Get a natural high minus the harmful substance and the risk to get imprisoned.  How? Get on your feet and start running! You probably know of this energetic, overwhelmingly awesome feeling after a workout if you have been running or exercising for quite a while now.  This is caused by the endorphins released from your brain.  As Elle Woods said in the movie Legally Blonde, “Exercise makes endorphins.  Endorphins make you happy.  Happy people do not just shoot their husbands.” Oh well, happy people may not kill other people but if you’re high on illegal drugs, you can do almost anything.  That’s why we highly recommend running! It’s a safe, natural and effective alternative to get that euphoria effect that one typically derives from opiates!

Scientists at Tufts University set out to test whether the feeling a runner gets could be considered an addiction.  Instead of testing actual runners, the scientists tested rats. The 84 rodents were divided into two types of cages, ones with wheels and ones without. Over a week, the rats that had access to the wheel naturally increased how much they ran. On day nine, about half the group was only given access to food for one hour per day, while the others continued to have food all the time. The food-restricted rats began exercising even more, and also started to lose weight. All the rats were then given the drug Naloxone, a chemical compound that is often used to help drug abusers recover from addiction and immediately causes withdrawal symptoms. The biggest “gym rats” showed the greatest degree of withdrawal symptoms, while rats that couldn’t exercise displayed fewer withdrawal symptoms.

The scientists concluded that the release of chemicals during exercise mimics the sensations morphine and heroin users feel. If a runner’s high is similar to a high brought on by drugs, the researchers propose that exercise could be used as a replacement “drug” to help drug addicts recover.  Now this sounds good.  Perhaps they can add a lot of running to rehab programs from now on.