Sitting is the new smoking
Sitting is the ‘NEW’ smoking
A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine of over 8000 participants, found the amount of time you spend sitting is directly related to your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and experiencing premature death, despite the amount of exercise you get each day.
The good news from this study is that those who sit for less than 30 minutes at a time had the lowest risk of an early death, nearly 55 percent less than those who sit for longer periods.
Lead author, Keith Diaz, Ph.D., a research scientist from Columbia University Department of Medicine, commented: “We think a more specific guideline could read something like,
“For every consecutive minutes of sitting, stand up and move/walk for five minutes at a brisk pace to reduce the health risks from sitting.'”
Researchers found participants only had to sit for one hour before changes in venous pooling in the calf and a decrease in calf blood flow was noted. These changes resulted in an increase in arterial pressures and minor changes in heart rate, cardiac output and possible changes in the way the body handles blood sugar.
