The Sitting Disease
Have you ever heard of the saying that “sitting is the new smoking”? Ever wonder why? Well, the negative effects of sitting long term has begun to emerge in research and science just like the negative effects of smoking did some time ago.
Every day in my office I see the negative health consequences from prolonged sitting and inactivity, and I am going to quickly share with you how these negative effects impact your health from the moment your bottom hits the chair to the weeks and years later.
Do you sit in an office chair or on your couch for more than six hours a day? Well if you do, you increase your risk of heart disease by up to 64%, shaving off 7 years of quality life, and are at a 30% higher risk for certain types of cancers such as prostate and breast!
From the moment you sit down electrical activity in your muscles slows down and your calorie-burning rate drops to one calorie per minute; and if you sit for a full 24-hour period, you experience a 40% reduction in glucose uptake, which can lead to type II diabetes.
After less than a week of changing to this sedentary lifestyle, your body increases fat molecules, increases LDL (aka bad cholesterol), and creates insulin resistance putting you at risk for weight gain and increased cholesterol.
After two weeks your muscles start to atrophy and your maximum oxygen consumption drops. This makes stairs harder to climb and walks harder to take and even lowers the aerobic capacity of higher performing athletes. Did you ever notice that just taking a small amount of time away from the gym or your daily runs severely sets you back when you decide to return to these activities?
After a year of sitting more than 6 hours a day you might experience weight gain and high cholesterol and studies in woman suggest you can lose up to 1% of bone mass a year making you more susceptible to compression and stress fractures as you age.
All of these negative effects you have just heard go hand-in-hand with another saying, “if you don’t use it, you lose it”. This is where chiropractic care comes into the conversation. Did you know that 90% of the brains nutrients comes from the movement of the spine? The lack of this spinal movement via static sitting postures can cause many health consequences as you have just read, and this is why it is important that no matter what your lifestyle you have a chiropractor to look after your spine and nervous system. Not only does a chiropractic adjustment provide the much needed movement to the spinal joints that are dysfunctional, but it also reduces venous stasis and swelling, increases nutrients into the intervertebral disc, and blocks pain receptors via proprioceptive barrage. Now, when was the last time you seen your chiropractor?
References
- Brønnum-Hansen, H., Juel, K., Davidsen, M., & Sørensen, J. (2007). Impact of selected risk factors on quality-adjusted life expectancy in Denmark. Scandinavian Journal Of Public Health, 35(5), 510-515. doi: 10.1080/14034940701271908
- Cancian, M., Meyer, D., & Reed, D. (2010). Promising Antipoverty Strategies for Families. Poverty & Public Policy, 2(3), 611-629. doi: 10.2202/1944-2858.1085
- How Sitting All Day Is Damaging Your Body and How You Can Counteract It. (2021). Retrieved 30 June 2021, from https://lifehacker.com/how-sitting-all-day-is-damaging-your-body-and-how-you-c-5879536
- Is Sitting a Lethal Activity? (Published 2011). (2021). Retrieved 30 June 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17sitting-t.html
- Stephens, B., Granados, K., Malin, S., Zderic, T., Hamilton, M., & Braun, B. (2009). Detrimental Effects Of Inactivity On Insulin Action. Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise, 41(5), 2. doi: 10.1249/01.mss.0000354227.14562.e7
- Warren, T., Barry, V., Hooker, S., Sui, X., Church, T., & Blair, S. (2010). Sedentary Behaviors Increase Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in Men. Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise, 42(5), 879-885. doi: 10.1249/mss.0b013e3181c3aa7e
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Chiropractic Lifestyle
