3 replies to this topic

[Rogerdodger]

Story Link
Need to lose weight? Try standing up!
"...the body's ability to dispose of fat virtually shuts down, he says, at least if we're sitting down."
"...That could help explain the rising tide of obesity, because people tend to sit more these days than they did a half century ago."


A New Way to Control Weight?
Scientists Say Just Standing Up May Be as Important as Exercise

By LEE DYE
Nov. 28, 2007

Scientists have found intriguing evidence that one major reason so many people are overweight these days may be as close as the seat of their pants. Literally. According to the researchers, most of us sit too much.

In most cases, exercise alone, according to a team of scientists at the University of Missouri, isn't enough to take off those added pounds. The problem, they say, is that all the stuff we've heard the last few years about weight control left one key factor out of the equation. When we sit, the researchers found, the enzymes that are responsible for burning fat just shut down.

This goes way beyond the common sense assumption that people who sit too much are less active and thus less able to keep their weight under control. It turns out that sitting for hours at a time, as so many of us do in these days of ubiquitous computers and electronic games and 24-hour television, attacks the body in ways that have not been well understood.

The Need to Putter

"It was hard to believe at first," said Marc Hamilton, associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia and leader of the research team. He said the team didn't expect to find a strong signal when they began researching what happens to fat when we remain seated. But the effect, both in laboratory animals and humans, turned out to be huge.

The solution, Hamilton said, is to stand up and "putter."

The research was published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Diabetes, and it will be presented by Hamilton's post-doctoral researcher, Theodore Zderic, at the upcoming Second International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health in Amsterdam.

Hamilton is not suggesting that anyone quit exercising. But he says his work shows that exercise alone won't get the job done. We have to pay more attention to what's happening when we aren't in the gym, because the body's ability to dispose of fat virtually shuts down, he says, at least if we're sitting down.

Hamilton recruited a few laboratory rats and pigs, as well as about a dozen human volunteers, including himself, to learn more about the physiological effect of sitting. The lab animals laid the foundation for the research in two different experiments. The animals were injected with a small amount of fat that contained a radioactive tracer so the researchers could determine what happened to the fat.

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[esther231]

That's really interesting.

[Rogerdodger]

One more reason to put the Nintendo WII on your wish list. Only "Wish" because they are sold out. What? No Wii?

[EntropyModel]

"Scientists Say Just Standing Up May Be as Important as Exercise"

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this kind of junk.

Yeah, fat burning is reduced when you sit, largely 'cos your not burning many calories. Try telling cyclist they don't burn fat 'cos they're sitting. ...or people in other countries who sit alot but who's population have no change in body fat...is it this April 1st or something?

Phyiology101 - if the body needs X calorie's, it has to get them somewhere. Even if you shut down all 'fat burning' ( which sitting didn't in the study, just reduced it), it would get energy from glycogen stores in muscles, or if your eating an idiotically low carb diet, from muscle.

Heck, did you know exercising at very high intensity shuts down fat burning ? such as wieght training, sprints etc - man, those bodybuilders and sprinter must be so fat?!!!!

Therefore, who cares? ...if you sat for 10 hours all that would happen is you deplete glycogen, and have to replace it from consumed calorie's that then aren't avialable to be stored as fat.

Now note, the study never examined body fat, why didn't they study body fat % in group - one sitting more versus one standing (allowing for calorie's burned due to standing)....hmm?

This is from the same junk science school as 'eating fat makes you fat', or 'eating no carbs make you burn fat'.....nope, the body isn't dumb, its an energy balance machine

- ultimately all the matters for body fat is energy in energy out, this is an irrefutable, ergo, all that really matters is calories eaten, energy expended. ( yeah, except for people with hormone problems) and anyone claiming different is trying to sell/and or/get funding for something preying on scientific illiteracy of population.

Exercise is MORE important than calories, because it is the only way to grow muscle, and make physiological changes beneficial to health - bigger stronger heart, lungs etc, starving yourself thin make you thin but weak/unhealthy/nutrition depleted - * look at anorexics versus atheletes * Of course, exercise alone isn't enough for low body fat, if you stuff your face you will be 'fit' but 'fat' so to speak.


Every week some moron comes up with a more bizare way to avoid the obvious reality of this issue - calories in, carolies out, I wasn't even going to repond to this because its so depressing because this article will confuse/misinform more innocent victims into saying 'oh well, i'm fat because I sit alot', then when standing up makes no difference ... and it wont', unless you stand for hours - in which its just exercise!!...they have another negative experience of taking fat loss advice..Ok advice from morons granted, but they don't realize that sadly.

Barring no medical issues, the fat issue is really realy simple - calorie in, calorie's out...no mystery, no need to search for some mythical other 'holy grail' reasons - its not because Americanssit more than other countries, or due to high carbs, or too much fat, or watching tv, or not exercising, or aliens or extra dimensional beings dumping fat into our universe....no, calorie in, calorie's out...no mystery, if you eat more than you need, you add fat, less, you remove fat, end of story, stop with all this junk science and selling 40$ billions worth of quakery diet products to people.


Mark

Edited by entropy, 03 December 2007 - 02:11 PM.