Exercise has been dubbed “nature’s antidepressant” by doctors for years, and now a new study confirms the notion.
The finding follows a four-month look at the impact that running had on anxiety and depression when compared to a common antidepressant.
And those who treated their depression with exercise reaped an added reward, with improvements seen in their physical health as well.
That group, said study author Brenda Penninx, also “lost weight, improved fitness and reduced heart rate and blood pressure.” The medication group did not see those benefits.
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There was one downside seen in the running group: The likelihood that a running patient stuck with the full exercise program was considerably lower than it was for patients who chose escitalopram. Somewhere between 52% and 58% of runners maintained their running routine throughout the study period, compared with 82% to 85% adherence in the medication group.
