Sitting is the New Smoking

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"Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, it kills more people than HIV, and it is more treacherous than jumping from a parachute."

«Sitting is the New Smoking.» These statements by Dr. James Levine, professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and dozens of peer-endorsed studies in the most respected medical and academic communities, indicate that the most dangerous enemy to our health may be our comfort.

The human body is a perfect machine, the result of thousands of years of evolution. However, this machine was developed and evolved, thanks to movement. «We are not designed to sit around,» says Dr. Joan Vernikos, former director of NASA’s Division of Biological Sciences and author of the book «Sitting Kills, Moving Heals.» The body is a machine in perpetual motion.

Reducing the time you spend sitting drastically reduces the risks of contracting diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular problems, neck and back pain, and many more. However, this is not an easy task. According to studies by Dr. Levine, we spend more than half of the hours we are awake sitting. Whether it is watching TV, working in front of the computer, driving, or consuming our food.

I workout. Nothing will happen to me.

If you think that going to the gym several times a week, or even every day, eliminates these risks, you are mistaken. Studies show that while exercise is the best for our body, it does not reduce the damage caused by sitting for long periods. According to Katy Bowman, scientist, and author of the book «Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health,» you can’t make up for 10 hours of inactivity with one hour of exercise.

With just half an hour sitting, your metabolism drops by 90%. The enzymes that move negative fats from your arteries to your muscles, where they should be burned, are slowed down. The lower muscles of your body are turned off and in just two hours, the good cholesterol is reduced by 20%. The good news is that getting up and moving for at least five minutes reactivates everything again.

Sitting increases the risk of obesity.

We burn approximately 50 more calories per hour while standing. If you were on your feet for three hours, five days a week, you would burn 750 calories. In a year, that would add up to 30,000 calories, which is roughly 4 kilograms. This is the equivalent of running 10 marathons a year. This and other reasons explain why Dr. Levine is a huge fan of the famous Standing Desks.

Back pain and sciatica from sitting.

In the department of ergonomics at Cornell University, researchers found that there is a 90% increase in pressure to your lower back when sitting. This is reduced when standing up. According to experts, this pain is so common that 1 in 4 people experience back pain for at least one day, every three months.

One of the advantages of changing to a Standing Desk is reducing neck and back pain. As well as reducing the feeling of fatigue.

Sitting excessively and the risk of getting cancer.

More and more types of cancer are directly related to inactivity. Alberta Health Service Cancer Care studies in Canada estimate that 173,000 cases per year in the United States alone are directly attributed to inactivity. Of which include breast, colon, lung, prostate, endometrial, and ovarian cancer. Each of these is also related to excessive sitting.

According to the Live Science portal, why sitting excessively increases the risk of cancer is not yet very clear, however, several scientists claim that several biological markers such as C-reactive protein are present at higher levels in people who spend a lot of time sitting.

Additionally, cardiovascular problems.

Studies from the University of South Carolina report that men who spend more than 23 hours a week in sedentary activity have a 64% greater risk of dying from a heart problem compared to those who only spend 11 hours of activity sedentary a week.

In addition to increasing your risk of diabetes and other diseases, sitting too much shortens your life. Some studies indicate that if the average citizen reduced the time spent sitting to only 3 hours a day, life expectancy would increase by two years. In addition, adults who spend 11 hours a day or more sitting have 40% more deaths in the next three years than those who spend less than 4 hours a day. This regardless of how much exercise you do.

In the case of women, those who spend more than six hours a day sitting have a 37% increased risk of premature death, compared to those who sit for less than 3 hours. Men have an increase of 17%.

Other diseases such as thrombosis, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s, and dementia have also been related to a prolonged sedentary lifestyle.

Get moving and fight depression.

Sitting more than six hours a day increases anxiety and depression rates compared to those who spend periods of less than 3 hours. This unfortunately affects women more than men.

Improve your posture and your performance.

Sitting poorly for eight hours a day and exercising for an hour makes you a «Sedentary Athlete.» To avoid this, make sure you don’t sit in one position for longer than 30 minutes. Take lots of breaks throughout the day, stretch, squat, or walk briefly.