Most of us need coffee to just get out of bed in the morning. The World Health Organization classifies caffeine as one of the “most widely used psychoactive substances” in the world. Caffeine does have some health benefits, but research has found that exercise can give you the same alert feeling as your morning cup of joe.
Research shows that a dose of exercise improves mood and cognition much in the same way that coffee does. Plus, you won’t have to deal with the side effects of coffee such as tremors, trouble sleeping, and caffeine dependence.
Researchers tested this by comparing the effect of coffee and exercise on working memory, our ability to process and retain daily information. They found that working memory results were similar after spending 20 minutes on a treadmill and consuming a single serving of caffeine.
Caffeine can be tough to cut out, but consider replacing one cup of coffee a day with a long walk or short jog. Slowly reducing the amount of caffeine you take in and adding more exercise to your day will leave you with the same energized feeling in no time!
