Sitting is the new smoking. — James Levine, MD, PhD
Recently, I wrote a detailed article (90+ days experiential journey) on the usage of a standing desk and whether it is the right choice to spend $250+ to buy it.
While researching for the article, I learned that it’s not good to stand or sit for a long time. However, research vividly states that standing is still way better than sitting.
I am not talking about sleeping; that’s the only exceptional way to boost your life while lying in bed. In fact, you should sleep at least 8 hours a day to boost your health.
Let’s take the example of 9–5 PM work days, where we have a pretty relaxed culture of sitting for 4 hours, then taking a one or half-hour break, then sitting another 4 hours.
Then we complain oh, I am putting on weight.
Because it’s pretty easy to ask a colleague or even walk to the coffee pod to fill it with caffeine and sugar and then sip while working in front of screens.
In this short article (recall), I will share the side effects of the sedentary lifestyle.
Why sitting is the new smoking?
- Sitting or lying down for a long time is related to heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.
- Sitting most of the time is also bad for your mental health.
- Being active is not that hard. Suppose you work 8 hours in front of a computer screen. It may be the right time to invest in a standing desk to burn at least 1000 more calories on a weekly basis than your regular desk.
- Sitting for a long time is also related to weakening your legs, especially the bum muscles.
- Moving your body helps you digest the fats and sugar you consume daily, and many people don’t even know how many spoons of sugar to consume per day.
Here is the American Heart Association data on sugar consumption per day.
- Just like your legs and bum muscles, sitting for a long time will not support your back muscles, which is pretty common for tech professionals, known as lower back pain, while spending a lot of time in front of computers.
- Sitting for a long time can increase blood pressure.
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is related to long sittings. It usually happens when you sit in a car or plane for a long time and a blood clot forms in the veins of your leg. It could be an emergency situation if that blood clot travels inside the body and blocks the blood supply to other organs. For example, blockage to the lungs can cause pulmonary embolisms.
- Sitting for a long time can increase the risk of mortality due to cancer.
- Sitting for a long time can increase the risk of obesity.
- Sitting for a long time can increase blood sugar. Your mouth is dry, and you feel thirsty because your body takes water from all over to get rid of extra blood sugar.
- Pasture issue: sitting for a long time with a stiff neck and hunched over a computer mouse/keyboard can cause pain.
Let me recall the National minimum activity requirements.
According to the Department of Health, just 23% of Americans meet the bare minimum of weekly exercise.
Each week, at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of intense exercise is required.
What is the solution?
Here is the minimum requirement to say goodbye to the sedentary life. Everything is hard at the beginning.
Pick anything from the following image to start moving.
Sitting for long hours is a silent killer.
Stay active!
Thank you for reading. I wish you a happy, healthy, and productive life.
As a new reader, please check my holistic health, productivity, and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and 30+ days of experiments (29 completed so far) to build a sustainable healthy lifestyle.
