Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.
Episode 2904:
Sitting may be the new smoking, as Bryce Hastings explores the surprising link between prolonged chair use and heart disease. Studying the Hadza people of Tanzania reveals that it's not just sitting, but how we sit that matters; squatting and kneeling activate muscles, reducing harmful triglyceride buildup. Simple changes, like standing desks or moving more throughout the day, could dramatically improve long-term health.
Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.lesmills.com/fit-planet/health/sitting/
Quotes to ponder:
"Sitting is the new smoking. Even if you’re a regular at the gym, long periods of sitting on a regular basis have been shown to significantly shorten your life."
"The key difference is that the Hadza don’t use chairs; they squat or kneel. These positions require low-grade muscle activation that, despite the low intensity, has a dramatic effect."
"Exercise is great for warding off the hazards of modern life. But if you’re inactive for long periods during the day, you’re still at high risk of contracting some nasty diseases."
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily. Can You Catch Heart Disease From A Chair by Bryce Hastings with LesMills.com and I'm Dr. Neal, your very own personal narrator. Welcome back to another week of Optimal Health Daily. This is where I read to you from some of the best health and fitness blogs on the web, kind of like an ongoing audiobook and always with a bit of my commentary at the end. For now, let's keep this intro nice and short and get right to today's post and start optimizing your life.
[00:00:34] Can You Catch Heart Disease From A Chair by Bryce Hastings with LesMills.com When I was growing up in the 70s, there was an ashtray in each corner of our family living room. In those days, everybody smoked. In fact, my mother was advised by her physician to smoke to relieve stress. Visitors smoked. My brother smoked. It was unusual not to have a social event that wasn't in a haze of cigarette smoke.
[00:01:03] So we needed strategically placed receptacles for people to dispense of their ash. Eventually, scientists and medical researchers convinced people that smoking is a really bad idea. As a result, I haven't seen an ashtray in years. So, after reading a recent study on the perils of sitting, I'm now wondering if chairs and sofas will be the next to go. Quite simply, sitting is the new smoking.
[00:01:30] Even if you're a regular at the gym, long periods of sitting on a regular basis have been shown to significantly shorten your life. How can this be? We've been sitting for hundreds of thousands of years. How can something so common be so bad? The answer? It's the way we sit. To shed light on this, let's journey back and discover how we rested in previous eras.
[00:01:55] Only in the past 10,000 years have humans been able to source food by farming animals and raising crops. Prior to this recent history, humans spent millions of years practicing and evolving a hunter-gatherer approach to food sourcing.
[00:02:10] From an evolutionary perspective, we're designed to behave in this hunter-gatherer way, like the Hadza people of Tanzania, one of the few remaining populations who still hunt every day and gather vegetables for nourishment. These days, the Hadza have quite an audience.
[00:02:29] They are monitored, probed, and generally scrutinized by researchers desperate to discover what distinguishes their lifestyle and its health benefits from a more modern approach. As you would expect, the Hadza have substantially lower rates of lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, when compared to those in modern society.
[00:02:51] To further our understanding of the ills that come with a modern lifestyle, the Hadza's eating patterns were also recently put under the microscope. One would assume that adopting a hunter-gatherer approach to life would be exhausting. They must spend way more time in active food-finding pursuits compared to us, modern-day sloths, and as a result, sit less. But reality does not support this assumption.
[00:03:17] The Hadza spend plenty of time sitting and resting, too. In fact, their sitting duration over the course of a day is almost identical to ours. The key difference is that the Hadza don't use chairs. They squat or kneel. These positions require low-grade muscle activation that, despite the low intensity, has a dramatic effect.
[00:03:39] A number of investigations have demonstrated that prolonged sitting with little to no muscle activation, like we do daily in chairs, results in the accumulation of triglycerides, fat that circulates in the blood and a major contributor to heart disease. Whereas, interrupting these positions by getting up regularly or staying in a standing position more often can result in a 32% reduction in triglycerides.
[00:04:06] In fact, the low squat position, meaning sitting your butt on your heels, used by the Hadza, generates between 5 and 10 times more muscle activation than sitting in a chair. This muscle activity gently soaks up triglycerides, resulting in less fat circulating in the blood, which lessens the risk of cardiovascular disease. Now, I don't know about you, but I can't squat like the Hadza.
[00:04:32] I feel like my knees are going to explode and my hamstrings cramp like nothing on earth. But, as a result of reading these findings, I've converted my desk at home to a standing option. In fact, I've written this whole article while standing. The fact is, exercise is great for warding off the hazards of modern life. But, if you're inactive for long periods during the day, you're still at high risk of contracting some nasty diseases.
[00:04:57] With this in mind, I'm hoping the plush, high-backed office chair will soon disappear like the overflowing ashtrays. Standing desks will be everywhere. And shows on Netflix will come with reminders to do a few burpees at regular intervals. You just listened to the post titled, Can You Catch Heart Disease from a Chair? by Bryce Hastings with lesmills.com And I'll be right back with my commentary.
[00:05:26] Dr. Neil here for my commentary. You want to know a little secret about me and recording this show? I always record every episode standing. I actually never sit when I record these. Now, this reminded me about one of the smartest people in the world, Marilyn Voss Savant. She's been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having one of the highest IQs in the world. I mention her on this show quite a bit. My friends think I'm in love with her.
[00:05:53] But I have to constantly remind them that I talk about her all the time because I respect her intelligence. Anywho, Marilyn has a weekly column in Parade Magazine where she responds to readers' questions. A reader once asked her about the health benefits of standing. Marilyn responded that while standing is better for our health than sitting, the real health benefits lie in movement. Just as Bryce said, standing is good, but moving is even better.
[00:06:22] So, let's say after hearing today's author, Bryce's advice, you make a vow to stand instead of sit when you're working on your computer at home. That's a great goal and would definitely be an improvement. But it would be even better to move while you're standing. Maybe walk in place, or perform butt kicks, or calf raises, or, as Bryce said, do some burpees while watching Netflix.
[00:06:46] So yes, standing is good, but movement while standing is even better. Which reminds me, I better stop recording soon and do some burpees. Alright, that'll do it for the Monday episode. I hope you're having a great start to your week. I'll be back here tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits.