Exercise and inflammation

The relationship between exercise and coronary heart disease has been the subject of continued medical research. CHD as an inflammatory manifestation is also an accepted connection. A study has now made the connection between exercise and inflammation, although I don’t think that there is a cause and effect relationship between the two variables. Researchers from the University of Illinois examined parasympathetic and sympathetic activity on C-reactive protein (which is an indicator of inflammation) — by investigating heart-rate recovery after exercise. The sympathetic nervous system gets activated during exercise, while the parasympathetic system slows the body down when the exercise is finished.

So here’s how exercise could be helpful in managing inflammation:

“(When) you’re exercising, your sympathetic nervous system will be on, increasing your heart rate, your respiration, etc. Once you stop … the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in to get everything back down to baseline levels. The quicker the individuals were able to get back to their resting heart rate after a strenuous exercise test was inversely related to their CRP. (Individuals) who had better parasympathetic tone had lower levels of inflammation.” said Victoria Vieira, the study’s primary author and designer.

As we all know, the parasympathetic response is activated/trained by such mind-body pursuits as yoga (either in asana or pranayama practice), chi gung, meditation, and heart rate variability training.

What this study shows is that “traditional” exercise (assuming it’s not excessive) can help modulate inflammation by training the “relaxation response.”

In the ideal world, when you are trying to achieve optimal healthy weight, I would argue that combining both types of physical activity would be the best option. This means doing strength training, cardio, and yoga.