Did you know there is an ultra-powerful drug that can cure and/or prevent just about any illness out there?
And, shockingly, it is severely under prescribed. And when it is prescribed, most people barely take it!
This “Wonder Drug”, as I like to call it, improves heart and lung function. It strengthens your bones. It helps fight metabolic disorders like diabetes. It improves your mood and cognitive function. And, amazingly, it helps you live longer.
It is an old drug but it has become more widely used in recent years. Sadly, even though this drug is accepted by the medical establishment and doctors encourage their patients to take it, most patients don’t. It is not because the Wonder Drug is expensive. It’s not.
The Federal Drug Administration has no jurisdiction over this drug because the Wonder Drug’s safety and effectiveness were demonstrated long before the FDA was established. Big pharma hasn’t jumped on it because the patent for the Wonder Drug expired a long time ago. There are high end versions of this drug that are popular and very expensive. But there are plenty of generic versions that anyone can afford.
The Wonder Drug has no side effects if taken at the right doses. But you do need to start by taking small doses. If you overdo it, you might feel dizzy, short of breath and experience muscle soreness. Of course, there are folks who overdo it, but they usually recover quickly. Extreme overdoses of the Wonder Drug can land you in the emergency room. But even then, most people recover fully. It must be said that those who overdo the Wonder Drug once, tend to do it again. The long term benefits are well established and long-time users are happy to tell you about their experience. That can become a little tedious.
You should know that there is evidence of the potential for addiction. As you get into the habit of taking the Wonder Drug, tolerance develops. Most people need more of the drug to experience the usual high. Also, there are withdrawal symptoms if you suddenly stop taking it. These symptoms include a feeling of malaise, lack of energy and overall crankiness. And, those ills you were avoiding by taking the Wonder Drug, they will come back.
Fortunately, most people who take the Wonder Drug, do so responsibly. There are Wonder Drug parties where a group of people get together to enjoy the drug. Sometimes, there will be a leader of the group who is very experienced with the Wonder Drug. Indoor versions of these Wonder Drug parties can get a little rockus. The leader yells at the participants who sweat a lot. But in the end, everyone seems very happy about the experience. When the Wonder Drug party is outdoors, the participants seem to get into a more meditative state. And, in the end, they too seem to have had a wonderful experience.
What puzzles me is why more people don’t take the Wonder Drug. It’s free and easy to take almost anywhere…
By now you have figured out that the “Wonder Drug” is exercise. A cheap trick, I know, but I am not the first person to think of exercise in this way.
In an excellent review, published in the British Journal of Pharmacology in 2012, authors J. Vina, F. Sanchis-Gomar, V. Martinez-Bello and M. C. Gomez-Cabrera took seriously the idea of exercise being very much like a drug (1). They cite a growing body of observational and research evidence that exercise helps prevent pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes, bone and joint diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and certain cancers. In their section on psychological effects of exercise, they confirm that exercise improves learning and memory, reduces depression, improves sleep, counteracts mental decline with age, facilitates recovery from brain injury, and enhances resistance to mental stress. They continue by discussing the effects of proper “dosing” of exercise and dissect the effect of certain kinds of exercise on underlying physiology related to disease conditions. For example, they state that “resistance training may have greater benefits for glycaemic control (blood sugar control) than aerobic training.” This suggests that people with type 2 diabetes might benefit from resistance training. Further research by Jansson, et al, supports this conclusion (2)
This area of research may have inspired Dr. Jordan Metzl and Andrew Hefferman to write their excellent book about it; The Exercise Cure: A Doctor’s All-Natural, No-Pill Prescription for Better Health and Longer Life (3). It takes a similar approach to imagining exercise as a drug and is a great read. I recommend it.
Now with all that in mind, let’s start our fitness journey today! Here is a link to an article on Why 4 Fitness Areas
Let’s Get Moving!
Sources:
- Vina, J., Sanchis-Gomar, F., Martinez-Bello,V. and Gomez-Cabrera, M. C, (2012), Exercise acts as a drug; the pharmacological benefits of exercise. British Journal of Pharmacology. 167: 1–12
- Jansson A., Chan, L., Lubans, D., Duncan, M., Plotnikoff, R. (2022) Effect of resistance training on HbA1c in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the moderating effect of changes in muscular strength: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care. 10:e002595.
- Metzl, J., and Heffernan, A. (2013) The Exercise Cure: A Doctor’s All-Natural, No-Pill Prescription for Better Health and Longer Life. Rodale Publishing. New York, NY