2 Weeks Is All It Takes

by WiredBerries Editors — March 24, 2008

According to a HealthDay report, a Danish study has found that dropping your average daily activity level increases your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and premature death. We're not talking about making it to the gym - the study focused on the elimination of simple daily activity such as taking the elevator instead of the stairs, parking in the closest spot, or driving for all your errands.

The study volunteers were divided into two groups. The first group included eight men with an average age of 27 and an average BMI of 22.9, which is well within the normal range (obesity starts at a BMI of 30). Prior to the study start, the men wore pedometers and averaged 6,203 steps each day. To reduce the amount of steps, the researchers asked the volunteers to take cars on short trips instead of walking or bicycling, and to take elevators instead of stairs. During the study period, the men reduced their daily steps to an average of 1,394 daily steps. After 2 weeks of reduced daily activity, the amount of insulin circulating in the blood increased by about 60 percent, suggesting that the body was no longer efficiently processing glucose (energy) from food and needed to increase insulin production to metabolize the sugar in food.

The upside to this news is that the reverse is also true. In just a couple of weeks of increased daily activity, you can start to reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes even if you don't notice a difference on the scale.