From the truth about slouching to how to cross your legs, the new science-backed ways to sit so it doesn't cut your life expectancy By Louise Atkinson Published: 21:44 EDT, 27 May 2024 | Updated: 02:26 EDT, 28 May 2024 e-mail 6 shares 6 View comments Don't smoke, don't drink or eat to excess — these are health mantras most of us are familiar with. And more recently there's another one to add to this list: don't sit for too long. This advice reflects a growing understanding that sitting really is bad for our health — in fact, in 2014, Dr James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in the U.
S. coined the phrase 'sitting is the new smoking' to reflect the emerging evidence linking being sedentary with ill-health. Some studies suggest people who spend six to eight hours sitting each day have a 20 per cent higher risk of premature death from any cause.
But why would sitting cause health problems? It's thought to be because sitting for prolonged periods puts your body into 'standby' — your metabolism slows, circulation is constricted by folded joints and your ability to process sugar in the blood is compromised (inactive muscles don't take up as much blood sugar as active muscles). A study published in 2017 in the Journal of Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry found that good posture improved mood in people with mild-to-moderate depression This leads to an increased risk of heart problems, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Being sedentary for too long may al.
