Sitting is one of those things that’s harped on so much that it’s hard not to wonder if it’s unjustified.
But no, it seems all of the criticism of sitting is pretty justified. Unfortunately, standing has been shown to not be all that great either, but we’ll figure it out eventually.
In case you’re not up to speed, sitting has been associated with diabetes, obesity, even anxiety and depression over the past few decades.
But now, there appears to be yet another adverse effect of sitting.
What is it this time?
Now, it appears that sitting can have a pretty bad impact on your liver.
This study found that individuals who sat for over ten hours per day were at a significantly higher risk for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
This isn’t great news, especially for those with desk jobs.
But for those who are especially active, the news looks good—those who walked the recommended 10,000 steps per day saw a twenty percent decrease in likelihood to develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
This isn’t a small study either. It spanned 140,000 South Korean men and women across different ages.
They also took into account other health problems that could have caused this lifestyle, including disease or unhealthy behaviors aside from a sedentary lifestyle.
Dr. Seungho Ryu, the study’s lead author, said, “Our body is designed to move, and it is not surprising that sedentary behavior, characterized by low muscle activity, has a direct impact on physiology.”
There aren’t many medications to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, so it’s really important to get your 10,000 steps per day in.
Anything counts! Even walking!
There’s no defined rule for how much sitting is too much sitting, but when in doubt, always sit less.
How much do you sit every day?
