Sitting Kills
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
by Joel Hirschhorn
http://www.delusionaldemocracy.com
If you are sitting while reading this, then you may be risking your life. It takes a lot of attention these days to keep up to date on what lifestyle practices will shorten or extend your life. There seems to be no end to research findings that tell you to stop doing what you are used to enjoying. Here is yet another research result that you should take seriously. A large study of more than 17,000 people age 18 to 90 that were followed for 12 years found that the death rate was almost three times higher among those that spent almost all of their time in a week sitting, as compared to those that spent almost none of their time sitting. That's right, the more you sit, the sooner you die. Who would have thought?
"This is an important observation because it suggests that high amounts of sitting cannot be compensated for with occasional leisure time physical activity even if the amount exceeds the current minimum physical activity recommendations," wrote researchers from the Baton Rouge, , and the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute in So after you do you daily workout think twice about plopping down and sitting for hours.
Medical researchers say that sitting produces "metabolic alterations" that cannot be offset by the physical activity guidelines of the American Heart Association and many other groups. Typically the advice is to spend at least 30 minutes a day in physical activity like walking, jogging, swimming or bicycling. Some research has found that sitting for long periods of time actually turns off an enzyme that helps you burn fat. It was found that when people were sitting, activity of Lipase was suppressed. This led to raised levels of HDL ("bad") cholesterol, reduction in metabolism and increased retention of fat.
How relevant is this sitting syndrome? Americans spend an average of 55 percent of their day in these kinds of sedentary practices: watching TV, working on their computers, eating, working at a desk, and riding in a car. The lesson: Even if you have correctly adopted a regular regime of exercise, it is also necessary to cut way back on the amount of sitting you do. You might want to think about locating your computer in a place that allows you to stand up while using it.
Jobs that involve walking around really have an advantage over those that mostly involve sitting, not just office work but jobs like driving a taxi, truck or bus, for example. Rather than sitting while talking on the phone, stand up and move around. When it is necessary to work or do something that normally means sitting get in the habit of taking very frequent breaks and move around. For example, a great habit when watching television is to get up at every commercial and walk (but preferably not to eat). Even eating while standing up offers an advantage. Drink more water and pee more frequently is good advice.
Bad news offers business opportunities. A company in is offering a solution to the sitting problem. It is a treadmill desk named the TrekDesk. It is an adjustable height workstation that attaches to existing treadmills and allows individuals to walk at slow speeds while they work (without sweating) ensuring movement throughout the day. It costs nearly $500, but perhaps the health benefits justify it.
Get up! Walk around. Keep moving. Get off your butt. Survival of the fittest means sitting less.
This Article has been viewed 876 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Hi Joel.Thanks for the information, warning and advice. Good stuff.Dianne
Great article. Well done.I am 50-50 when it comes to sitting. I do a lot of sitting on weekends but not much during weekdays.I will take your point but don't want to become paranoid about everything so think that I can live with sitting. Anyway, there is probably a danger in standing.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.