Runner's High Like Smoking Marijuana, Brain Study

It is well known that the people who workout or run regularly experience what is called as the Runner's high. This feeling can be described as a sense of euphoria that one experiences after workout. It is also known to increase the body's resistance to pain and improves tolerance for anxiety. Oxford University conducted a latest study revealing that the same high is felt after smoking marijuana which triggers cannabinoid receptors in the brain alleviating pain, as reported by Daily Mail. There has also been previous research which suggests that a runner's high is caused as a result of beta-endorphins that has the similar effect on the brain as morphine does.

As per the paper published in National Academy of Sciences, the researchers explain how the endorphins are too big for them to pass through the barrier of brain and blood. Instead, they discovered that the runner's high is linked with the brain's cannabinoid receptors. The research showed that running increased the endocannabinoid in blood levels which brings the same high as smoking of marijuana does.

According to a report Medical Xpress, to test the findings of the research, the mice were first trained to run on a treadmill and then separated into two groups. While one group was made to do nothing, the other one ran at least for 5 hours on a treadmill. After this exercise, they were both tested for anxiety levels, tolerance for pain and darkness. The group that was made to run on the treadmill showed higher propensity to withstand pain and anxiety as compared to the other group. In this research, it was revealed that the cannabinoid receptors are very important to achiever runner's high, the report suggests.