Sitting Is The New Smoking

I wanted a glass of water. So, I asked my wife to get my cup for me (I said, “please”). She replied, “Get it yourself, I just sat down!” My reply, “Sitting is the New Smoking”.

That’s right, the simple act of sitting is the latest thing that is going to kill us. Pretty soon the only things that won’t kill us is smiling and unbuttered popcorn. I digress.

We humans weren’t made to be sitters. Our bodies are meant to move. I’m not talking about marathons or stuff like that, but we need to be bipedal (up on two feet).

Here’s what happens when we stay on our bums for an extended period of time. Our risk of high blood pressure goes up. Our risk for heart disease increases, as does our chances of getting diabetes and cancer.

It is thought that the real culprit is inactive muscle. Inactive muscles don’t burn fat or use blood sugar (Heart disease/diabetes) and don’t deliver as much oxygen and nutrients to our brains (fuzzy thinking/mood disorders).

As an interesting/scary side note, regular exercise doesn’t help. By that I mean active people tend to sit as much as their less active counterparts.

The best thing to do is get up and move. Don’t sit for prolonged periods of time. Walk around the office or hold walking meetings. Some people have resorted to standing desks and even treadmill desks.

We need to be moving, but don’t overdo the standing or pretty soon, standing will be the new sitting because we now know sitting is the new smoking!

 

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