Rocky Mountain High?

With recent law changes, there is now one more way to legally "get high" in Colorado.  As most of you know, we recently visited the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and we must confess that we did get high on cannabinoids while there.  However, the cannabinoids that we indulged in were the byproduct of exercising at an elevation of 9000 plus feet.

For many years the "runner's high", or that feeling of calm or euphoria that some people experience during or after exercise, has been attributed to endorphins.  Endorphins were first credited for inducing the runner's high back in the 1980s when researches discovered increased blood levels of the substance after prolonged workouts.  Endorphins are the body's own opiates, with receptors and actions very similar to those of the pain reliever morphine.  Matthew Hill, a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University in New York, disputes the endorphin-produced runner's high, saying that endorphins are composed of relatively large molecules which are unable to pass the blood-brain barrier, and therefore, cannot have an effect on the mind.  And now more current research supports that a different neurochemical system within the body is more likely responsible for those euphoric feelings.

In 2003 scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology found that 50 minutes of hard running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bicycle significantly increased blood levels of endocannabinoid molecules.  Years before this study the endocannabinoid system was mapped when scientists were determining how cannabis, aka marijuana, acts upon the body.  They found that receptors in the brain and body allow the active ingredient in marijuana to bind to the nervous system and set off reactions that reduce pain and anxiety and induce a sense of well-being.  Perhaps even more interesting though, they discovered that with the appropriate stimuli the body creates its own cannabinoids.  These cannabinoids are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier leading researchers to believe that it could be the cannabinoids found in the blood after exercise that are affecting the brain.

These findings have sparked numerous other studies to try to determine exactly what role endocannabinoids play in the body's reaction to exercise.  Another interesting finding comes from an experiment where groups of mice were assigned either to run on wheels or sip a sweetened drink.  Running and slurping sugar were previously identified as pleasurable behaviors in animals.  The researchers in this study saw that both activities lit up and sensitized portions of the animals' endocannabinoid systems, intimating that the endocannabinoid connection may lend both exercise and dessert their appeal.

More research is needed to prove or disprove some of these initial findings, but what we do know from our own experiment of two is that running over 20 miles and doing HIIT and TRX Tabata at an elevation of 9000 feet is really, really hard.  But the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the run or workout is definitely a Rocky Mountain High.  And apparently the chocolate and peach pie that we indulged in as a reward extended that Rocky Mountain High.  So the next time you are looking for a mood lift, skip the funny brownie and go for a run...  and maybe treat yourself to that piece of chocolate afterwards.