what you’re missing if you don’t exercise a lot and hit the gym or go for a job.
It’s hard to say whether such a feeling exactly mimics cannabis, which has been growing in cultural acceptance in recent years. It has medical uses, but is most commonly known as a recreational drug. For decades it has been stigmatized as a bad drug, but greater social acceptance has led to legalization in numerous states, although it remains illegal at the federal level.
A whopping 100 million Americans are believed to have at least tried a hit of marijuana at some point in their life, and about a quarter of that figure has toked in the last year.
The effects of cannabis are primarily psychoactive, resulting in feelings of relaxation and euphoria — similar to a runner’s high. Other effects include a tendency to be more introspective. Some effects aren’t so great: people report feeling anxious or paranoid. Or, the effects can be physiological, such as a more rapid heart rate and a case of the munchies.