We are the descendants of 2 million year old human beings. Our genes have changed since our ancestors started their outbond voyage out of Africa. Mankind has been moving, walking and running throughout their days before the industrial revolution. They crouched, sat on the ground cross-legged, or laid down. The human body was established on movement. But after the industrial revolution, we started to sit and sit more- in our cars, work places, home, schools- everywhere! We sit on the way (in the car, in public transport), at school, at lunch, at TV and on the screen, at dinner, at the movies, at a concerts. We use escalators and elevators. Seating, sitting for a longperiods, sitting on a regular basis… is underminig our our health,even killin us!
Here are 13 scientific reasons to consider:
1.You put on weight
When you sit, especially if you sit for more than half an hour, your metabolic rate decreases. The more you sit, more the muscle loss. The large muscles of your legs are particıularly vulnerable to sitting. When your metabolism slows down, everything you eat and drink becomes fat tissue. More you sit, more fat, more weight gain.
2.You become diabetic
Sitting for long periods first causes insulin resistance. When you continue to sit and continue to the consume of sugar and refined carbohydrates you develop glucose intolerance, which is shortly followed by full blown diabetes.
3.You get high cholesterol
Because sitting means no action, your bad cholesterol levels (LDL cholesterol) rise in the long run, and your good cholesterol levels (HDL cholesterol) decrease.
4.You hurt your heart
Sitting slows the entire circulation. Especially when the legs with the largest muscle groupsget no action, the circulation of the whole body slows down, increasing bad cholesterol and makes you vulnerable to arteriosclerosis and heart diseases.
5.You hurt you legs
Decreased circulation in the leg veins has been shown to damage the endothelial cells covering them Especially the case if you are sitting for a very long periods of time. Then first you get varicose veins, then deep vein thrombosis (venous obstruction).
6. You get cancer
People sittig for long periods (6 hours per day), and very long periods (8 hours per day) have a more than 30% increaed risk of lung, intestine, breast, prostate and uterine cancer.
7.You hurt your brain
Inactivity slows blood circulation and your brain. Inactivity also decreases BDNF, the growth and development factor of your brain. Making you susceptible to depression in the short term and Alzheimer type dementia in the long term.
8.You hurt your gut
Sitting for long periods of time reduces the gut blood flow of blood, disrupting the functioning of your intestines. You get excessive gas, indigestion, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.
9.You get a weak core
Sitting too much weakens your back and abdominal muscles. Just looking around you can see that everyone is hunched over light very old people.
10.You hurt your lower back
Sitting stresses your spine, especially your lumbar vertebrae. Together with your spine you hurt your pelvic balance, sitting shortens your groin muscles (Psoas muscles).
11.You hurt your neck
When we lose our core strength we hunch over. The head goes forward, the shoulders fall inward. The neck, shoulder and back muscles contract and get stiff (the upper crossed syndrome). Allready damaged from looking at the phone and screensall day long your neck muscles can’t carry the load; neck and back pain becomes an integral part of your lives.
12.You lose sleep
Moving less and sitting more means low serotonin and dopamine levels and an impaired melatonin secretion. You can not fall asleep, sleep throuh the night, you wake up tired and unrefreshed.
13.You die too soon
The more you sit the less you live. This is partly because of increased cardiovascular diseases and insulin levels, but people with no risk factors, sitting more than 6 hours a day live less than 2 years less than expected.
To steer away from chronic diseases, cancer, dementia and not to die prematurely: We have to move!
Watch out for being an active sedentary person! Sitting all day and becoming a weekend warrior is not good for your ha-ealth either. Of course it’s better than not moving at all, but certainly not enough. You should move at least 2-3 every half hour during the day, even if for 5 minutes. Get up, stretch, take 5-10 steps, get up and get something from a shelf.
Tips to get back on the health wagon:
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