Too much sitting increases the risk of chronic disease and premature death & What to Do About It

A new study shows that just exercising every day is not enough to stay healthy. You guessed it too much sitting.  I don’t know about you but I sit entirely too much for extended periods of time banging out articles or posts or whatever on my computer.

Hey I just went to lift class this morning and really exerted myself. Isn’t that enough? According to the new study, NO. (Don’t worry I have a must have tool near the end of this post to help you solve this problem of sitting too much… so read on)

If you are among the sitters like most Americans I have BAD news for you.  A long term study showed how sitting for extended hours a day such as computer or whatever…in other words  inactivity for long periods of time leads obesity and other related diseases.

Now with all sedentary activities the evidence is increasing that shows sitting is, in fact the risk factor not only for chronic disease but also for premature death a chilling finding considering how long the average American spends sitting each day. Think how many of you have jobs that are in front of computer screen all day.

Just how long Do we Sit During the Day?

Americans sit on average of more than eight hours each day in front of screens, including televisions, computer monitors, cell phones and other technology, according to video consumer study.

Americans also sit at their desks and in their cars, which could easily push the average number of sitting hours even higher. For years health officials have first is to make sure that we get in 30 to 60 min. of exercise daily. But on any given day most Americans have about 15.5 non-exercise waking hours and for many adults this free portion is time spent sitting.

The researchers say, important not only to exercise, but also to make sure you are breaking prolonged periods sitting with other activities. In other words, even if you exercise every day, it may not be enough to overcome the negative effects of a waking hours sitting.

What’s necessary is to the optimally healthy is a combination of both exercise and reducing your time sitting every day.

So what is so bad about sitting?

Sitting is perfectly healthy and natural, assuming it’s not done in excess. Your body is meant to, flex and stretch. So any time sitting becomes extended negative changes began to happen.

Numerous studies show rates of heart disease, diabetes and obesity are double and even triple the people who sit a lot. Part of the problem is sitting stops circulation of lipase, an enzyme that absorbs that absorbs fats. So instead of being burned by your muscles, that circulates in your bloodstream you were sitting in they end up stored as body fat clogging arteries contributing to disease.

In fact, simple standing out as opposed to sitting engages muscles and help somebody process fat and cholesterol positive way. Regardless the amount of exercise you do.

Further: a recent study found sitting time is weight gain in Australian women even after adjustments from observational studies shown not only that it’s. But also that a larger number of breaks in sedentary time are associated with more favorable metabolic profiles, according to an editorial in the British Journal of Sport Medicine.

Sitting increases Your Risk of Premature Death

One of the most revealing new studies, published in the journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, linked sitting time with greater risk of death in more than 17,000 Canadians.

Even after accounting for physical activity levels outside of work, body mass index, age, sex, drinking alcohol and smoking, the mortality risk was 1.54 times for those who spent almost all of the days sitting than those who spent almost no time sitting the researchers found.

Those who were considered active (at least 30 min. of moderate intensity exercise five days a week) had a lower risk of mortality over the 12 years of follow-up as well.

Surprisingly, however, only 5% of participants compensated for the time they spent sitting at work with exercise. And even among those who did, the risk of premature death depended on how much sedentary time they had in their day.

The lead author and the executive director at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La, said “I don’t think it is a very rosy future.”

He went on to say, the combination with growing prevalence of obesity is linked to me that just about every developed society which is going to affect spiraling health care cost in developed countries.

Findings of the study also support that physician’s counsel patients not only to reach their level of physical activity and maintain normal body weight but also to reduce the amount of time they spend being sedentary in general and sitting in particular,”Bouchard continued.

Tips for Sitting Less

Want to sit less there is good news. You’ve have already accomplished part of the solution by realizing that you sit too much.

Take every opportunity to stand as often as you can.

Stand while watching your kids play at the park, stand always when you watch TV, and definitely take time to move around while at work. If fatigue is a problem eat healthier with more fresh fruits and vegetables and add clinically proven supplements, like Shaklee. (see below the article I have some suggestions for what to take if you want increased energy.)

How much time your body tolerate being in a position? According to the Mayo Clinic the body can tolerate sitting for around 20 min. before it starts feeling uncomfortable. About every 15 minutes, stand, walk around or change your position or at least 30 seconds.

The bottom line is this: exercise is a necessary tool to stay healthy-but it is not enough. You’ve got to spend less time sitting as well.  So just as you have a goal for daily exercise every day , make a commitment to sit less as well. The more you get into the habit of standing, walking, stretching or simply moving instead of sitting, the better you’ll feel and the easier it will be.

And in fact believe the motivation just rumors are the average person can earn 60 extra calories each hour just by standing instead of sitting!

I got in this post because I have to get up and stretch. One idea that has helped me is to get an egg timer with a bell and put it next to me when sitting because I know it is too easy to sit for long period.

To Your Health,

PS this is the tool you have waiting for to help you with sitting too much…just set it for 20 min or 30 at the most…then get up and stretch or walk around. (don’t forget to read below on having more energy

Are you worn out and fatigued?  Want more energy?

Most of the time when people come to me asking about supplements the major complaint is energy level. I won’t go down this rabbit trail too much…but look at your diet.

•            First review your Diet.  Does it contain a majority of fresh fruits and vegetables and are you getting adequate amount of protein and the right kind? Most women may have a salad at lunch with very little protein to keep their blood sugar level.

Lack of adequate protein and foods with fiber cause you to get hungry and fatigued. I like the Shaklee Cinch and the Energizing Soy Protein…both of these do a great job of keeping blood sugar level even and Shaklee’s protein supplements have a high PER (protein Efficiency Ratio) meaning the body utilizes it very easily.

This chart might be helpful in determining if you are getting enough protein grams during the day

 

•             B Complex is another supplement I would recommend for energy is…this is involved in metabolizing the food into energy. Click here to view a PDF of what B does. Remember B is water soluble and is depleted in the urine….And do not buy time release B complex…because B’s release at different parts of the intestinal track. HOWEVER Shaklee is the only company that has a special time release technology that works for B’s in their Vitalizer Strip of vitamins…that is ONLY exception Promise you no other company has this technology…because Shaklee patented this process

 

• Take a Good  Multi- Mineral Vitamin like Shaklee Vita Lea or better yet take Vitalizer . Shaklee’s multi has been clinically tested and is inexpensive. Member cost is around $12 a month. That is cheap nutritional insurance. No other company I know right now spends money to test their own product. Shaklee has over 100 published clinicals.

Why take junk vitamins if you want to improve your health?? In fact the Landmark study that was done on people using Shaklee products for over 20 years showed that they had healthier blood levels of key markers for health than those who used other brands of multi vitamins But one interesting thing that came from the study was those people who took NO MULTI VITAMIN had healthier blood than those who took another brand of multi-vitamin. So don’t think you are saving money by buying your vitamins at Walgreens, Sam’s, Costco and the local grocery store.

And lastly if you want to give yourself more energy take a proven energy cell product called Vivix.  The University of Tennessee showed that Shaklee Vivix increases the cells Mitochondria better than no supplement, and 10 times more than just people who take Resveratrol alone.

 

•   And if you want to do any better than that adds CoQHeart to the mix. This is a CoQ10 product that is more effective than others on the market…see explanation here. CoQ10 also adds energy to the cell’s Mitochondria.