Many people have to deal with the daily stresses of jobs, school studies and other situations. Constant stress can impact blood vessel health by decreasing your body’s capacity for nitric oxide induced vaso-relaxation. New research presented at the Experimental Biology 2016 meeting in San Diego suggests regular cardio exercise can help reduce some negative aspects of everyday stress.

Scientists subjected lab rats to unpredictable episodes of mild stress. Some exercised on a treadmill for 8 weeks while others were inactive. The stressed fit rats showed the greatest maximal blood vessel dilation (90%) compared to the inactive stressed rats (78%). For comparison, a control group of non-stressed rats achieved a rate of 83% dilation.