While exercise is crucial to our health in so many ways, a new study suggests that standing and walking can be almost as helpful. In the study, published in the journal Diabetologia, Dutch researchers had postmenopausal women do four weeks of sitting for 14 hours a day, four weeks with one hour of vigorous exercise replacing an hour of sitting, and four weeks of a sitting less regimen – four hours of standing plus three hours of walking. After the vigorous exercise, the women had the best improvements in insulin sensitivity, which is associated with obesity. But women had nearly as much improvement after the standing and walking as they did after exercise. The study suggests that even if you aren’t able to exercise, lighter physical activity can still benefit your health.
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