Standing in Place of Sitting Could Improve Blood Sugar, Study

By Leah Shainhouse, Category : Health News • July 31, 2015

Many studies focus on the importance of engaging in physical activity for reducing risk factors leading to heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. However, researchers from the University of Queensland evaluated the benefits of replacing sitting with either standing or moving.

According to the study, published in the European Heart Journal, more time standing rather than sitting could improve your blood sugar, fats in the blood and cholesterol levels.

The study monitored activity levels of 782 men and women between the ages of 36 and 80 for 24 hours over a seven-day period. The amount of time spent sleeping, sitting, lying down, standing, walking and running were tracked. Researchers evaluated blood samples and measurements of their blood pressure, height, weight and waist circumference.

Findings revealed that replacing at least two hours of sitting with standing resulted in a 2% decrease in blood sugar levels, an 11% decrease in blood fats and a 6% decrease in cholesterol ratio. There was also an increase in good cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, standing did not result in improving the BMI score or reducing the waist circumference. However, when replacing stepping with sitting for at least two hours, the BMI scores were reduced by 11% and their waist circumference reduced by 7.5 cm. There was also a significant reduction in blood fat levels by 11%, when walking instead of sitting.

“These findings provide important preliminary evidence that strategies to increase the amount of time spent standing or walking rather than sitting may benefit the heart and metabolism of many people,” stated senior research fellow, Dr. Healy. “Get up for your heart health and move for your waistline.

“This has important public health implications, given that standing is a common behaviour that usually replaces sitting. If people can incorporate alternatives to sitting wherever possible, it may benefit their heart and metabolic health.”

http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/health-news/standing-in-place-of-sitting-could-improve-blood-sugar-study

Thanks for posting this Yoly ... I think movement ... any movement ... must be better for health.

What do you think?

All the best Jan

yoly wrote: By Leah Shainhouse, Category : Health News • July 31, 2015

Many studies focus on the importance of engaging in physical activity for reducing risk factors leading to heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. However, researchers from the University of Queensland evaluated the benefits of replacing sitting with either standing or moving.

According to the study, published in the European Heart Journal, more time standing rather than sitting could improve your blood sugar, fats in the blood and cholesterol levels.

The study monitored activity levels of 782 men and women between the ages of 36 and 80 for 24 hours over a seven-day period. The amount of time spent sleeping, sitting, lying down, standing, walking and running were tracked. Researchers evaluated blood samples and measurements of their blood pressure, height, weight and waist circumference.

Findings revealed that replacing at least two hours of sitting with standing resulted in a 2% decrease in blood sugar levels, an 11% decrease in blood fats and a 6% decrease in cholesterol ratio. There was also an increase in good cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, standing did not result in improving the BMI score or reducing the waist circumference. However, when replacing stepping with sitting for at least two hours, the BMI scores were reduced by 11% and their waist circumference reduced by 7.5 cm. There was also a significant reduction in blood fat levels by 11%, when walking instead of sitting.

“These findings provide important preliminary evidence that strategies to increase the amount of time spent standing or walking rather than sitting may benefit the heart and metabolism of many people,” stated senior research fellow, Dr. Healy. “Get up for your heart health and move for your waistline.

“This has important public health implications, given that standing is a common behaviour that usually replaces sitting. If people can incorporate alternatives to sitting wherever possible, it may benefit their heart and metabolic health.”

http://www.doctorshealthpress.com/health-news/standing-in-place-of-sitting-could-improve-blood-sugar-study

An older post which Yoly originally put on the Forum back in 2015 ... but some may not have seen it.

...and no I'm not standing while I type this ... but will be soon ... and enjoying a walk.

All the best Jan

A friend bought a "standing desk" and a headset so she could walk around while she was on the phone. Not uncommon in the US or so I believe, less common over here.

When I was a trucker I obviously used to spend a lot of time sitting, but it was interspersed with heavy exercise when handballing off some of my loads. When I was office bound I used to walk around the other offices and factories rather than use the phone, and walk round the hilly town at lunchtime as well as walking at the weekends. God knows what state I'd be in if I didn't!

I think doing just one thing all the time is not good. That may be laying, sitting, standing, walking ... even running. Surely if you can 'mix it' up as the saying goes, it will be more beneficial. Of course whatever we choose to do (or not) depends on our daily routines, state of health etc. etc.

Having said that the standing desk is more popular and available than it used to be, and I thought this article from March 2014 is still a good read!


Five Health Benefits of Standing Desks

Spending more of your day standing could reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

There was a time when standing desks were a curiosity—used by eccentrics like Hemingway, Dickens and Kierkegaard, but seldom seen inside a regular office setting.

That's changed, in large part due to research showing that the cumulative impact of sitting all day for years is associated with a range of health problems, from obesity to diabetes to cancer. Because the average office worker spends 5 hours and 41 minutes sitting each day at his or her desk, some describe the problem with a pithy new phrase that's undeniably catchy, if somewhat exaggerated: "Sitting is the new smoking."

Much of this research has been spurred by James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic. "The way we live now is to sit all day, occasionally punctuated by a walk from the parking lot to the office," he recently said during a phone interview, speaking as he strolled around his living room. "The default has become to sit. We need the default to be standing."

All this might sound suspiciously like the latest health fad, and nothing more. But a growing body of research—conducted both by Levine and other scientists—confirms that a sedentary lifestyle appears to be detrimental in the long-term.

The solution, they say, isn't to sit for six hours at work and then head to the gym afterward, because evidence suggests that the negative effects of extended sitting can't be countered by brief bouts of strenous exercise. The answer is incorporating standing, pacing and other forms of activity into your normal day—and standing at your desk for part of it is the easiest way of doing so. Here's a list of some of the benefits scientists have found so far.

Five Health Benefits of Standing Desks

Reduced Risk of Obesity

Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes and Other Metabolic Problems

Reduced Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Reduced Risk of Cancer

Lower Long-Term Mortality Risk

The full article can be found here
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-health-benefits-standing-desks-180950259/?no-ist

All the best Jan

Well I only just 'bumped' this post up on Tuesday/Wednesday and then I also read an article on Authority Nutrition site ... so if you fancy more reading about this subject you can find it here

https://authoritynutrition.com/6-tips-for-using-a-standing-desk/

All the best Jan