You probably understand that biking possesses a lot of impressive benefits in regards to your physical health, but did you know it can help your mental health a great deal too? Well, it can. In addition to the immense physical advantages obtained from biking (including: decreased blood pressure, improved cholesterol levels, lower weight, reduction of risk for heart disease and type two diabetes and much, much more), biking can provide a better brain for you and your future.

There has been a lot of research recently on how biking can help your brain obtain better connectivity. White matter is matter found below the brain’s surface and can be compared to a public transit system in terms of connecting different parts of the brain to their other, respective parts. If anything in this system breaks down, cognitive defects or other terrible issues could arise. However, thankfully, when you practice motor skills or engage in other processes that highlight the white matter system, your risk for system malfunction decreases significantly. In fact, a study in the Netherlands even corroborated this thinking. Using both healthy and schizophrenic patients, the study had half the subjects (chosen randomly) participate in a biking program. The study found that biking increased the integrity of the white matter in the brains of both healthy and schizophrenic individuals. So, what are you waiting for?

Another thing that’s great about biking is that it allows you to produce more BDNF. What is BDNF you may ask? Well, BDNF is brain-derived neurotrophic factor and it improves brain function and lowers your susceptibility to brain diseases, such as alzheimer’s and parkinson’s. Furthermore, BDNF helps maintain neurons and supports the creation of new ones. In fact, a recent study highlighted the biking by-product BDNF. Using patients with health conditions like increased blood sugar and pressure, the study had subjects participate in regular biking exercise. By the end of the study, the BDNF levels in all of the patients were higher.

Another awesome benefit of biking is that it can improve your memory and reasoning skills. Biking is able to do this because it is form of aerobic exercise and subsequently supplies a large blood flow to the brain. This is why you may see older people who exercise often being able to keep up mentally, in comparison to their more sedentary counterparts. If you want to keep your mind active and functioning even into old age, aerobic exercise is really the way to go. Biking is especially good because it isn’t as hard on your body, as say, running, so you can continue to engage in it until your later years and beyond.

The last thing that is really cool about biking and how it affects mental health is the fact that biking is a great way to relax and enjoy one’s self. Maybe this doesn’t sound like the most scientific dynamic, but being able to relax can actually do great for one’s mental health, especially if one is afflicted with anxiety or depression.

If you are interested in obtaining one or more of the benefits we listed above, check out Bike Tour Vacations. You can improve your logic and increase BDNF all while pedaling through the beautiful Great Lakes area.

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