London: Exercise increases the body’s own cannabis-like substances, which in turn help reduce inflammation and could potentially help treat certain conditions such as arthritis, cancer and heart disease.
In a new study published in Gut Microbes, experts from the University of Nottingham found that exercise interventions in people with arthritis not only reduced their pain, but also reduced levels of inflammatory substances (called cytokines). It also increased the levels of cannabis-like substances produced by their own bodies, called endocannabinoids.
Interestingly, the way these changes resulted in exercise was by changing the gut microbes. Exercise is known to reduce chronic inflammation, which in turn causes many diseases, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease, but little is known about how it reduces inflammation.
A group of scientists led by Professor Ana Valdes from the University’s School of Medicine tested 78 people with arthritis. Thirty-eight of them did 15 minutes of muscle-strengthening exercise every day for six weeks, and 40 did nothing.
At the end of the study, participants who took the exercise intervention not only had reduced their pain, but also had more microbes in their throats that produced anti-inflammatory substances, lower levels of cytokines, and higher levels of endocannabinoids.
The increase in endocannabinoids was strongly associated with changes in gut microbes and anti-inflammatory substances produced by gut microbes called SCFAs.
In fact, at least one-third of the anti-inflammatory effects of the gut microbiome were due to an increase in endocannabinoids.
Dr Amrita Vijay, a research fellow in the School of Medicine and first author of the paper, said: “Our study clearly shows that exercise increases the body’s own cannabis-like substances. Which can have a positive effect on a number of conditions. As interest in cannabidiol oil and other supplements grows, it is important to know that simple lifestyle interventions such as exercise can modulate endocannabinoids,” Amrita said.
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