Exercise Is An Effective Anti-depressant

Richmondchironeu • September 16, 2019

Hello again to everyone:

Do sleep problems, fatigue and physical inactivity lead to a depressed mood, or is it the other way around? The answer seems to be that it goes both ways: depression can lead to inactivity, or inactivity can lead to depression.

Please recall that depression is now viewed as an inflammatory disorder.

So if exercise calms depression, does that mean that exercise is an anti-inflammatory? Well, it appears that may be the case, sort of. Exercise causes the release of chemicals called myokines, cytokines and chemokines. Some of these are inflammatory, but that is needed to start the repair and building process after exercise. And some are anti-inflammatory, yet the overall net effect is anti-inflammatory. One reason is that exercise causes the release of Growth Hormone and Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). Both of these improve brain function, growth and development.

There are most likely many things that exercise does that decrease inflammation and improve depression. This can be the calming of the sympathetic system, the reduction of cortisol, balancing blood sugar, reducing insulin resistance, improving blood flow and oxygenation to the brain, normalization of hormones, assistance to mitochondria, improved sleep and more.

Bottom Line:  If you are having issues with depression, it is important to consider exercise as one of your treatments. Along with reducing inflammation from all possible causes, and the use of therapy, prayer, medications, meditation, stress reduction, clean food, supplements as part of a comprehensive approach to brain health, make sure you add exercise. Contact a personal trainer to make sure you get started right or to upgrade or refresh your exercise plan.

By Mark Smith March 23, 2026
Health News Update: How To Fight Inflammation and Chronic Disease 3.23.26 Hello again everyone: You might wonder why I keep focusing on food…so here are some of the reasons: food choices are the leading cause of death in the U.S. and spreading around the world. Poor food choices lead to inflammation which slowly destroy health. It is that simple, plain, and clear and backed by research. The next question: how do we fight back? Introduction The positive impact of food on health was postulated by the ancient Hippocrates, father of modern medicine with his famous quote: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” [1]. In the 21st century, scientists have focused on the effect of nutritional habits in diseases. Nowadays, it is well documented that food plays a noteworthy role in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases namely cardiovascular diseases (CVD), metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus type II, and cancer [2–5], as it correlates with others with the lipid pattern, the blood pressure, and the endothelial function. The scientists examine the effect of nutritional habits on disease emergence and progression in both individual nutrient intake and dietary patterns models. Worldwide, two dietary patterns are usually compared—the Mediterranean diet (MD) and the Western diet (WD) [3,6]. The Mediterranean diet reflects the food culture of most Mediterranean countries based on olive oil consumption, seasonal fresh vegetables, cereals, and plants in balance with low consumption of meat [7]. The Western diet, on the contrary, is dominated by high-fat dairy products processed and red meat [8]. However, discordance in the different MD patterns and consumed food doses had been recognized. Without any doubt, those discrepancies could confine and restrict our knowledge on the health benefit mechanisms of the MD [9]. Due to the above, the medical community along with nutritionists and dieticians take a keen interest in MD and its traits [7]. https://www.academia.edu/45378994/biomedicines_Mediterranean_Diet_as_a_Tool_to_Combat_Inflammation_and_Chronic_Diseases_An_Overview?email_work_card=view-paper food choices can fight inflammation and chronic disease Bottom Line: This is a 2020 paper and since then literally hundreds of papers on the MD have emerged showing how the food plan lowers inflammation and the risk for developing multiple chronic illnesses. Even still, lots of research needs to be done to elucidate the many mechanisms of how food impacts our system and how to optimally individualize dietary recommendations. At this point, our best strategy to prevent and/or recover from any chronic condition is to eat as clean and natural as possible. It has become rather obvious that the further away from a natural diet we get, the sicker we become. On top of that, I have yet to see a full recovery from any health issue without the foundation of a predominantly plant-based, unprocessed, whole foods approach…which is why I keep posting about this subject. All the best to you and yours!
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