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Sitting for long stretches might boost your risk for type 2 diabetes, even if you exercise, researchers report. An extra 40 minutes of couch potato behaviour was found to dramatically increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a new study published online in Diabetologia. HealthDay reports that “each extra hour in a sedentary position – whether working on the computer or lounging in the recliner – seems to increase” the “odds of type 2 diabetes by 22 percent, the study authors”. That risk remained even if people undertook high intensity exercise such as running or swimming, researchers found after collecting “data on nearly 2,500 adults, average age 60.”
It should be noted however, that the link between sitting and diabetes is only an association based on cross-sectional data, and doesn’t prove that sitting causes type 2 diabetes. Why sedentary behavior may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes is not clear from the study.
Overall, sitting for long periods is not a good thing!
Reducing stress could help people lose weight, according to a University of Florida study in the journal BBA Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids. Chronic stress promotes production of betatrophin, a protein that reduces the body’s ability to break down fat. These findings were found in this study involving animal metabolism, and further research is needed to study the effect of betatrophin in humans. This however provides an interesting insight into how reducing chronic stress might help people lose weight. Also reported in HealthDay News.