“If exercise came in pill form, it would be plastered across the front page, hailed as the blockbuster drug of the century.” – Spark by John J. Ratey

“Spark” is a must-read book that through clinical studies and real world examples explains how exercise can improve our mood, memory and intellect. The first story is of  a school system which enacted a fitness program resulted in students doing significantly better in the national average, international standardized test scores and even in the class they took right after PE. The author is suggesting a minimum of 30 minutes a day of aerobic exercise at a 60% – 65% of maximum heart rate (220 – AGE).

Via GoodReads:

Did you know you can beat stress, lift your mood, fight memory loss, sharpen your intellect, and function better than ever simply by elevating your heart rate and breaking a sweat? The evidence is incontrovertible: Aerobic exercise physically remodels our brains for peak performance.