Exercise cuts craving for money: study

Craving for more money? Just go for a jog!

Aerobic exercise can blunt the brain's money-linked dopamine craving, according to a new study.

The German study looked at the effect of aerobic exercise on the brain's reward center, the 'Discovery News' reported.

Researchers had volunteers do either 30 minutes of aerobic exercise on a treadmill or 30 minutes of non-aerobic stretching.

Afterwards they played a game where they either won or lost a Euro.

Those who had run showed a lower activation in their brains of the hormone dopamine when they won a Euro in the game than those who had not exercised aerobically.

The idea is aerobic exercise can blunt the brain's money-linked dopamine craving but the effect lasted only a couple hours since the person exercised.

That may not be a bad thing since in the long run most of us do need to figure out a way to make a living.

The blunting effect does not extend to suppressing food craving.

Scientists explained that there are other, stronger chemical drivers in the body when it comes to appetite and blunting the dopamine reward does not trump those other signals.

The study is published in Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise.

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