Irisin: The Hidden Secret to Health and Wellness

Recently a new exercise hormone called “irisin” was discovered.  And researchers are finding that this hormone contributes to many aspects of physical and mental wellness such as managing a healthy body weight, slowing the aging process, and improving brain cognition.

“Irisin” is released in the body whenever you exercise.  And you don’t have to exercise extremely hard or long… they’ve found that just a moderate amount of exercise is enough to induce the hormone to be released in your body.  The key is consistency.  You need to make sure that you’re active on a daily basis to ensure that the level of irisin is sufficient enough so you can enjoy the health benefits from this hormone.

Discovery of Irisin

Bruce Spiegelman, PhD was the biologist that discovered the hormone irisin in 2012.  He found that exercise “talks” with different tissues in the body, which has a domino effect to impact various functions.  Because the hormone works as a messenger, he gave it the name “irisin” in honor of the Greek goddess Iris, who was a messenger.

Additional research needs to be done to completely understand how irisin impacts the body.  But, early findings are showing that it is extremely important for overall health and wellness.  Spiegelman found that the levels of irisin in a person’s body can be beneficial for healthy people to prevent disease, as well as sick people who are working to overcome disease.

Cognitive, Weight Loss, and Aging Benefits

Here are several notable health benefits of iris:

• It stimulates neuron growth which in turn improves cognition and brain function.

• It improves your metabolic rate, which is beneficial to prevent obesity.

• An increase in irisin levels enhances genes that convert stored white fat into active brown fat, which helps you burn off more fat.

Additionally, irisin can be beneficial to slow down the effects of aging, because the hormone helps lengthen telomeres.  Telomeres are protective caps located at the end of chromosomes within the human body.  These caps affect the speed in which the cells age, so by protecting the telomeres you essentially slow down the aging process.

How to Boost Irisin

If you want to slow the effects of aging, improve your cognitive function and have more energy, then you want to make sure that you’re exercising on a daily basis.  Remember consistency is the key.  Spiegelman and his associates discovered that doing regular exercise is the most effective way ensure you have enough irisin in your body, so you can prevent brain degeneration, enhance cognitive function, slow down aging and improve your overall health.