Hippocrates wrote, walking is man’s best medicine more than two and a half millennia ago yet we are still coming to terms with the practicalities of its meaning in the 21st century. Today we understand that moderate walking lowers cholesterol and blood pressure whilst reducing the risk of obesity, stress, diabetes, vascular stiffness, inflammation, colon cancer, dementia, depression and even erectile dysfunction. This understanding is supported by numerous contemporary studies and just because we are deep into the winter months, that doesn't mean we should take exercise and in particular walking for granted, slip on a hat and coat and get moving.
More recently, the University College of London conducted a review of a series of longitudinal studies. The review involved studies of over half a million participants, across seven countries that were tracked for an average of 11 years. After risk factors such as smoking, alcohol and obesity were taken into account, it was found that walking reduced the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks by a staggering 31%. Additionally, the risk of dying was reduced by 32%. In another study, conducted over 10 years and involving 229 menopausal women, of which half were asked to walk at least one mile each day, those who walked reduced their risk of heart disease by 82% across the period of the study.
Contrast these results to sitting. When we sit, our metabolism goes into hibernation by plunging to 1/3 of the rate it would be if we were walking – moderately. Further, the production of lipase – an enzyme that breaks up fat – plummets. After two hours of sitting, our good cholesterol begins to drop and within a single day, insulin effectiveness drops. Little surprise that those who sit for much of their day are at far greater risk of weight gain, type -2 diabetes and all the other aliments listed above.
What is most surprising though is that hard exercise does NOT cancel out the risks associated with prolonged sitting. This is because the time we spend sitting is an independent variable to total mortality, regardless of physical activity levels. Other studies support this notion by showing that the benefits of one hour of exercise are cancelled out by six hours of sitting.
So, the message is clear. We need to start re-inventing the way we work to reduce the time we spend sitting whilst maintaining our exercise regimes. Standing desks, two minute breaks for every 20 minutes of sitting and an increase in small movements such a fidgeting, swaying or even the treadmill desk are possible solutions to the dilemma . It is now time to be bold and make the necessary changes.