5 Scary Ways That Sitting Can Harm Your Body

Sitting down might seem like an innocent enough activity — we do it while driving, working at our computers, or just taking a moment for ourselves, but while it might feel relaxing for a couple of minutes, sitting for long periods of time has been linked to some health concerns we should worry about.
5-Minute Crafts will tell you about the effects of sitting down and give you some tips to avoid them.

1. It can lead to weight gain

Researchers have looked at the effects of sitting down as it relates to our appetite. We may be inclined to think that sitting can reduce our appetite because, after all, we’re not spending as much energy, but the researchers found exactly the opposite. Prolonged sitting can lead to an increase in appetite and changes in metabolism, which can both lead to an increase in our body weight.

• Getting up every 30 minutes will make you move more, which is always beneficial.

2. It’s bad for your heart

Your heart’s health might suffer because of too much sitting. Scientists performed a study with 2 groups of people with similar diets, drivers who sat all day and guards who had to stand all day — they found that the group who sat all day was twice as likely to experience some sort of heart disease. This is likely to be connected to fat. When we sit, we burn less fat, which can make our blood flow worse and therefore lead to heart problems.

• You can stand when talking on the phone or even watching TV to avoid so much time sitting.

3. It affects your whole body

When we sit all day, our posture starts to worsen progressively. Our neck can get tense and stiff, which affects muscles that are also connected to our shoulders and upper back muscles, over time this can lead to knots in those muscles.
Furthermore, when we sit, we usually arch our backs forward, which is not good at all — it will lead to our body putting weight on the lower back that it shouldn’t be carrying.

• When you’re at the office, you can suggest walking around to have a meeting, instead of sitting down in a conference room,

4. It will increase the likelihood of getting diabetes

Sitting and lying down might change the way our body deals with insulin and increase our risk of diabetes by 112%. Insulin is the hormone that helps us burn sugar, a process which produces energy from the food we eat. Researchers have even concluded that lying in bed for 5 days can increase our blood sugar above healthy levels, due to it causing insulin resistance.

• If you work at home or at a desk, try getting or improvising a standing desk to avoid sitting for the entire work day.

5. Exercise might not help

Sitting can still be bad for someone who exercises a lot. If you get home and just sit on the couch, the time spent at the gym might not be able to compensate for the dangers of this sitting, like worse mental health or heart problems. Specialists say that they’re still investigating, but they already consider sitting to be an epidemic, and they emphasize that we should look at sitting and exercise as 2 separate things, one won’t help the other, the same way exercise won’t compensate for a bad night of sleep.

• When on public transport, try standing for the journey instead of sitting. You can also get off a stop earlier to get that step count up.