Running reduces the size of the brain, according to a study

The other day, browsing social networks I saw a headline that struck me: "Running reduces the brain." And of course, for someone like me who goes running practically every day, This news immediately caused me amazement and great concern.

How can running reduce the size of the brain? with all benefits of physical exerciseIs running bad for health? Will running make me 'dumber'? I needed answers, because if running means that it makes me "shorter", I will look for another sport. Perhaps practice the noble art of frisbees with my dog ​​from now on...

The extremes are also bad when it comes to running

I had already heard about the detrimental effects that running could have. In fact, It is very frequent that there are people addicted to this sport, which is known as "runnorexia". Among the benefits of running we can find that: it reduces stress, improves cardiovascular capacity, reduces the risk of suffering from diseases, etc. But like any addiction, runnorexia has negative health consequences.

But going back to the fact that running reduces the brain, and to avoid misinterpretations, the headline of this article must be qualified. Running produces many positive effects. However, running long distances can cause negative health effects.

A German study affirms that running very long distances reduces the brain

Take the body to the extreme and running long distances can cause the brain to shrink by 6.1%, as confirmed by a study carried out in Germany. Even more surprising is the fact that the researchers found that, after eight months, the brain returned to its normal size.

For this study, scientists from the Ulm University Hospital (Germany) evaluated 44 participants from the 2009 edition of the Trans Europe Foot Race, a competition that consists of running from Italy to Norway, that is, a distance of 4,500 km in 64 days.

The research was led by Uwe Schütz, a German radiologist, and the results were presented at the Annual Radiology Congress. This study contradicts the majority of studies carried out to date, because they state that running provides many psychological and neurological benefits: improves mood or reduces the risk of degenerative diseases, among others.

There is no evidence that this occurs with jogging or a marathon.

Schütz explains that: “Despite the negative effects on the brain that the catabolic stress of an ultramarathon causes, this is due to an adaptive and reversible process. There are no long-term injuries.” In addition, “It seems that this decrease in gray matter is due to the monotony of looking straight ahead for so many days in a row. It's like the brain relaxes."

In other words, everything indicates that this loss of mass affects the area of ​​vision, which the long-distance runner knows as "tunnel vision". But be careful, there is no reason to cancel your running session this afternoon, since the same does not seem to be the case with a marathon or jogging.

Runnorexia is a problem for runners

Runnorexia is a real problem that can affect regular runners. This phenomenon causes the person to overestimate running, and makes it the priority in her life, even above family, friends, work, etc.

Running is everything for a "runnorexic", and not being able to perform your training for any reason means great frustration. have been reported cases of people who cancel appointments or do not go to work one day to carry out their session, because the discomfort that these individuals feel if they do not carry out these sessions is superior to them. That is one of the signs that they suffer from an obsession.

The symptoms of runnorexia are the same as those of addiction to any type of physical exercise (for example, weight training). These symptoms appear when the person cannot perform physical activity, and can be: anxiety, depression or irritability.

To learn more about runnorexia, we invite you to read this interesting article “Runnorexia": the modern addiction to running”