Sitting Too Long can Kill You

You may be exercising regularly, but if you sit for prolonged periods your health – in fact, your life – could be at great risk. So, sit up and take note because Americans spend more than half of their time sitting: at the office, at home, at school, and in their cars.

Sitting too long can adversely impact your health.

Sitting too much can cause major muscle imbalances that result in a weakened core, bad posture, muscle atrophy, loss of flexibility, lower back pain, weight gain (you burn fewer calories), headaches, fatigue and even death.

Many experts have believed that sitting too long adversely affects your health. Recent research published in January 2010 confirms this. The research indicates that individuals who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or suffer a fatality.

The British Journal of Sports Medicine published information provided by Elin Ekblom-Bak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences. According to Ekblom-Bak, after four hours of sitting your body starts to send harmful signals. Genes regulating the amount of glucose and fat in your body start to shut down. "People should keep exercising because that has a lot of benefits, but when they're in the office, they should try to interrupt sitting as often as possible," says Ekblom-Bak.

In an extensive study the results of which were published in 2009, researchers found that people who sat for longer periods had a higher death risk, and it did not matter if they exercised or not. This study tracked more than 17,000 Canadians for about twelve years.

The solution to the problem is relatively simple: take periodic breaks and stretch often.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Take a break at least every forty-five minutes.

2. Stretch throughout the day. You can stretch when you take your breaks. Download this poster that will show you how you can stretch at work or at home. Pin the poster to the wall of your work and home office to remind yourself that you need to stretch often. These exercises will help you reduce fatigue and avoid bodily injury.

3. Instead of sending your colleagues an email, walk to their offices and tell them what you want them to know.

4. Use a posture cushion regularly. This will not only help improve your posture, but improve your blood circulation and relieve your upper body stress as well.

5. Exercise regularly and spread your exercise routine over the course of the day if possible e.g. before and after work, or at lunch time and after work.

The Obesity of America’s Young Males Skyrockets 67%

Obesity has reached staggering proportions in America, home to the most obese people on earth.

One statistic that sticks out is that of extremely obese males aged 6 to 19. For this group, obesity has increased from 9% in 1999-2000 to 15% in 2009-2010 – a shocking increase of 67% in just ten short years!

Bad parental lifestyle choices condemn our nation's
children to a life of disease and misery

According to the (Center for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Obesity in adults has increased by 60% within the past twenty years

• Obesity in children has tripled in the past thirty years

• More than two-thirds (68%) of adults are overweight

• A staggering 34% of American adults are obese

• 17% of children are obese

• Obesity-related deaths have climbed to more than 300,000 a year, second only to tobacco-related deaths

Sadly, there is no mystery behind this epidemic. It is directly attributable to the standard American diet (I call it the SAD diet): fast-food, sodas, canned goods, microwave dinners – most of which are chemically altered – combined with the lack of exercise is a recipe (no pun intended) for disaster. Through bad lifestyle choices, Americans have chosen to literally eat themselves to death.

The solution to this obesity epidemic is no mystery either: fresh, wholesome fruits and vegetables, lots of clean water, regular exercise and sunshine – and suddenly the world starts looking brighter!

Vitamin D3 – It’s Critical to Your Health

Many of us have been brainwashed into believing that exposure to the sun is bad for you. It’s true that chronic, excessive exposure to sunlight does increase the risk of skin cancer, but sensible, moderate sun exposure is absolutely crucial to your health because this is the way your skin produces Vitamin D3, one of the most powerful healing chemicals that your body can produce.

Your skin produces Vitamin D3 through

direct exposure to the sun

Although it has been labeled a vitamin, D3 is actually a very powerful steroid hormone that regulates over 2000 (of your 30,000) genes.

Many experts believe that Vitamin D deficiency is epidemic throughout the entire United States.

Watch a related video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DVjClX0o7Q8

Some Pertinent Statistics

• Over 40,000 Americans die annually from cancer caused by Vitamin D deficiency.

• It has been estimated that approximately one billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency.

• 40% of the U.S. population is vitamin D deficient.

• 42% of African American women of childbearing age are deficient in vitamin D.

• 48% of young girls (9-11 years old) are vitamin D deficient.

• 76% of pregnant mothers are severely vitamin D deficient, causing a vitamin D deficiency in their unborn children (and this predisposes them to type 1 diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia later in life).

• 81% of children who had Vitamin D deficient mothers were also Vitamin D deficient.

Some Facts about Vitamin D3 and Vitamin D3 Deficiency

• Direct exposure to sunlight is the only reliable way to generate Vitamin D. Although some foodstuffs contain Vitamin D, you cannot get enough from food sources.

• Vitamin D prevents prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, depression, colon cancer and schizophrenia.

• The further you live from the Equator, the more exposure you need to the sun in order to generate Vitamin D.

• Vitamin D deficiency causes muscle weakness.

• People with dark skin pigmentation may need 20 to 30 times more exposure to sunlight as fair skinned people to generate the same amount of Vitamin D.

• Vitamin D is crucial for calcium absorption in your intestines.

• Rickets, a bone-wasting disease, is caused by vitamin D deficiency.

• Chronic vitamin D deficiency is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia because its symptoms are so similar: muscle weakness, aches and pains.

• Your risk of developing serious diseases like diabetes and cancer is reduced 50% - 80% through simple, sensible exposure to natural sunlight 2-3 times each week.

• Your skin CANNOT produce Vitamin D3 through exposure to sun that has been filtered by glass i.e. if you are in your home or in your office.

How to Get Your Share of Vitamin D3

The best source of Vitamin D3 is direct exposure to the sun (and it’s free) - expose 6-10% of your body to the sun a couple of times a week and this should be sufficient to get all the Vitamin D your body needs to function optimally. Some experts suggest daily sun exposure, from 10 to 15 minutes per day.

Cod liver oil is another good source of Vitamin D3.

You can get some Vitamin D from your diet, but it’s unlikely that you will get all you need. Oily fish like salmon, sardines, tuna and mackerel contains Vitamin D, but you would have to eat salmon and mackerel 3-5 times a week in order to get your Vitamin D requirement.

You can also use a Vitamin supplement, but make sure that it is Vitamin D3 and NOT D2. There are two forms of Vitamin D that the human body can synthesize and use: D2 and D3 – the latter is a lot more powerful and effective.