In this post & video I am going to talk about the ways to counteract the negative health effects of prolonged sitting based on a recent research study.
About Us
Prashanth Reddy Cheruku
Welcome!
I created this platform with a mission: to educate people worldwide about Food Science, Nutrition & Preventive Healthcare. Our ultimate goal is to enhance both lifespan and healthspan—not just for people, but for PETS too!
About Me
I am a qualified Food Engineer & Sports Nutritionist with over 13 years of research & content creation experience. My academic background includes:
🎓 Master of Technology in Food Process Engineering
📍 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur
Introduction & numbers
Prolonged sitting and physical inactivity are the leading causes of several diseases.
As per the recent report published by the World Health Organization about 500 million people (i.e., 50 crore people) will develop diabetes, obesity, heart disease or other noncommunicable diseases because of physical inactivity between 2020 and 2030.
These diseases cost 27 billion dollars every year for the governments and people.
There is a serious need to do something substantial to deal with this problem both at the government level and at an individual level.
A recent study published in the journal of American college of sports medicine offers some useful suggestions & recommendations on counteracting the negative effects of prolonged sitting.
Sitting for a long period of time has become ubiquitous throughout the world and more so in the developed countries.
Unfortunately, the work life is getting more and more sedentary throughout the world. Even the school and college education involves sitting for several hours for lectures.
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Goal & methodology of the research study
The aim of this research study was to find out the effects of taking small walking breaks on improving the cardiometabolic risk.
The trials included 4 different break frequency/duration combinations. They are
– 1 minute break for every 30 minutes
– 5 minutes break for every 30 minutes
– 1 minute break for every 60 minutes
– 5 minutes break for every 60 minutes
The control was taken as uninterrupted sedentary condition.
For the participants of the study glucose readings were taken for every 15 minutes and blood pressure readings were taken for every 60 min.
Study results
If we look at the results of this study taking a 5-minute break for every 30 minutes leads to a whopping 58% reduction in blood glucose spikes after eating.
If we look at the blood pressure readings compared to uninterrupted sitting all the types of breaks reduced systolic blood pressure.
The largest reductions in systolic blood pressure were observed when the participants had taken 1 minute break every 60 minutes and 5 minutes break every 30 minutes.
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Takeaway
If you have been sitting mostly during your work time it’s important to take frequent breaks.
Try to discuss with your team members and superiors about the positive effects of taking breaks and how they can enhance your health and eventually your productivity at workplace.
I am citing the link to the research article in the YouTube description. You can share the article and even this video with your colleagues.
Have a healthy discussion on it and try to implement it in your organization and even in your personal life.
This video is a part of the Sports & exercise Nutrition series here at Research Your Food content platform.
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