The average American adult takes 7,473 steps per day and Americans who are inactive take about 2,100 steps per day. For years fitness and wellness experts have been encouraging us to be more active. The tips have gotten simpler as we progressively get less active. We are encouraged to take the stairs instead of elevators, to park a few blocks further from our destination, or to walk instead of drive.
This encouragement was recommended in an attempt to get us healthier, slimmer, and more active overall. But what scientists did not realize [at that time] was that our inactivity was actually a direct cause of disease.
Frank Booth, a professor of biomedical sciences in the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, and researchers at the University of Copenhagen conducted two different studies in Copenhagen.
In the first study, the participants averaged 6,000 steps per day and were asked to reduce this average to 1,400 steps per day for three weeks. In order to do this, they were instructed to use motorized equipment (that is, elevators, escalators, and cars) instead of their own two feet whenever possible.
In the second study, the participants who averaged 10,000 steps per day were instructed to reduce their steps to 1,400 per day for two weeks. Before and after the study, the participants were administered glucose and fat tolerance tests to see if the lack of activity would effect their ability to clear excess glucose and fat out of their blood streams. The longer it takes for a person to metabolize glucose and fat, the higher at risk they are for developing diabetes and other chronic diseases. The researchers found is that just 2 weeks of inactivity negatively effected the participants' ability to clear their blood streams of excess glucose and fat.
"We used to think that it is healthy to be physically active, but this study shows that it is dangerous to be inactive for just a couple of weeks," said Bente Klarlund Pedersen, co-author and lead investigator of the study and professor of internal medicine and director of Center for Inflammation and Metabolism at the University of Copenhagen. "After 14 days of reduced walking, subjects experienced accumulation of the dangerous abdominal fat, while also developing elevated blood lipids, a sign of pre-diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If you choose the passive mode of transport and abstain from exercise, then your risk of chronic disease is likely to increase markedly."
"When the doctor says to exercise, they are not just telling patients to do that to improve their health; increasing daily walking could actually reverse a cause of chronic disease," Booth said. "When extra fats and sugars (glucose) don't clear the bloodstream, they go where we don't want them and cause problems for our bodies' typical metabolic functions."
The researchers also observed muscular and skeletal mass reduction. Is our inactivity causing our bodies to wilt away? Well, Booth says that longer studies are needed to help answer the side effects of long-term inactivity.
Perhaps we should take the stairs today instead of waiting for those studies!
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