Did you get the memo?
Are you sitting down? Because you should probably stand up for this one.
Studies have now shown that sitting is as unhealthy as smoking cigarettes.
Sitting for long periods of time. As unhealthy as cigarettes.
I’m going to bet all my gummy bears that you had one of two reactions: Forget that; I’m just going to start smoking again then or Is there nothing that won’t kill me?
I remember having childish reactions to all kinds of “new, dangerous, killer!” scientific studies over the years. Days of sitting around the office with coworkers, grumbling, “Now they’re saying aspartame is bad for you. What next?” and “Guess we shouldn’t breathe today. Apparently the air is going to give us cancer.”
And just like rebellious teenagers, we’d pop open diet sodas and drink vodkas and spray aerosol hairspray (and breathe air), thinking we were really sticking it to the man. We were showing science who the boss was.
If the poindexters in lab coats were going to tell us everything we wanted to do was killing us, then frack it all, we were going to do all those things twice as hard. What was the point of living if we couldn’t do the bad stuff?
Let’s face it. Today, you can’t do any of these things without either a) nodding at how unhealthy it is and/or b) feeling incredibly guilty:
- Drink excessive alcohol
- Smoke chemical-ridden cigarettes
- Be stressed
- Drive a gas-guzzling car
- Eat processed foods
- Use toxic cosmetics and cleaning supplies
- Drink diet soda (or regular soda, or anything with high-fructose corn syrup in it)
- Eat meat from factory farms
- Ad finitum anything “wild” or out-of-control
Now you can add sitting to that long list of no-nos.
Shucks.
But Wait! Are We Growing Up?
I think I am. Growing up. Maybe we all are … or, at least some of us. The ones of us who don’t whistle at boobies. (Boobie whistling seems like a good indicator of maturity, wouldn’t you agree?)
Anyway, my point is this: When I read that article that, in no uncertain terms, told me that sitting down for long periods of time was really, really unhealthy, I had the natural “Oh, brother” reaction.
And then I stopped.
And I said, “That makes so much sense. Of course it is.”
And then I started thinking about all those other bad-list things and how I now accept that they’re not in my best interest to do. But you know what? It wasn’t because an article in Time told me. It wasn’t because a scientist did a study. It wasn’t because I had to force myself to quit doing something I really, really, really wanted to do.
It was because I started giving my choices more thought.
It was because I grew up. (Boobies.)
Know the Difference Between Being Rebellious and Being Thoughtful
Admit it. Sometimes you feel rebellious. And I’m not talking about stopping by Sonic on the way home or standing in the shower for 30 minutes in the morning.
Sometimes you feel rebellious because you’ve stopped believing everything you read. Because the world (and the science) you grew up trusting so willingly is full of confusing contradictions and completely unbelievable beliefs.
Because when you hear a conversation lauding the idea that every teenage girl should receive a mandatory Gardasil vaccination, you have to speak up about its dangers. Because it seems so impossible that you’re the only one on your block that refuses to buy genetically modified food. Because you SEE that commercial for eyelash-thickening prescription medication and feel a little outraged.
That’s not rebellion. It’s being thoughtful.
And when you approach your life with measured contemplation, something always wins. I mean, when you really think things all the way down.
The closer you come to nature, and the closer you get to your simple human needs, the healthier and happier you are.
The less you need cigarettes or alcohol or junk food.
And the less you sit on your butt for hours and hours at a time.
Not a single one of you needed a scientific study to tell you that.
Did you?
—
One last thing: That list of no-nos above? Look at them again, and tell me if you don’t think it sounds like playbook for the 1980s? Good grief. It’s no wonder we’re often discombobulated, tortured, and bitter about making conscious, rational changes now.
All those things that are now off-limits were once shoved down our collective throat as the only way to live.
Pat yourselves on the back. You’ve come a long way, baby.
Can you think of any “bad things” you’ve stopped doing or using since the 1980s because it just made more sense to stop? (Or the 1990s, if you’re a young ‘un?)
5 Relaxing, Rejuvenating Bath Recipes – Perfect Alternatives to Bubbles
Another brilliant article. However, I do have to put in my two cents about Gardasil… personally, I think it just makes sense. It makes our kids healthier sexually and prevents cancer, with little side effects. I don’t run out and get flu shots or every new vaccination, but some of them, like Gardasil, remind me why vaccinations were invented in the first place. Getting closer to simple human needs is key, but, sometimes, in this modern world, that means getting closer to some scary stuff you have little control over.
A vaccine that still has so many potential dangers shouldn’t be mandatory (especially when, in being mandatory, it’s also mandatory that we pay the vaccine maker for it).
Here’s more info about the potential dangers of Gardasil: http://truthaboutgardasil.org/
While I fully admit I’m on the woo-woo paranoid side of anything big pharma/government dishes out, it makes me nauseous to think of this vaccine (which is so new, has so many potential dangers including death, and also potentially renders some receivers infertile) being something we wouldn’t have a choice as to whether or not we could give our daughters.
It just seems to me as though we need to focus more on our relationships with one another, rather than focusing on what we should force one another do in the name of safety. Y’know?
Absolutely. I’m not sure what I think about making it mandatory, I’m just in favor of its effects. And, of course, it is more important to learn to have open, honest conversations about sex– maybe if our daughters could speak up about our sexual lives, we wouldn’t have to use such a blanket decision to protect them in fear that they are having unsafe sex and not talking about it with a responsible adult. Another instance of our repressive society damaging our health. A long way to go, ladies.
If I had to pick just one blog to read, it would be yours. You put into words what I am completely incapable of expressing, but I feel the exact same way. I’ve been thinking (fearing, actually) that this “starbucks” generation is going to look back in about 20 years and realize that we were all as addicted to lattes as people in the 50’s were to cigarettes. And I’m just waiting for someone to tell me that it’s just as bad for you. Dairy, high-fructose sweeteners… FOAM. Yep, it’s going to kill me. I don’t have a problem with anything else on your list, but I’m sure coffee will be on it soon, and then I’ll be in trouble.
I think the whole “sitting is bad for your health” idea is really just “exercise is good for your health”, but worded differently. If you’re sitting… you’re not moving.
As far as other bad things I’ve “stopped doing since the 1980s because it just made more sense to stop?”… that would be tanning (or “laying out” as we used to call it back in the day) and dieting.
Sometimes I think that bad habits are okay as long you aren’t people in the process and you are actually doing something because you want instead of doing it because others want you to. We only live once. But then I’ve seen bad habits destory lives. It is defintely something I’ll be thinking about.
Can I be honest? And in full disclosure of the reality that I am one of those people who is happy to move when I need to move but who finds great comfort and peace in sitting, lounging, curling up, and just enjoying being still and at rest?
I don’t buy this. It’s, I think, just so much internet hype.
Note in the first paragraph: sitting may surpass cigarettes as a risk factor for CARDIOVASCULAR disease. Most of the people I know who have died of lung cancer did not pick it up from sitting too much.
And sitting itself–it’s another chicken/egg deal, isn’t it? Does sitting too much cause people to have all these sedentary health problems, or are the people who sit so much the ones who have the risk factors anyway?
The thing about how when we’re sitting our body goes into storage mode makes a little sense, but I want to hear more details about that particular aspect of it (is it sitting per se? Does standing for a long time and not moving cause the same effect? how about lying down? isn’t it logical that whenever we’re not engaged in action that burns energy, we are storing it?)
I’m not crabby about this, really, but my skepticism level is high.
Time for my nap.
🙂
Jenn
Heh. Honestly? I really absolutely agree with you. BUT, I think there’s a difference between sitting and snuggling and reading a book for an hour or three a night and sitting 8 hours a day staring at screens, then walking to the car for 5 minutes, and then sitting for another 5 hours to watch television (staring at screens) and then going to bed. And doing that every day. All while eating the kind of diet Westerners eat these days.
Never in a million years do I think sitting for long periods of time is the ONLY thing that’s dangerous about it, but it’s combing that with the toxic lives so many of us still live (me included).
In terms of the standing still vs. sitting, I remember reading a study a long time ago that showed how standing up (still) AND sleeping both burned twice as many (or something) calories as sitting/laying on the couch and watching television. That was several years ago, though, and before I really paid attention to details of studies.
After I wrote this, though, I started to think about the Buddhist monks and other spiritual gurus who sit for days and days and days at a time, in the same position, in meditation. And how very healthy they are (at least, on a scale I’ve predetermined in my own mind).
So, again, I think there are absolutely qualifiers to the validity of this assertion, and I think that maybe those qualifiers are “garbage in = garbage out.”
You dig?
Oh, TOTALLY. It’s just the sensationalist opener to that article: sitting JUST AS dangerous as cigarettes? I mean, really? REALLY?
I honestly didn’t know that standing burns that many more calories than sitting, which I guess is reason enough to give it a shot. I hate standing, HATE it–I mean, I don’t mind standing to do stuff, but just standing around not moving anywhere makes me crazy. I’d rather walk briskly where I’m going and then sit when I get there.
What you said above–yeah, absolutely, sit-at-work person coming home to sit-at-TV and eat crap–that’s a recipe for a shorter than necessary life. The difference is that you can, from that way of life, decide to change and live in a different way. Cigarette smoking permanently damages the lungs in a way from which they may never recover. It’s totally different.
Mostly I’m just sick of all these damn “studies.” 🙂
So yeah, I absolutely dig. (Did a good bit of digging this afternoon, actually. Planting, weeding–squatting’s gotta burn more calories than standing, right?–and of course digging…we have a new lilac bush in the backyard now. So now I’m schlubbed out on the couch, with no regrets or apology. 🙂
–Jenn
I LOVED smoking cloves and drinking gimlets. Ahhhh… love it. Of course, that was years ago when I was young with pink lungs and a fresh kidneys. I’m older now, and very crunchy – I took an oatmeal bath this morning. My organs are better now than ever but sometimes I really do miss those days of yore. Damn you, Surgeon General.
I’ve given up shampoo, and although your idea for homemade laundry detergent sounds amazing, Fiance will not yet allow it… he has yet to be crunchily converted. My eating habits are making a slow but steady (and slightly more expensive) change for the better, but it is HARD to change fast. So, I will continue to sit, and then get up. And then sit down again. But then, and here’s the kicker, I plan to GET UP again! That’s actually what the study means, is sitting around without any kind of activity for hours on end. It’s just like anything else… everything in moderation, including stress 😉
It’s a good thing that I choose to lie down most of the time then. 😉
I actually had given up all caffeine for quite a while, but when I started working soda’s became a must have again, unfortunately. I’ve given up meat, of course, and I’ve stopped taking any and all medication save for the occasion Excedrin (and, yes, I know it has caffeine in it ;p).
~Ness
Coffee… I grew up with my mom (who is a nutritionist) saying it was bad for you and now there are studies out there saying it’s good for you. What now? To drink or not to drink coffee?
somedays it feels like I never stop moving so I feel like those days make up for the ones I end up sitting on my a**
I gave up suntanning years ago and anything with artificial sweetener…
I’ve seriously given thought to giving up dairy after talking with a client who did it, but don’t know if I can live without cheese in my life yet!
I try my best to make healthy choices now that I’m a grown up (boobies) but I try not to beat myself up too bad about my unhealthy choices. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and it wouldn’t matter if I had that Dr. Pepper anyhoo!
Wait, if I whistle at boobies I’m not grown up?
I’ve been hearing about how bad sitting is for you for some time but not being sedentary, I didn’t really pay too much attention. I am actually kind of surprised it’s as bad as cigarettes though. And I have thought about having the computer at standing height because that’s when I sit the most. I never did too many “bad things” because I grew up with a bunch of health freaks, but I did have a delicious and still missed addiction to filter-less American Spirits, which I still dream about. I’m not sure tobacco ever goes away, it just lingers in your subconscious waiting for stress and/or longing to take hold.
perming my hair *sniff* I have straight hair now and I have not yet learned to love it.
Yeah just about all of those listed items I’ve given up! I feel like I am screaming for some rebellion in life. lol 🙂 Great post!
amen 🙂