This is a subject that is surprisingly tricky when you talk to people about it. In can be incredibly difficult to convince someone who is already in the depths of depression that just getting up and moving can be a way out but more and more evidence is coming out that shows that may indeed be the case. Let’s look at a few studies that show lactate, a molecule produced by the body during exercise, can be an antidepressant.
Exercise Can Make You More Resilient
First up, let’s look at a study from 2019 that showed lactate can be an antidepressant and make you more resiliant to stress. 2 groups of mice were subjected to “daily defeats” which I guess is the mouse equivalant to losing your job while your mouse girlfriend cheats on you and finding out your rent is going up. The control group of mice exhibited increased susceptibility, social avoidance and anxiety which describes most of the 20-somethings I know today. The other group was given lactate before each defeat and they showed resilience to stress and rescued social avoidance and anxiety by restoring hippocampal class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) levels and activity. Just a fancy way of saying they didn’t get depressed and showed some intestinal fortitude.
Exercise Can Make You Smarter
The next study subjected mice to swimming tests and the ones that received a dose of lactate not only showed less signs of depression but also had increased Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) which increases brain plasticity, allowing to adapt to new and complex situations. Higher BDNF levels have been linked to lower levels of depression and play a role in regulating eating and drinking disorders, leading to weight loss. This might be eviddence that exercise doesn’t lead to weight loss just because of calories burned but because it helps you make better decisions about food.
Exercise May Soon Come in a Pill
The third study was done in 2018 and is, I think, the most interesting because it wasn’t done with exercise but subjects got IV infusions of lactate into their body and still saw most of the same effects mentioned above. So this means there is a possibility of getting the benefits of exercise in a pill someday, at least when it comes to depression. It will be interesting to see if this comes to fruition because I tend to think the one of the benefits of exercise is that you are getting off your butt and actually moving. There is something about setting a goal, even a small one of doing a few minutes of exercise everyday, that just makes you feel better. Like you are taking control of some small portion of your life.
Have you seen any benefits to starting an exercise routine? Let me know in the comments below!
