Tied to your desk all day? Scientists have found taking just a short walk around every 20 minutes could be enough to reduce your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Researchers in Australia found that a regular burst of low-intensity exercise helped reduce the body’s levels of glucose and insulin after eating.
Glucose and insulin levels naturally increase after eating but in people with type 2 diabetes the levels spike and remain high because the body no longer responds to insulin.
“When we sit our muscles are in a state of disuse and they're not contracting and helping our body to regulate many of the body's metabolic processes,” said study leader Professor David Dunstan, from Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia.
The researchers studied 19 overweight adults who were asked to sit in a laboratory for seven hours on three separate days, while having blood sugar and insulin levels sampled hourly.
After two hours they were asked to drink a 763-calorie drink that was high in sugar and fat.
On one of the days they remained seated for the entire day, only taking breaks to use the bathroom. On another, after having the high-calorie drink, they took a two-minute break to walk around every 20 minutes and on another they took similar breaks during which they exercised more vigorously.
It was found that on the days they walked around every 20 minutes their rise in glucose was reduced by an average of 24% compared to the sedentary group. With the increased intensity exercise the reduction increased to 30%.
Similar results were found with the insulin levels, which rose higher when the participants remained seated all day.
This study adds to the growing body of evidence that sedentary lifestyles are posing a risk to public health.
A study presented at the American Institute of Cancer Research in November 2011, suggested that sitting down for long periods can increase the risk of developing cancer.
Another study by the King’s College London found that a sedentary lifestyle could speed up the ageing process. Researchers analysed twins and found those who were physically active during their leisure time appeared biologically younger than their sedentary peers, it was reported by the BBC.
Motivated by his concerns over our increasingly inactive lifestyles, Dr James Levine from the Mayo Clinic thinks he may have come up with a solution – the treadmill desk.
If you don’t think your boss would take too kindly to you installing a treadmill desk in your office, try these simple exercises that can be done at your desk.