Have you recently quit smoking, but you're still tormented by sporadic cravings to light up? Try a five-minute walk the next time you get the urge.
Canadian and British researchers recently completed a study that suggests relatively brief bursts of exercise can aid smokers in kicking the habit.
Previous research had already indicated that exercise might have a role to play in controlling these temptations.
So, the research team examined the results from 12 earlier laboratory trials in which scientists carefully measured the effects of physical activity on the urge to smoke.
The overall findings revealed that short bouts of physical activity -- lasting as little as five minutes -- can reduce the cravings and alleviate the withdrawal symptoms associated with giving up smoking, according to the new study published in the journal Addiction.
"Not everyone can jump on an exercise bike for 40 minutes. But you might be able to go for a brisk five-minute walk if you get a craving for a cigarette," one of the researchers, Guy Faulkner of the University of Toronto, said in an interview.
The study leader, Adrian Taylor of the University of Exeter in Britain, said, "If a drug revealed the same effects, it would immediately be marketed as a valuable aid to help people quit or cut down."
The researchers are not sure why small amounts of exercise seem to have such a big effect.
"The common-sense explanation is that it is a distraction," Dr. Faulkner said. In other words, a brief walk might simply take your mind off the nagging desire to smoke.
The researchers are also pursing a theory that exercise could alter brain chemistry.
"Exercise may result in an increase in dopamine, which affects the appetite . . . for a cigarette," Dr. Taylor said in an e-mail.
But regardless of how it works, it seems to do the trick.
And, Dr. Taylor noted, exercise is certainly a healthier thing to do than eating more food -- a common way of coping with tobacco withdrawal symptoms.
