Most of us know that sitting for too long is not healthy, but new research sheds light on the dangers of prolonged, uninterrupted sitting over time.
What are the health risks associated with sitting for long periods of time and how can you counteract the harmful effects? Here’s how often to take breaks from sitting and the best exercises to move the body throughout the day.
Health risks of sitting for too long
You might’ve heard the phrase “sitting is the new smoking.” The negative health effects of prolonged sitting are well-documented.
Over time, sitting for too long “inhibits the body’s ability to deposit fat from the blood stream and impairs healthy cholesterol (HDL) from being able to clear the arteries,” Chris Travers, coordinator of exercise physiology and sports performance at Cleveland Clinic, tells TODAY.com.
Decreased muscle contractions during prolonged sitting have also been shown to reduce insulin sensitivity, Travers adds.
Research has linked sitting for long periods of time with an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, digestive diseases and Alzheimer’s disease, among other health issues, TODAY.com previously reported.
There’s even evidence that sitting too much can kill you.
Individuals who spend most of their workday sitting have a 16% higher risk of dying, for any reason, according to new research recently published in JAMA Network Open.
The study, which followed over 480,000 subjects in Taiwan for nearly 13 years, also found that people who predominantly sit at work are 34% more likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
The longer you sit uninterrupted, the more harmful sitting is.
One-quarter of Americans report sitting for more than eight hours every day, according to research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Sitting for more than a couple hours at a time is really injurious to your health,” Dr. Jordan Metzel, a sports medicine physician at the Hospital for…
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