According to a recent study featured on Medical News Today, aerobic exercises like running or swimming may help prevent brain damage caused by excessive alcohol intake.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder worked with 23 female and 37 male volunteers who were classified as moderate to heavy drinkers and asked them to take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

The participants were also instructed to report how well they could control their drinking as well as the amount of exercise they did. A modified type of magnetic resonance imaging called Diffusion Tensor Imaging was then used to scan each participant's brain.

Results revealed that those who drank and exercised had increased white matter volume in the brain compared with those who drank but did not exercise. White matter is made up of bundles of nerve cells that help send neural impulses to different parts of the brain.

Study author Angela Bryan says, "What our data suggest is that beyond just giving people a different outlet for cravings or urges for alcohol, exercise might also help repair the damage that may have been done to the brain. The healthier the brain is, the more likely a person with alcohol issues is to recover."

(Photo by Jim Bahn via Flickr Creative Commons)