Study says people who exercise have better mental health

We all know that physical exercise is good for health. They lower the risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes. However, according to a recent study carried out by a team of researchers from the universities of Yale and Oxford and which was published in the journal The Lancet, the practice of physical exercises also has a direct effect on mental health, even more than having money in the account.

Today the awesome.club wants to share with you the most important details of this discovery that works as an extra incentive for people to exercise. At the end of the post we brought you a bonus with information about the neurotransmitter associated with happiness that is stimulated during training. Follow!

Scientists asked how many days a year people who exercise and who don’t practice physical activity feel bad (negative mental health). They polled more than 1.2 million people over the age of 18 in the United States.

While people who play sports regularly reported experiencing stress, depression or emotional problems an average of 35 days a year, non-active participants felt the same for an average of 53 days. This means that, on average, leading a sedentary lifestyle produces 50% more days of mental and soul unhappiness.

The study considered 75 different types of exercises. In addition to the most common ones, such as running, weight training and cycling, physical activities such as mowing the lawn, taking care of the children or doing housework were also considered.

After examining the type of exercise, duration, frequency and intensity, the researchers concluded that the benefits for mental health are greater when the person practices collective sports – those that impose socialization -, followed by cycling, aerobic activities and gym.

Exercising more is not always the best option. The study determined that the ideal is to train for 45 minutes, 3 or 5 times a week. Doing less exercise time does not lead to a significant improvement in mental health, and doing more than 60 minutes is not as good as 45 minutes.

This optimal duration pattern was verified in all types of exercises, of light, medium and strong physical intensity.

For this research, the scientists crossed data on physical activity and mental health with others related to age, ethnicity, marital status, income, education level, body mass index, physical health status and possible indicators of depression.

It was found that physically active people feel as good as those who do not play sports but earn 100,000 reais more per year. In other words, according to the study, training regularly is more determinant than money for a person to feel good.

Those responsible for the study hope that the results found will be considered in future public campaigns; that is, that people know that the practice of physical exercises helps to improve mental health. This is a very relevant issue, as depression is a mental disorder that affects more than 300 million people worldwide.

“We are trying to use this data to personalize recommendations related to the practice of physical exercises and to contribute to an improvement in the mental health of the population”, said Adam Chekroud, professor of psychiatry at Yale and one of the authors of the study.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter associated with mood: it flows when we feel good and its absence fuels feelings of loneliness and depression. According to several studies, one of the strategies for stimulating it is with the practice of physical exercises.

One of these studies was led by Mirko Wegner, a member of the Institute of Sport Science at the University of Bern, Switzerland, who, after analyzing 40,000 people, concluded that sport has an effect very similar to antidepressants, as it stimulates the same movements in the brain.

Therefore, some associations that work with public health, such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the United Kingdom, have included physical exercise among the official recommendations to treat mild or moderate depression.

Do you feel a kind of joy when performing physical exercises? Do you think that the practice of physical activities brings more happiness than money? Share your thoughts on these studies in the comments.