Even if you exercise, sitting for long periods is linked to higher blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
A new study found that sitting appears to be linked to increased blood sugar and cholesterol levels, which can lead to added weight, diabetes and heart disease. But standing more helps improve all these measures and can give you a trimmer waist to boot, the researchers said
More time spent standing rather than sitting could improve your blood sugar, fats in the blood and cholesterol levels, while replacing time spent sitting with time walking could have additional benefits for your waistline and body mass index.
However, the study did not prove a cause-and-effect link between standing and walking more and better health.
The monitors kept track of how long each participant spent sitting/lying down, standing, walking and running.
More standing time was also associated with an increase in HDL (“good”) cholesterol and a drop in LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, the investigators found.
Moreover, replacing two hours a day of sitting time with walking or running was associated with about 11 percent lower average body mass and an almost 3-inch smaller waist.
The researchers also found that average blood sugar levels dropped by about 11 percent and average triglycerides by 14 percent for every two hours spent walking rather than sitting, while HDL cholesterol levels were higher.
People who sit for prolonged periods have a higher risk of early death, even those who regularly exercise, but the risk is most pronounced in men and women who do little or no exercise.
