Sitting for Long? Take a Break Every Half an Hour

Prolonged sitting is one of the biggest perpetrators of obesity. Think of it, most of us are glued to our workstations without moving much. A recently published study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine suggests people to take a break every 30 minutes. Some of the previously conducted studies have already linked sedentary lifestyle and prolonged sitting with risks of developing heart ailments, cancer, diabetes and even early death. Experts at King's College, London found regular exercising to be less effective in battling the ill-effects of prolonged sitting. "For the first time, a team of researchers have shown that increasing the levels of physical activity is likely to be much less effective at reducing prolonged sitting than directly attempting to decrease sitting time," reported IANS.

While taking a break every 30 minutes is imperative, experts also suggest simple exercises, like neck rotations or body stretches, that can be done while you're at your workstation. Prolonged sitting when met with mid-meal snacking and binge-eating may get even deadlier - one of the speediest ways to gain weight and get exposed to non-communicable, lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart ailments, hypertension and even cancer.

If you work for long hours, it is imperative for you to keep your diet in mind. Take a look at the points mentioned below:

- Snacking is extremely important for weight loss. Even if you aren't trying to lose weight, healthy snacking always facilitates weight management and gives you a much needed energy kick when you need it the most. However, you must not binge on anything; choose from fresh juices, curd, boiled eggs, nuts, seeds, fresh fruits, soups, salads.

- Steer clear of aerated and carbonated drinks. You can try buttermilk or natural fluids like coconut water, green tea over energy drinks.

- Caffeine intake must be monitored.