Don’t just sit there!

Bryan Haycock — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:51:14 +0000

You may want to stand up before reading this. Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that sitting shuts off enzymes required for burning fat (1). Not only do these enzymes play an important role in fat burning, but they are also involved in controlling cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and other metabolic risk factors. To explore just how big an effect sitting might have on our metabolism, they compared the positive effects of vigorous exercise with the negative effects of sitting. To their surprise, there was a more profound change in key enzymes in muscle tissue as a result of sitting, than there was from vigorous exercise. What this means is, like exercise, the body responds to sitting as something it must adapt to, and the sitting-signal is just as, if not more, powerful than vigorous exercise. The body adapts to sitting by shutting off enzymes required to burn calories!

The authors of this research warn that this creates a new concern with potentially major clinical and public health significance. The fear is that the average sedentary person may become even more at risk for major diseases such as Type-II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in the coming years if they sit too much.

The take home message for you and me is that we need to be aware that as we sit, we are changing our bodies for the worse. Taking the opportunity to stand and walk around can have a significant impact on our ability to manage our weight. For example, stand up while talking on the phone, or take a walk around the office “on the hour” during the work day.

1. Hamilton MT, Hamilton DG, Zderic TW. Role of low energy expenditure and sitting in obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Diabetes. 2007 Nov;56(11):2655-67.

» Bryan Haycock

Don’t just sit there!