BackDoctors recommend standing more to lower blood sugar levels
Practical analysis led to an unexpected discovery. It turned out that people who prefer not to sit, but to stand more in public transport, at home and at work, are less likely to suffer from diabetes, atherosclerosis and obesity. This is reported by RIA Novosti, referring to the article "European Heart Journal"
"A person who walks an average of two hours a day at work, stands in an office for about four hours a day, and does small chores around the house for an hour burns more calories than people who go for an hour of jogging and are sedentary. Medical workers, politicians and ordinary people should stand up for the cause of combating the consequences of sedentary lifestyle. Literally," commented Francisco Lopez-Limenez of the Mayo College of Medicine (USA) on the results of the analysis.
This discovery was made by a team of doctors led by Genevieve Healy from the University of Queensland (Australia), who conducted a unique study among mature and elderly inhabitants of the continent.
As part of it, scientists issued motor activity sensors to almost eight hundred healthy residents of Australia, who agreed to wear them on their wrists and ankles for a week. These devices tracked how long the participants slept, how long they sat or lay down, stood or walked.
By comparing the data collected by these sensors, as well as blood samples and other biomedical data, Healy and her colleagues uncovered a curious phenomenon. It turned out that Australians who preferred to stand a lot during the day were, on average, less likely to suffer from diabetes, cholesterol plaques in the blood vessels, excess weight and heart problems than other participants in the experiment.
A similar picture was observed for all those who like to stand, regardless of their education, wealth and the presence of bad habits. This effect was even stronger among those Australians who walked a lot during the working day and leisure.
On average, every two hours of standing was associated with 2% decrease in blood sugar levels and 11% decrease in blood fat concentrations, as well as a markedly better balance of "bad" and "good" versions of cholesterol. People who walked for at least two hours a day had an average of 11% lower body mass index than other participants in the experiment, which translates into a more toned waist, with a waist circumference that was 7.5 centimeters shorter.
Scientists hope that health services in Australia and other countries will pay attention to their results and try to force citizens and employers to spend more time on their feet, and not lead a sedentary lifestyle.
