Modern research has revealed that the impact of sitting at your desk all day for years results in a variety of ailments such as obesity and diabetes. The average office workers spend around 6 hours per day sitting at his/her desk, and many experts have said that sitting at the desk for long hours is similar to smoking non-stop. Doctors have said that the only time we walk is when we move from the parking lot to the office desk.

The default has become to sit only. All these might sound like the latest health fad, but it has been confirmed that a sedentary lifestyle is a detriment to the health in the long-term. The solution lies in  increased use of standing desks which were once made popular by Hemingway and Dickens. The various health benefits of standing desks are as follows

Lowers the risk of weight gain and obesity

Weight gain is caused by consuming more calories than you burn. Similarly burning more calories than you consume can result in definite weight loss. Although exercise is the most effective way to burn calories quickly, the use of standing desks can also prove to be highly beneficial.

When you compare a full afternoon of sedentary work, an equal amount of time spent on the standing desk can result in the burn of 170 additional calories. So you can burn extra 1000 calories each week just by standing at your desk every afternoon. This difference in calories is probably one of the reasons why sitting at your desk is strongly connected to metabolic diseases and calories.

Lowers the risk of Type 2 Diabetes

The detrimental health effects of sitting at your desk go beyond the obvious problem of obesity. Those who work for long hours in a sitting position just after a meal experiences a surge in the blood glucose level. In a study of 10 office workers, it was found that standing for 3 hours or more resulted in a reduction of blood sugar spike by as much as 43%. The harmful effects of sitting after meals have been linked to a greater risk of Type 2 Diabetes.

Lowers the risk of heart disease

It was way back in 1953 that certain health experts proposed that standing is better for the health of the heart. For example, the bus conductors who stand all day have low incidences of heart disease related deaths compared to the drivers who are practically sitting throughout the day in the driver’s seat. Prolonged hours of sitting are so harmful that even 60 min of intense exercise would not be able to cancel out the negative effects of sitting. There is no doubt spending more time at your standing desk is beneficial for the heart health.