Endorphins and the Brain

Jake Beverley

One thing that I love and come to appreciate is the word exercise! Many people
dred this word let alone the act of doing it, but why? There are so many different reasons
why exercise is good for your health. People can look at the benefits all day long but
what will give them that little push to dive into it? They feel pain, they sweat, they are
sore. Why on earth would anyone want to do something like that? What I have come to
find very interesting about this process is the way you feel when you accomplish a
workout or goal. According to Web MD in an article titled, "Exercise and Depression" it
states, "Improved self-esteem is a key psychological benefit of regular physical activity.
When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins
interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain.
Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. For
example, the feeling that follows a run or workout is often described as "euphoric." That
feeling, known as a "runner's high," can be accompanied by a positive and energizing
outlook on life." I feel this way every time I do a work out or accomplish a goal that I am
stretching for. Endorphins let your body know that you have done something good and
want you to continue to progress. Its the bodies natural motivator! This is just one reason
why people get addicted to harmful drugs. Stated in an article published by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse it states, "Drugs contain chemicals that tap into the brains
communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and
process information. There are at least two ways that drugs cause this disruption: (1) by

imitating the brains natural chemical messengers and (2) by overstimulating the reward
circuit of the brain." (Drug Facts: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction, revised in
November of 2012, Sixth Paragraph). Addictive drugs block the natural endorphin release
in the brain and change the brains chemistry all together. Endorphins are released at
appropriate times with just the right dosage to give you the desired effect by interacting
with the opiate receptors in your brain which can cause a sense of decrease in pain,
pleasure, and feeling of euphoria just to name a few. Addictive drugs such as heroine or
morphine enter the body and interact with certain receptors that are found in your spinal
chord and brain that block pain signals.
Endorphins also release feelings of pleasure to our bodies. According to an article
written by Tom Scheve titled What are Endorphins? "The majority of your emotions (and
memories) are processed by your brain's limbic system, which includes the
hypothalamus, the region that handles a range of functions from breathing and sexual
satisfaction to hunger and emotional response. The limbic system is also rich with opioid
receptors. When endorphins reach the opioid receptors of the highly emotional limbic
system, and -- if everything is working normally -- you experience pleasure and a sense
of satisfaction." (Second paragraph, page 2) Everybody experiences this rush on
thanksgiving night or being with their wife or girlfriend. We don't want that feeling to
leave. The endorphins released enable us to want to go after and seek that good thing so
we can experience the pleasure behind it. It reminds me of times when i'm hanging out
with my family or good friends and your laughing and having a great time. It creates
lasting memories and you don't want that feeling to end because of how it makes you
feel. I believe this is why people can get addicted to drugs so easily is because they get

the sudden rush of pleasure and they don't want it to leave so they go to extremes to keep
the feeling alive. That is where the addiction comes into play. Your brain gets
reprogrammed so it has to have something to stimulate it constantly.
So what triggers the release of endorphins? The two most common are 1. Stress
and 2. Pain; "When your hypothalamus detects pain, it issues several orders, one of them
being, "Quit telling me it hurts!" (Another one? "Quit touching the hot stove!")
The hypothalamus is the command-and-control center of your endocrine system. It
decides when you need to eat, when you should begin puberty and when you need a big
dose of endorphins, among many other functions. It keeps tabs on every part of your
central nervous system, and hormones are released to other parts of the body when the
hypothalamus wants to make an adjustment." (What are Endorphins by Tom Scheve page
3 paragraphs 1 and 2). So we have a better idea on how endorphins work but how can
you tell if your high or low on endorphins? "A consistent stream of endorphins is what
makes joyous people so annoyingly joyous. Im talking about the real ones, not the ones
who pose as happy to hide the pain beneath. The real happy people are simply high all the
time high on endorphins. They probably inherited a hefty store of endorphins from their
mothers but they also take care of their endorphin stores. They give their bodies the
building blocks needed to make plenty of it and they rarely expend too much of it at one
time." (Sex, Drugs, and Over-exercising: The Quest for Endorphins, August 18, 2011 by
Peggy the Primal Parent, under the section "are you low on endorphins). We all come
across people who seem to be happy all the time. Our first conclusion to this is that they
have everything figured out in life. Good job, great marriage, good kids, you name it. But
maybe we don't really take into account on top of that that they may just have a

continuous steady stream of endorphins released. Most people that are depressed usually
just have a low endorphin count. When this happens simple life changes can fix the
problem. But some of the time people go to extremes to get their endorphin levels up. "if
youre one of the many people who are depressed and do not get much lift from the little
things, you may already be seeking bigger rushes of endorphin from unhealthy places.
People with deficiencies use vigorous exercise, tobacco, drugs, alcohol, violence, wild
parties, gambling, scary movies, and any kind of thrill-seeking activity just to feel a few
moments of pleasure pleasure that they should experience on a regular basis. All of
these activities and substances release an enormous amount of endorphin and set a person
up for depletion." (Sex, Drugs, and Over-exercising: The Quest for Endorphins by Peggy
the Primal Parent, August 18, 2011, under the section "Endorphin Highs").
With so many different things endorphins are used for one of the most interesting
that I found was the science behind laughter. Laughing is one of the many things I love to
do, as well as make other people laugh. The feeling you get when you genuinly laugh and
are around other people laughing is contagious. In a study done by Jennifer Welsh and
LiveScience about how laughter can be a natural medicine they concluded that "Across
all tests, the participants' ability to tolerate pain jumped after laughing. On average,
watching about 15 minutes of comedy in a group increased pain threshold by 10 percent.
Participants tested alone showed slightly smaller increases in their pain threshold. When
laughter is elicited, pain threshholds are significantly increased, whereas when subjects
watched something that does not naturally elicit laughter, pain thresholds do not change
(and are often lower)," the authors write in the paper. These results can best be explained
by the action of endorphins released by laughter. The researchers believe that the long

series of exhalations that accompany true laughter cause physical exhaustion of the
abdominal muscles and, in turn, trigger endorphin release." (Why Laugher May Be The
Best Pain Medicine, September 14, 2011, written by Jennifer Welsh and LiveScience). It's
amazing to see how many different types of ways Endorphins are used in the body and
what they can do. The body is a very complex and amazing creation. It's ability to heal its
self and fix its own problems is incredible to think about.
Even with certain food we eat cause a release of endorphins into our body. This
helps explain why people love chocolate so much! "researchers have found that eating
chocolate, the number one food craved by American women, causes the brain to release
endorphins, chemicals that make us feel good. So we eat chocolate so we release and
experience pleasure and so as a result, we crave chocolate, said Adam Drewnowski of
the University of Michigan. "We want chocolate in times of stress, anxiety, pain and so
on. Chocolate is a natural analgesic, or pain killer. Other researchers have also said
chocolate contains substances that might mimic the effects of marijuana, boosting the
pleasure you get from eating the stuff." (Researchers say chocolate triggers feel-good
chemicals, February 14, 1996, CNN correspondent Linda Ciampa). This answered my
question of why it is when you hear people say that they wish they had some chocolate
with them right now or something smothered in it. But eating to much of it can be an
overload and do more harm than good. Eating it every once in a while can help bring
those certain chemicals in your body back to a normal balance and make you feel good
and in a comfortable relaxed state.
Endorphins are an incredible chemical that can do wonders for our bodies. Its the
bodies natural drug. It gives us just the right amount when we need it to keep our body

chemistry in check. The feelings you get when you accomplish something are feelings
you don't want to lose and make you want to pursue it even more. Endorphins can help
people overcome hard times as well as comfort them in times of need. Its amazing to
learn about and see what else our bodies can do for itself. The more we can learn about
the chemistry of our bodies the closer we will come to unlocking more secrets about our
bodies and how it works.