As we lead more sedentary lives, it's important to counteract the consequences of an excessive amount of sitting. Research has linked long periods of sitting to several health concerns similar to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.
Fortunately, you possibly can reduce your risk of those conditions by standing up and moving more—even for those who're already exercising. This is because regular movement throughout the day increases these advantages.
Dangers of a sedentary lifestyle
In an American Cancer Society study of 123,000 middle-aged adults, researchers found that girls who sat essentially the most had a 34 percent higher risk of dying from any cause over the 14 years of the study than those that sat the least. Is. For men, the rise was 17 percent.
When exercise was normalized, the difference was much more significant. The most sedentary women, who neither moved nor exercised much, were twice as prone to die throughout the study as those that moved and exercised essentially the most. The most sedentary men were 50 percent more prone to die than their more lively counterparts.
Similarly, other studies have concluded that regular, each day movement has advantages, whether for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or weight reduction. The importance of movement to health is so well established that some doctors advise their patients to exercise “sitting in moderation.”
Sitting and your health
Why does sitting for long periods of time have such harmful effects on health? One explanation is that it relaxes your largest muscles. When muscles chill out, they take up less sugar (glucose) from the blood, which increases your risk of type 2 diabetes.
In addition, enzymes that break down blood fats (triglycerides), causing the “good” cholesterol, HDL levels to drop. The result's a better risk of heart disease.
Benefits of each day movement
On the contrary, each day movement not only reduces your risk of major diseases, but in addition helps burn more calories. Dr. James Levine on the Mayo Clinic coined the term “non-exercise activity thermogenesis,” or NEAT, to seek advice from the energy you burn through normal activities that you simply don't consider exercise. These are activities similar to fiddling, taking the laundry upstairs, dancing across the house to your favorite tune, or standing while talking on the phone.
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