DON'T SIT DOWN!

What Is It About Sitting That Makes It So Harmful?

Good morning are you sitting down????  Well guess what you should be standing up.  We in general sit way too much, we are indeed a nation of couch potatoes!  Spring is finally sprung and even though the temperatures are not as high as we would like and there has been a bit of rain going on we should still try to get outside more.  But if you can’t then at least stand up and here is why.

Space medicine has done a lot to help us understand why sitting is so detrimental. One of the primary doctors assigned to keep NASA astronauts from deteriorating in space explains that the human body deteriorates at a faster speed in anti-gravity situations, and, as it turns out, sitting for an extended period of time actually simulates a low-gravity type environment!

Physical movements such as standing up or bending down, on the other hand, increase the force of gravity on your body. Again, anti-gravity environments speed up cellular deterioration, so the key is to disengage from this low anti-gravity situation as much as possible by standing up and moving about.

The problem is that our modern society and our reliance on technology has reduced or eliminated many of these opportunities for low-intensity intermittent movement and replaced it with chronic sitting, typically staring in one direction. Some people have even taken to texting other family members inside the same house instead of getting up and walking into the next room. All of this sloth-like inactivity adds up and can take years off your life by speeding up cellular deterioration.

Other factors come into play as well of course, such as poor posture, which can affect the function of your internal organs, and the lack of blood circulation that results from lack of movement and poor sitting form. I'm convinced that, in addition to getting out of your chair frequently enough, maintaining proper posture while sitting can also make a significant difference. (adapted from Dr. Mercola)

If you are slouched over, and hunched you actually crunch your internal organs into too small of a space and you misalign your bones especially your spine.  You decrease circulation to all areas and put pressure on blood vessels, nerves and lymph channels.  This makes everything congested, sluggish and working harder to overcome the effects of deterioration you are creating by just sitting too much with improper posture.  Remember last week we talked about your mom being right about eating your veggies (don’t forget to do that by the way) Well she was also right when she told you to sit up straight and for Pete’s sake go outside and play, move around a bit. Once again Dr. Mom is right.

Set a timer if you sit all day working and get up and stand every 15 minutes, walk around your chair, do a squat next to your chair and then go back to work that will take you less than 30 seconds yet add years to your life.  Are you still sitting down?  Come on now stand up and move around.

Happy spring and happy standing up. As always I can be reached to talk about standing up and sitting down and any of your other health needs.

Dr. Nina Pregont D.N. drnina@nenaprapthy.com 224-333-6501