Winter Time Tip — Sit Half-Hour Less

Winter is coming, and with the coming of winter comes more time sitting. It’s one of those life automatics. Some of us sit a lot anyway, and wish we could sit less.

A study from the University of Turku, Finland by Dr. Taru Garthwaite says sitting 30-minutes less each day will give you more energy and boost your metabolism. The less sitting — the doctor says — improves the body’s ability to burn fats and carbs. As most of you know, burning fat and carbohydrates leads to more energy.

“A healthy body burns more fat at rest, but after meals and during high-intensity exercise, the main source of energy shifts to carbohydrates,” Garthwaite said. “If metabolic flexibility is impaired, blood sugar and lipid levels can rise and, instead of being used for energy production, excess fat and sugars may be directed to storage.”

The study was recently published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. It was done over six months with 64 sedentary adults suffering from either heart disease or diabetes, or both. Half were told to sit a half hour less each day and the control group — consisting of the other half — were told to keep their sedentary style of living.

“Our results suggest encouragingly that reducing sedentary behavior and increasing even light daily physical activity — for example, standing up for a phone call or taking short walks — can support metabolic health and potentially help prevent lifestyle diseases in risk groups,” she added.

Garthwaite said we can all benefit from even a small increase in physical activity. The being active half-hour-a-day group also benefitted from more flexibility and fat burning when actually exercising.

“The positive metabolic effects of reducing sedentary behavior are likely to apply mainly to those who are physically inactive and already have excess weight and an elevated risk of disease,” Garthwaite said. “Even greater benefits can be achieved by following the physical activity recommendation of 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity activity each week — but even a small increase in physical activity is beneficial, especially for those who are not physically active.”

Source link: Good News Network — https://bit.ly/3JOBUYT