Sitting down all day is as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes.
Of course these are bad for you in two completely different ways, but researchers found that sitting at a desk for 6-8 hours per day is as bad for your health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.
Sitting down all day makes you more likely to have a heart attack.
Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana analyzed the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over a period of 13 years. At the end of their study, they found that people who sat down for most of the day were 54 percent more likely to die of a heart attack!
Sitting makes you more likely to get all kinds of diseases.
In another study, researchers found that sitting not only increases your chances of contracting weight-related diseases, like diabetes and heart problems—but it also makes you more likely to get cancer. Those who sat and exercised in the study fared a bit better, but even working out regularly was not enough to counteract the hazards of sitting too much.
Sitting drops your good cholesterol.
After just two hours of sitting down, your body’s production of good cholesterol drops by 20 percent, while the enzymes that break down fat drop by 90 percent– as soon as you sit down!
Sitting for impacts your metabolic system.
“Today, our bodies are breaking down from obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, depression, and the cascade of health ills and everyday malaise that come from what scientists have named, ‘the sitting disease.’” –James Levine, MD, PhD