Running the pain away

People often think about endorphins when they talk about a runners high, but it may be a different drug that you should be thinking about. There has been controversy over the years whether or not your endorphins (endogenous opioids) are what actually cause that mysterious runners high. More recent evidence suggests that it may be endocannabinoids (the same receptors stimulated by THC and CBD) which actually promote the state of euphoria that you may feel while running or exercising. Endogenous opioids undoubtedly stimulate analgesia which is very beneficial from a survival perspective. If you wanted to be able to run away or toward danger the increased pain tolerance and dopamine increase would improve your resiliance, but that is not the "high" that we are discussing. When people report feeling euphoric, focused, and care free they do not have an increased in opiods but instead endocannabinoids, which may have many more beneficial effects than just feeling good. With lessening stigma on the use of cannabis research has been more freely funded. Full spectrum cannabis, including many derivitives beyond THC and CBD alone, has been show to have beneficial effects on cardiovascular health, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, recovery, and perhaps most importantly a variety of different cancers and more. What is shocking is that even without the ingestion of these molecules your body you can stimulate the same receptors (CB1 and CB2) with exercise alone.