In my first post about Sitting Down – How Much Is Too Much Everyday? The focus was on research results unfolding that conclude – sitting is bad for us.
Many readers agreed with my basic premise: we may benefit more from living our life in moderation instead of a blanket belief of all health scares.
Cases in point:
- Coffee is bad one year, good years later.
- Eggs cholesterol is bad one year, found not to affect us the way originally believed in subsequent years.
- Nuts in the past were bad for us what with all their fat. Of late, they help to reduce likelihood of heart disease and high blood pressure.
Most recently, a few headlines are calling sitting too much the new smoking. Yikes smoking! As a former smoker decades ago, this reframing caught my attention. After all we know beyond doubt that this is one habit proven to be deadly.
In my consideration of family members and their long lives compared to their degree of sitting it seems, there is more to sitting too much that it would be called, the new smoking.
Is Sitting Down Too Much an Invitation for Chronic Conditions and Disease?
Some health websites reference as many as 47 studies around sitting too much. There are more studies than that although the data synthesized from these 47 was compelling.
There are three main diseases or conditions that consistently come up as more reports and articles appear.
Diabetes The Mayo Clinic did a study of how sitting affects blood sugar spiking and what they found was amazing. If the study participants went back to sitting after a meal, or ate while sitting at their desk, their blood sugar peaked and stayed there for two hours. However, if the same participants took a 15-minute walk at just 1 mph after eating, their blood sugar peaks were cut in half.
The University of Pittsburgh was given a $3 million grant by the National Institute of Heath to study the relationship between long times of sitting and diabetes. One finding supports getting up and off our butts with a study across the USA in 27 different clinical centers and those at high-risk for diabetes. “People at risk for diabetes who lost weight and increased their physical activity levels sharply reduced their risk for diabetes and heart disease, outperforming people who took a diabetes drug instead.”
This says, when you lose weight and exercise regularly, the risk for either diabetes or heart disease is more effective than just taking a diabetes drug.
At the Mayo Clinic website, it was noted that we are moving 90 percent less than our ancestors did 100 years ago. What a duh moment for me! That explains why great grandma Nellie lived and was healthy until about age 95! Same with great grandpa Joe at 92.
But did Nellie and Joe have diabetes? Were they tested for it? I’ll never know.
A caveat of this particular study anyway, is that your risk for developing diabetes increases if you consistently have high blood sugar.
Heart Disease When we sit, we don’t burn as many calories as we would if we were up and moving around. Most of us know that.
So it takes longer for our bodies to burn off the calories we eat at any meal. Then because of that, the blood sugar is higher for a longer period of time.
Of course high blood sugar in effect causes tiny tears on the inside of veins and arteries – the main places for plaque to start building and then, cause heart disease.
In the American Heart Journal article Circulation: Heart Failure, it was stated men who sat for more than 5 hours per day increased their risk of heart disease by 34% verses men who only sat 2 hours per day.
This one did register for me because my husband has heart disease and of late, because he retired, he is sitting more than he did in the past.
Obesity Maybe we can agree that if we take in more calories than we can burn off, we will gain weight?
I’m not sure why our body wasn’t made to just let go of those extra calories it doesn’t need. Now that would be truly amazing.
But hold on. If the body did not store those extra calories, what’s going to happen if you got stuck on that recent Kentucky highway where traffic was stopped for 16 plus hours, and you didn’t “prep” for it?
When our body was designed to have fat stores to draw upon in case of lean times, we can physically get through longer than normal stretches between eating without starving to death.
By sitting, we do not burn off the calories we had for lunch and any snacks eaten during the day. The extra calories increase your weight, which in effect start to cause other health problems, including diabetes.
But did diabetes cause your obesity or did your obesity cause diabetes? Does it really matter?
What the heck can we do?
Are we doomed because of our lifestyle? Wait a minute? We’re all headed in this direction and we certainly don’t know when we’ll be dying, even without sitting so much.
If you have been following this disease, maybe you came across this one infographic I did? It was startling … at first:
infographic originally via: Medical Billing and Coding and more currently at https://www.brainz.org/truth-about-sitting-down/
Someone debunked many of the depictions with the research summarized in this infographic!
That is right: we have to question research findings we find reported.
An introvert’s dream: more research. And I didn’t have to sit much at all to find this treasure.
While I admit high skepticism about this “health scare” now some has me scratching my head asking, what if this is right? Is it right? How will I know?
The conclusion of this series is soon here, now may leave a major unanswered question: what do we do to reduce any feared risks?
How the heck do we motivate ourselves, if we have to, to get up off our butts?
My view has been and still is ‘all things in moderation’. Research studies will always come out with warnings about too much of this or that puts you at risk for this or that. The key phrase is ‘too much’. If you practice ‘all things in moderation’, then your risks should be remain constant and not be higher for any one thing over another. That’s my view.
Cheryl my question which I have yet to find out in these studies (I’m still on the hunt) is what is NOT too much sitting? My first take away on time was just get up every 30 to 60 minutes or so. Then that leads me to the findings that we can’t reverse the effects even WITH a routine like this. I think it’s just absurd but I am still reading.
Agree with Cheryl about “all things in moderation”. Even meat a few times a year isn’t the end of the world:-)
Sitting down too much and not exercising is however, a recipe for disaster. The obesity phenomena has spread from your country to countries all over the world. People comfort eat junk food and sit still. And obesity is an enormous problem in countries that have constructed their infrastructure around the car and driving everywhere. In Europe we can walk. Try that in the Gulf States and KSA.
The Romans used to lie down when they were eating. Maybe we should have kept that habit instead of always sitting?
This is funny Catarina: it also occurred to me about how Romans used to lie down when they were eating and partying! hahaha
It’s finding in the studies what IS that moderation. And while I am up and down, regularly exercising and out and about, what can people who have one of those inside desk jobs do if this is not reversible?
Still researching.
I guess the bottom line is not so much sitting as it is not exercising. But i have a question. What kind of lifestyle do you have if you sit all the time – is that even possible? You do need to get up to grab that unhealthy soda or that calorie and salt laden bag of chips, then you need to get up to throw the empties into the garbage and head to the bathroom. Then it’s time for lunch so you have to get up and either go out to eat – which means walking for most of us – or head to the lunchroom. Either way you’re up and moving. When you go home and have children, you can forget about sitting. To children there is something wrong when the parent sits so best to create chaos and get them running.
So I ask – is it even possible to sit for five hours?
Lenie from what I am reading and finding in the research, it’s when we sit for 3 hours at a stretch. I’m not guilty but I can imagine some people with office jobs are. Then that makes me wonder, is this a big ploy for these upcoming solutions? A new twist on old products?
Is it possible to sit for 5 hours? That’s a GREAT question.
Lenie from what I am reading and finding in the research, it’s when we sit for 3 hours at a stretch. I’m not guilty but I can imagine some people with office jobs are. Then that makes me wonder, is this a big ploy for these upcoming solutions? A new twist on old products?
Is it possible to sit for 5 hours? That’s a GREAT question.
This is a subject I have thought of often as I sit while I write and sometimes that goes on for many hours at a time. It isn’t natural and can totally see that as society becomes more and more sedentary then laziness to move begets more of the same. It has to be a conscious effort to exercise at least a little bit each day.
Tim indeed I think writers may sit longer than some like outside salespeople. But I believe you are so right: we have to make a conscious effort to exercise every day, regardless that these studies say, it cannot reverse the damage of sitting. Heck, if that were the case, then – take me now! I’d rather get up every 30 minutes or so and know that I am moving. Belief is a big part of this I think.
Great question! I am not sure if we will know the answer to this question until more studying comes out. I just know for my husband and I last year changed to standing desk to help. Though not sure if we are healthier because of it. I do notice that my nerve pain is not as bad because I am standing more. But I do need to stretch more because my back is tight. Everything in moderation works best. Thanks for sharing your findings.
Sabrina you are likely onto something with the standing desk – indeed that is one of the solutions the research recommends for the sitting disease. And the fact that any pain is less – without meds or surgery – is a plus!
I’ve been thinking about this lately. I’ve changed my habits, since I’m at my computer for so much of the day. I sit when at my desktop but I stand when using my laptop. I also move around when I’m thinking or taking a break.
I’m right with you Beth about getting up to move around – I’ve posted previously and a couple of times that I use the Pomodoro technique to focus and get my high priority tasks done. This forces me to take a short break every 25 minutes. Plus I do exercise regularly. Love that you stand while using your laptop!
Al post that should truly be read standing up. Should we lobby for cigarette pack type warning labels to sewn into seat cushions? I’d write more but I need to get up and move around.
It truly is at least something to think about isn’t in Ken? And if sitting disease as a remote possibility did get you moving, then, my job is done! hahaha
I have looked at stand-up desks, but I can’t accommodate one in my living space. I like the whole idea of it though and think it could provide a part of the solution to those of us who sit all day at the computer:) My answer has been to get up and walk around more, and I do exercise more frequently. But these studies don’t excite me as they once did as they are so often debunked. Like Cheryl, I have long been a moderation proponent. And how is it, with all this going on that life expectancy is rising, not falling?
Given enough time and patience Jacqueline, not only will the sitting disease possibly be debunked, maybe standing desks will be more appropriately sized for those like me (maybe you) who have a home office. That’s the last part of my research, the solutions so who knows, maybe they are already there!
Great post Pat! Being restricted by mobility issues, I can’t emphasize enough what a difference exercise makes. And I think even small amounts of exercise helps. In fact I read recently that short bursts of exercise are actually better for you than than previous 30 minutes a day X amount of days a week. So again little and often seems to be ruling the day. My HMO now uses standing desks for their consultants, which I think is a great idea, and of course there are always the treadmill desks , though I think that’s probably v. big in LA & not so much elsewhere! What a fabulous infographic too! Great stuff Pat.. Thank you
A.K. when you say you read recently, “short bursts of exercise are actually better for you than than previous 30 minutes a day” it goes to prove my point: wait a little while and something will change with these health scares. I’ve heard about the standing desks and treadmill desks and still, for those of us who work from home I’m not sure it will be a big audience. I say – get up off your butt and move!
In our world which is getting more computerized and user friendly, being stationary will become a bigger issue, and every year that issue will grow. Businesses, and people, will need to have a regiment of just getting up and moving around.
Reminds me of the days when we first got a remote TV, my mom said the same things back then.
William, I love that example of when remote TV first came on the market. That is the point isn’t it? One year it a good thing, the next year a particular thing will kill you.
With any of these “alerts” I try to avoid the hype because I only believe about a third of the stuff printed. That said, even without the hype, I believe that sitting for hours at a time can’t possibly be healthy. I admit I tried the standing desk thing, and it’s been relegated to the corner of my office as a plant stand because I hated it. So now I make a point of getting up and moving around or doing some kind of exercise every hour or so, in fact my house is at the top of a steep hill and I usually walk down/up it at least 3 or 4 times a day. Works for me.
I’d love to know what you hated about a standing desk Marquita? I’m still considering one although my research on it as slowed. I do typically get up every 25 minutes so I FEEL like that might be somewhat of an offset to sitting too long.
You have just made me realise that I have been sitting for too long today and I really need to get up and go for a walk. BTW – I am guilty of sitting at my desk and eating a sandwich and looking at my emails. Those graphic pictures did worry me and I really have to change my habits.
Mina the good thing is, you are NOW aware of your sitting too long. The next good thing will be if you can change your habit of that to getting up more. Awareness they say is the first step. Hooray
I am not sure if this post scared me or inspired me…but it truly reawaken my focus for my body and my health – THANK YOU Patricia!
I especially love the infographics. Although sitting is seemingly a cage dictated my day to day work, we still have the power of choice to tell our body that we owe them a break.
Mahal indeed, knowing we might be sitting too long is kind of a wake-up call. I suppose after being awakened, how we choose the next step will be the tell tale sign of actually hearing the call.
Everything in excess is bad…sitting is not an exception. So I am for the article.
Lynne I love that outlook of everything in excess is bad. It indeed means you can apply it to sitting. Thanks.