Publications
Partners
In our previous tutorial, we looked at how sitting for long periods puts strain on your back. But a job where you're relatively inactive during the day can affect other parts of your health too. Like your heart health.
Medical research has now discovered that sitting (or holding any position for long periods without a break, but sitting especially) can also cause negative changes to cholesterol and fat levels in the blood.
We've evolved from hunter-gatherers, designed to spend most of our time walking around and doing light to moderate physical labour. Sitting for hours on end is highly unnatural.
Taking breaks to stretch and move about is good for your heart and health generally.
Take breaks, keep moving
- Take a short break every 30 minutes – even if you just stand up and stretch. Research shows that regular breaks throughout the day is essential for good cardiovascular health and lowering your risk for diabetes. This applies even if you work out daily.
- Take the stairs instead of the lift or elevator. Even taking the stairs downhill is better than nothing.
- Go for a stroll at lunchtime.
- Walk or cycle to work, or part of the way.
- Take the stairs up or down to a bathroom on a different floor.
Eat well
Diet is another area we often neglect at work. When you’re at home, it's easier to control the foods you buy and prepare, and you have more time to put thought into healthy meals. Office worker bees often grab and gulp lunch and quick snacks. Needless to say, these are often unhealthy, fatty convenience foods. Many of us respond to work stress by trying to soothe ourselves with comfort food or smoke breaks, both of which raise our risk for heart disease.
Get healthier:
- Take a packed lunch. Pack last night's leftovers along with relatively healthy snacks so you don't succumb to the vending machine for a sugar fix.
- Find healthy lunch places near your place of work, so if you do order in, you have a nutritious alternative.
- Get up from your desk at lunchtime and eat in the kitchen or outside. Eating at your desk is a surefire way to eat mindlessly - and bring on digestive problems.
- Fill up your water bottle as soon as you get in each morning. And then make sure you finish it!
Smart heart snacks for the office
Dark chocolate, apples, yoghurt, nuts and raisins.
In the next tutorial, we'll be looking at how to manage stress in the workplace.
