The 30 Minute Rule for Longevity
The 30-minute rule for longevity may be the most critical factor in determining who stays young and who gets old. In this article, I will share with you what the 30-minute rule for longevity is and the latest research backing up this rule.
The 30 Minute Rule for Longevity Study
Dr. Keith M. Diaz from Columbia University in New York City recently published his findings on the 30-minute rule for longevity after studying 7,985 people age 45 or older. Now, he didn't explicitly call this the 30-minute rule for longevity, but that is what he found.
In this study, Dr. Diaz strapped accelerometers to these 7,985 people for one week. He also performed many other health tests for these people. After gathering all of this data, he then sat back and watched to see who was still alive and doing well four years later.
Results of the 30 Minute Rule for Longevity Study
After waiting four years, here is what Dr. Diaz observed in this study.
1. The more you move, the longer you live.
He found that it didn't matter your age or how much you weighed, those who moved the most were the ones alive and well four years later. No surprise here with this finding as many other studies have shown similar results.
2. Going to the gym faithfully every day can't save you from sitting.
Sitting more than 12.5 hours a day, regardless of whether you work out or not, puts you at high risk of an early death. While 12.5 hours of sitting might sound like a lot, it isn't for most people.
Many of my patients are surprised to see how long they are sitting each day once they start tracking it with a smartphone, smartwatch, or Fitbit. For example, eight hours at work on a computer, driving to the gym and your work, and one television show at night could quickly get you to 12.5 hours of sitting.
3. Sitting for more than 30 minutes at any time put you at risk for an early death.
Interestingly, the most fidgety people in this study lived the longest. In other words, those who couldn't sit still lived far longer than those who could sit in their chairs.
This is the basis of the 30-minute rule for longevity. If you want to live a long and healthy life you can't sit for more than 30 minutes at a time.
Is Sitting the New Smoking?
Today, I’ve become convinced that sitting is the new smoking. And by some calculations, in fact, it might be even worse.
By just comparing the life expectancy of smokers with that of non-smokers, then subdividing the difference by the average number of cigarettes a smoker will consume over a lifetime, one study noted that each cigarette reduces one’s lifespan by an average of 11 minutes.
Using similar methods, a different study computed the difference in life expectancy between heavy TV watchers (sitters) and those who watch no TV at all (non-sitters), and concluded that every hour of TV watching after the age of 25 reduces one’s lifespan by 22 minutes!
Yes, according to these estimates, both of which are admittedly crude, an hour of sitting down is as bad for you as two cigarettes! The way I see it, then, if you’re going to sit down, it really should be for a compelling reason.
Even at the cellular level sitting is toxic for your health. Indeed, one study showed that sitting prematurely ages your cells by ten years!
Of course, correlation is not causation and untold other life choices that are shared among those who tend to sit for periods of time longer than 30 minutes. The overwhelming scientific evidence, though, tells us that any sort of prolonged sitting is simply bad for us. Studies show that even cancer rates skyrocket for sitters.
The Benefits of Fidgeting
In the past, fidgeting was a bad thing. Indeed, children who fidget at school are often inappropriately labeled by teachers as having ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
I want to challenge you to look at fidgeting as a good thing. Perhaps we should all fidget a little more.
For example,
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