Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out, according to new study

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

(CNN) — Sitting at your desk all day may put you at greater risk for heart disease –– even if you work out in your spare time, according to new research.

“Our findings really emphasize the importance of avoiding excess sitting… whether or not you’re physically active,” said first study author Dr. Ezim Ajufo, a cardiology fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

While there is a general understanding that sitting too much is likely bad for your health, there’s a need for more research to understand the exact risks and the guidelines for what qualifies as too much sitting, said Dr. Keith Diaz, associate professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. He was not involved in the research.

This study was particularly helpful in investigating sitting because of its large sample size and the methodology it employed, Diaz said.

Researchers looked at data from nearly 90,000 people who wore an accelerometer for a week and compared their sedentary and active time with later diagnoses of conditions like stroke, heart attack and heart failure in later years, according to the study published Friday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Not only was more sedentary time associated with greater risk for cardiovascular disease, but the data was able to show a general guideline for what might count as too much sitting, according to the study.

“We would really recommend that as many people as possible avoid sitting more than 10.6 hours a day,” Ajufo said. “That’s not a hard and fast threshold, but we think it’s a reasonable first step for guidelines and public health intervention.”

Why sitting is so bad?

There are some limitations when it comes to the data.

The data was part of the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database and research resource that follows people long-term. The sample was largely White and of European ancestry, which means that it doesn’t totally represent the US population, Ajufo said.

The study is also observational, which means that while it can make associations, it can’t prove that the sitting was the cause of the heart disease, she added.

It makes sense that sitting too much of the day would take a toll, however, Diaz said.

Muscles are very important for regulating blood sugar and fat levels in the blood, he added. To do their job well, muscles need movement.

“Taking movement breaks is a way to give your muscles the stimulation they need to do their jobs, and it doesn’t take much,” Diaz said.

How to get moving

If you sit in an office all day and commute to and from work, those 10 and a half hours of sitting can add up quickly.

The answer may not be to get a standing desk, Diaz said.

While standing is certainly not sitting, being still in one place like that doesn’t give your muscles the movement they need to efficiently break down sugars and lipids, he said.

A bike or treadmill desk may help, he said. You can also try to see if small meetings can be had over a walk.

The important thing is to add movement into your day in a way that makes sense for you and your schedule, Diaz added. He recommended getting up and walking for just a few minutes every half hour to hour or when you finish one task before moving to the next.

Unfortunately, the data suggested a good workout at the end of the day won’t necessarily undo the problems caused by long bouts of sitting, Ajufo said.

“Sometimes we think we can completely make up for some of the unhealthy behaviors we have … by going out and going for a run,” she said. “What we can say from the findings is that moderate to vigorous physical activity –– so that’s running, a brisk walk –– is not sufficient to neutralize the harmful effects of sitting.”

But don’t be disheartened about activity. Exercise is still always a good idea and benefits people in so many ways, Diaz said.

“You’re still better off than the person who sat all day then didn’t exercise,” he said.

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