Sit less, Move more

I am typing this standing in front of my computer. My tall chair is aside. 

About a year ago, I realized that I felt better when I stood while working. It turned out I was not alone in this discovery; more and more people are opting for a vertical approach to work, and the benefits are becoming increasingly evident.

We're all familiar with the age-old advice to "eat less and exercise". But this may not be enough. As shown in a recent study, exercise does not counteract the ill effects of sedentary lives, we should keep moving (or at least squatting) throughout the day too.  New York Times article about the study (The men who stare at screens) immediately got up-votes from over 100 hackers - those who spend hours staring at screens to code, along with 100+ comments from those staring at screens to read and comment on the news.  Stand up while you read this, asked NYT earlier this year. Prolonged sedentarity affects not only cardiovascular and metabolic health, blood clotting, diabetes and cancer. Countless hours of sitting could cause many other ailments reducing the quality of life such as skewed microbial ecology accompanied by strong body odor, diminishing overall quality of life.

Health promotion efforts targeting physical inactivity should emphasize both reducing sedentary activity and increasing regular physical activity for optimal health.

The lead author of the 2010 study says: "Stand up. Pace around your office. Get off the couch and grab a mop or change a light bulb the next time you watch ‘‘Dancing With the Stars.’’ A five-minute stroll is recommended every half hour.

Stand-up desks and treadmill desk were available years ago, a web site just stand was created for office workers who sit long hours each day, but either the desks are not very usable yet, lobbying your boss for a stand-up workstation is still tricky or most people just like sitting too much. Let's hope this will change.

References

Warren TY, Barry V, Hooker SP, Sui X, Church TS, & Blair SN (2010). Sedentary behaviors increase risk of cardiovascular disease mortality in men. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 42 (5), 879-85 PMID: 19996993 DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181c3aa7e

Dunstan DW, Barr EL, Healy GN, Salmon J, Shaw JE, Balkau B, Magliano DJ, Cameron AJ, Zimmet PZ, & Owen N (2010). Television viewing time and mortality: the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab). Circulation, 121 (3), 384-91 PMID: 20065160 
DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.894824

Katzmarzyk PT, Church TS, Craig CL, & Bouchard C (2009). Sitting time and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 41 (5), 998-1005 PMID: 19346988 DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181930355

Healy GN, Dunstan DW, Salmon J, Shaw JE, Zimmet PZ, Owen N. (2008). Television time and continuous metabolic risk in physically active adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 40, 639-645.(PMID: 18317383) 

Khaw K-T, Wareham N, Bingham S, Welch A, Luben R, et al. (2008) Combined Impact of Health Behaviours and Mortality in Men and Women: The EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study. PLoS Med 5(1): e12. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050012 (PMID: 18184033)

Beasley R, Raymond N, Hill S, Nowitz M, Hughes R. (2003) eThrombosis: the 21st century variant of venous thromboembolism associated with immobility. Eur Respir J.  21(2), 374-6. (PMID: 12608454 )

Aurametrix is developing next-generation systems for Personal Health Management. Better solutions for a healthier world

Additional references post-initial publication:

Gao W, Sanna M, Chen YH, Tsai MK, Wen CP. Occupational Sitting Time, Leisure Physical Activity, and All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality. JAMA Network Open. 2024 Jan 2;7(1):e2350680-.

 

Test your genes and loose the weight?

Do Your Genes Determine Which Diet Means Weight-Loss or General Health Success?
Can nutrition be optimized with respect to your genome?

Commercial genetic tests promising to provide personalized diet recommendations (there were 6 in 2005, not counting companies developing DNA nutri-chips to pinpoint an animal’s nutrition needs) are constantly offered and withdrawn. Interest in genetic testing over the past few years was going down (click on the right figure to see google trends), but continuously published findings cause bursts of interest (click on the right figure to see XRanks by Bing) .
Clearly, genetic variations determine how we absorb, filter, metabolize, store and eliminate nutrients and how these nutrients affect processes in our body. But should we get more vitamin B if our MTR gene carries predisposition to heart disease or have extra calcium and vitamin D if our VDR gene indicates possibly weak bones?
The use of this information may be premature, the gene-vitamin linkages may not be credible, and far inferior to your family health portrait with much higher cost-to-benefit ratio than self-evaluation and self-awareness through personal health management tools.

It Isn't Just What You Eat That Can Kill You, and It Isn't Just Your DNA That Can Save You--It's How They Interact, said a 2005 newsweek article. It is also about other environmental factors, your history of interactions, and microbes you cultivated in your system that determine what food is best for you.

Lactose intolerance, for example, may be derived from genetic tests showing how effective our bodies are in producing the lactase enzyme (the LCT gene). We can determine it in a much cheaper and reliable way, however, by drinking milk and looking at the symptoms. Same about FMO3 variations and trimethylaminuria. A study of lung cancer rates in China found that people at lowest risk were genetically deficient in an enzyme that metabolizes isothiocyanates in cruciferous vegetables, but crucifers don't seem to harm those with a functional enzyme either... except those who gets get intestinal gas from eating them. But this may not be because of the genes, but due to the lack of beneficial gut bacteria.

The weight-loss industry long admitted that one specific diet isn't likely to work for everyone. How do diet programs work? Forget about the ratios of carbs, fiber and protein, the most important factor is to burn off more calories than you're taking in. Behavioral factors rather than macronutrient metabolism are the main influences on weight loss, so it's more about mindful eating versus mindless eating. And here genes come into play again. Satiety mechanisms are complex and involve multiple sensors, operating differently according to underlying genetics. that's why a carb-heavy breakfast can leave you hungry in two hours but keep your neighbor full until noon, while high-protein diet makes you fill fuller.

This week (at the American Heart Association’s Joint 50th Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention – and – Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism conference, being held March 2-5 in San Francisco, CA) Stanford University researchers reported that a genetic test can help people choose which diet works best for them. The study involved 133 overweight women, who lost more weight on a diet that matched their genes - either low-carbohydrate or low-fat. Improvements in clinical measures related to weight loss (e.g., blood triglyceride levels) paralleled the weight loss differences.

The findings are also partially based on an earlier paper, called the A to Z weight-loss study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2007 and a small (100-person) unpublished study by Interleukin Genetics.

More than 6,000 genes may be affecting our weight, including multiple genes determining our taste preferences (e.g., to bitter foods, calcium, garlic or coffee) and behavioral predispositions. Genetic testing along with protein- and metabolomic-based diagnostics would provide invaluable data for understanding ourselves. Data-mining tools for health-related factors will allow integrated and holistic analysis and help to personalize diets, fitness and medical treatments.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Low-Fat Diets Beat Low-Carb Regimen Long Term (nlm.nih.gov)
• Low-fat or low-carb? Discuss. (timesunion.com)
• Gene test claims to show what diet works best (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• More Reason to Not Count Calories (naturalbias.com)
• A Cheek Swab to Choose Your Diet Plan? (nlm.nih.gov)
• Do Your Genes Determine Which Diet Means Weight-Loss Success? (health.usnews.com)

What could make us eat healthy?

What could make us eat healthy? Better self-evaluation, self-awareness through personal health management tools, says Aurametrix.

Although the majority of Americans acknowledges importance of healthy diets, this does not always translate into behavior change. Taste, preferences acquired during childhood and adolescence, friends and family, and media have more influence on what we eat. In 1997, for example, food manufacturers spent 44.4% of their advertising budget on prepared convenience foods, confectionery and snacks, and bakery goods compared with only 2.2% on fruits, vegetables, grains and beans. Besides, busy people prefer prepackaged foods and restaurant meals, which are not the healthiest choices either.

Healthy eating index (HEI, developed by USDA) is a predictor of childhood diabetes, obesity, and mortality - it's associated with 4 of the 10 leading causes of death (coronary heart disease, certain types of cancer, stroke, and type 2 diabetes).

The quality of the American diet slightly improved since 1989 (the first year the Index was calculated), but flattened since 1996. In 1989 the average HEI score was 61.5, in 1996 and
1999-2000 it was 63.8, a 4-percent increase, but still in the “needs improvement” range. People seemed to be somewhat cutting down on fat, but were consuming even more salt. Excess salt consumption occurs throughout the world. Korean government even developed a salt sensor to help people eat healthier.

US studies of 1999-2000 showed that the two lowest mean scores were for the fruits (3.8) and milk (5.9) components of the HEI: Only 17% of the people consumed the recommended number of servings of fruit per day, and only 30% met the dietary recommendation for milk.

More recent studies on diet quality in Canada display even less optimistic results. Canadians are not eating enough servings of dark green and orange vegetables, as well as of whole fruits and whole-grain products.

Age-dependence show that people adjust their diets once they realize how much better they feel when eat healthy. What exactly is best for an individual may vary - some people can eat foods with high content of saturated fat and cholesterol diet, yet keep normal blood cholesterol.
Others may not realize what exactly they are eating that is not healthy for them.

Self-evaluation tools have been shown to be effective for developing healthy eating habits.
Aurametrix is working on tools to help you evaluate your personal health risks and benefits and make the right health choices.

Check this poll on twtpoll.com or see average age based on other votes