Overcome Addiction Naturally with Exercise

I'm not a Christian Scientist, but I do have faith in the body's ability to heal. I remember being fascinated as a child with the way scars magically disappeared from my skin.

You body was designed to fix itself, but, like all machines, if you want it to function properly you have to do regular maintenance. If you want good gas mileage, you have to change the oil regularly. If you want to look good and feel good, you have to exercise.

There are no exceptions to this statement. Sure, you can pull off the looking good and not exercising thing for a while when you are young, living off Skittles and Diet Coke and vodka and Marlboro lights, but what happens when you eat a real meal or you climb a flight of stairs?

If looking good and feeling good aren't incentive enough, regular exercise also helps prevent insomnia, depression, anxiety, impotence, diabetes, heart disease, immune system weakness, stress, and ... probably more, but it's all that I can think of at the moment.

Today CNN reported that exercise also helps prevent addiction to drugs and alcohol. Recent research found that tweens and teens who exercise everyday are half as likely to smoke as those who don't exercise, and 40 percent less likely to try marijuana.

In addition, a recent Brown University study found that regular exercise in women quitting smoking doubled their chances of staying of cigarettes.

Both human and animal research is so encouraging that the National Institute on Drug Abuse has announced $4 million in new research grants to learn more about the connection.

Why wait? The benefits are beyond obvious. If you have any desire to live and be happy, refusing to exercise is like turning down free money. It's true, it might not feel good right away, but the benefits to your long-term health are undeniable.