Page 22 - How to Learn Smarter and Help Yourself to a New Language Faster!

Step 11: Run for at Least 20 Minutes a Day

So to recap, exercising in general increases oxygen in your brain, which leads to
higher functioning. It also regulates hormone secretion, which lowers the stress
hormone and increases different feel-good hormone. Nevertheless, running in
particular has added benefits to make your mind clearer and stronger.

First, 20 minutes of running increases the size of your brain by 20%. That can be
translated to 20% improvement in speed of memorization, recalling, and
response.

Second, running makes your body more sensitive to insulin. Its significance is
that the brain absorbs glucose to serve as its fuel (you have probably heard
people say "sugar is food for the brain"). The catch is that it needs insulin to
enter the brain cells. The only problem is that many people are insulin resistant
or just lack sensitivity to this hormone. With regular running, your brain absorbs
more "fuel," so that it runs faster.