You don’t smoke. You are not overtly obese. You don’t fall sick too often. Looking forward to enjoying a long life? Think again, say experts. Something as seemingly harmless as sitting for long may be shortening your life! Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it?
Prolonged hours of sitting are bad for you:
In a study that was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, 53,440 men and 69,776 women were surveyed over a period of 14 years. It was found that those men and women who spent more time sitting were likely to have a higher rate of mortality, regardless of the level of physical activity.
More and more of us are spending time glued to our chairs – whether it be travelling, the office chair, in front of the TV or at the dinner table. Yes, some of us do make it a point to exercise. But if we add up all the hours we spend sitting, these far outweigh the hours we are moving about. When we are just sitting, most of our muscles are doing just that too – just sitting. And this causes a slowing down of our metabolism. No, using your brain or your fingers to type doesn’t really account to much physical activity!
This leads to higher cholesterol, blood sugar levels and waist size. All these are known to up your risk of developing diabetes and heart disease. Another study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that sitting for longer stretches also puts you at risk for colon and endometrial cancer.
How can you reduce your sitting hours at work?
Most of us really cannot do anything much about having to sit down at work. Let’s face it – it may be too late to choose an alternate active career like farming now!
So how can we make the most of our situation? Here are a few tips:
- Park your car / get down at a bus stop that is a little away from your place of work or study.
- If you have to go to the 6th floor, leave the elevator behind at the 5th. Give your muscles some exercise on the stairs for the last floor.
- Place the printer a little away from your desk. Rather than sending an email to your colleague down the hall, walk up to their cabin.
- Stand up and stretch at regular intervals.
If you are relatively free from any other risk factors, an active lifestyle may very well be that elusive fountain of youth for you. But if you already have Diabetes or High Blood Pressure or any other risk factors, fret not. Homoeopathy can help you live a healthy and long life by overcoming the risks posed by these diseases. Get in touch with us to know how Homoeopathic treatment can help you.
