Cycle Your Way to Better Health
Bike. Sleep. Repeat.
We all know that cycling is great for your physical health, but did you know that riding a bicycle can also reduce the effects of social anxiety, panic attacks and other mental health disorders?
Studies have shown that cycling triggers the release of endorphins, the feel-good chemicals in the brain. Endorphins can help you feel better when you are under stress. An added benefit to cycling is that you also get the pleasure of spending it outdoors.
John Ratey, a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, says that he has seen patients whose severe depression has decreased after they starting cycling as their main form of exercise.
The link between cycling and ADHD is also well established. Exercising regularly can achieve similar effects as Ritalin, a stimulant commonly used to treat ADHD by boosting levels of neural transmitters.
Based on Dr. Ratey’s research, cycling is like “taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin.”
