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Is Sitting Really The New Smoking?

A Big Yes! As crazy as it sounds, sitting is the new smoking. How is that possible – you’ll ask? If you have developed a habit of sitting for long hours, and are walking towards that direction, please stop. It has been found out that sitting for long hours, and developing such a lifestyle, can cause the same adverse health-related diseases as are incurred by smoking. Scary right, much.

The harmful effects to one’s health and side effects of smoking tobacco are many. Apart from being more likely to be at risk of developing lung cancer, a person who smokes tobacco is sure to suffer from high blood pressure, live with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, incur arterial damage due to ravaging cholesterol levels and many others complications. Obviously, health problems persist as long as the habit doesn’t end but leave a scar that can’t be mended.

Sitting, on the other hand, is not what is going to put you at risk of developing any chronic diseases. But developing “the sitting habit” for longer durations for many years of your life, whether due to the work you do or due to any sedentary lifestyle choices you make -this habit certainly puts you at a higher level of health-related risks many years down the line. Medical experts say sitting for long durations (more than 6-7 hours straight) can prove to be an alarming health risk years later, if carried on through larger periods in life, giving rise to a number of health problems.

Some of these health-risks include

Heart-Related Diseases & Outbreaks

If you are a person who sits more than 6-7 hours a day, for months and years that have gone by, you might be putting your heart at severe irreparable risk of developing a cardiovascular health disease. It might be a good time to think about a visit to a specialist and get consultation, not to forget about changing the sitting habit. Take the occasional walk, even standing during breaks does good. Not only do heart-related problems require ample amount of finance to cure, but these health conditions are irreparable – your heart can never be the same again. So, ample care must be taken.

Uneven Posture

People who sit for long hours, due to the occupation or the work they do, with no monumental amount of adherence to health or gym fitness are at risk of developing the C-posture or uneven posture. Scheduling breaks or taking periodic time-outs during doing tasks, or grab the occasional chance to walk goes a long way to kill this bad habit and stop it from growing. Poor posture brings with itself negativity and other skeletomuscular deficiencies later on which could cause your gait to change for the worse

Slacked Metabolism

Metabolism is the rate at which the body procures nutrients from the food we consume. It is advised to walk after meals as it helps metabolism. Unfortunately, developing the habit of sitting for long durations leads to a poor metabolic rate amounting to lower amount of calories burnt, which further leads to complications later on. Poor metabolism also becomes a cause of worry later on in life if one suffers from other ailments because the medication is directly related to the food you consume. And if your metabolism isn’t good enough to procure the required amount of nutrients from food, medication won’t help

While most will be terrified at the havoc a simple activity as sitting can pose on their health, it must be well-understood that taking frequent breaks (if you have a long time sitting at work) can be effective. Even taking the time out to managing your work schedule better and similar simple steps can help improve your body’s resistance to any health risks caused due to sitting

On a whole – sitting and smoking – both are different lifestyle habits but pose similar health-related risks. Push on a habit for too long a time along with leading a poor lifestyle that helps breed diseases, and it becomes the perfect recipe for an irrecoverable and irreversible health risk. You don’t want that.
#StayActive #StayFit

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Tags: exercise, long hours of sitting, sitting posture, sitting suggestion, stay active, stay fit