The Effects of Taking a Short Walk on Health
Standing desks were all the rage not too long ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Its popularity was in response to studies and editorials noting that a great many people are extremely sedentary: not only do they have a job at which they sit down much of the time, but they also don't participate in much physical activity in their leisure time.
Standing desks were supposed to be better for you than simply sitting all day. And of course, there were and are desks that allow you to work while also pedaling a bicycle or walking on a treadmill.
It makes sense that standing must be better than sitting, and moving must be better than just standing in place. More exercise is certainly good for you, but how much time do you need to spend standing or walking instead of sitting to see real metabolic improvements?
The Research
To help answer your patient’s questions, let’s look at a recent meta-analysis of several small studies comparing the metabolic effects of breaking up a sedentary period with either standing or walking for brief periods.1
It will be difficult to draw strong conclusions from this meta-analysis because it only includes seven randomized crossover trials, and the intervention periods for all of these trials were only 1 day. The total number of participants for all seven studies was only 461 persons.
Additionally, not all of the seven included studies looked at the same metabolic outcomes. While some of the studies included triglycerides, heart rate, total and HDL cholesterol, or diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number in a reading), the only variables that all seven measured were postprandial glucose levels, postprandial insulin levels, and systolic blood pressure (the top number of a reading).
Moreover, all seven studies compared the effects of prolonged sitting vs sitting interrupted by standing vs sitting interrupted by light-intensity walking. That being said, the amount of time the participants spent sitting varied, as did the amount of time the participants spent standing (between bouts of sitting), and the amount of time the participants spent walking (between bouts of sitting).
The Results
Blood tests in these participants showed that those whose sitting was interrupted by bouts of standing (from 5 minutes standing in every 30 minutes sitting to 2 minutes standing out of 20 minutes sitting) saw improved postprandial insulin scores as well as systolic blood pressures.
Those whose sitting was interrupted by bouts of low-intensity walking (ranging from 2 minutes every 60 minutes to 2 minutes every 20 minutes to as much as 30 minutes in an hour) saw even more improvement in their postprandial insulin scores, improvements in postprandial glucose scores, and more improved systolic blood pressures.
What’s The Take Home?
It's difficult to draw large-scale conclusions from such a small study—even when it's a meta-analysis. The research does suggest that breaking up your days at the computer keyboard or desk every 20 minutes or so for a stroll around the house or office (and the walking in these studies was definitely more of a stroll than an exercise walk) is likely to be metabolically helpful, especially if you are considered clinically overweight or obese.
Reference:
- Buffey AJ, Herring MP, Langley CK, Donnelly AE, Carson BP. The acute effects of interrupting prolonged sitting time in adults with standing and light-intensity walking on biomarkers of cardiometabolic health in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med. Published online February 11, 2022. doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01649-4
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Health meets Food: the Culinary Medicine Curriculum, is an innovative program teaching medical students about diet and lifestyle that bridges the gap between the basic sciences, clinical medicine, the community, and culinary education. Medical students work side-by-side in the kitchen with culinary students to teach each other, and most importantly, teach the community and patients how to return to their kitchens and transform their health.
He served as Associate Dean for Clinical Services at Tulane University School of Medicine and is the founder and Senior Advisor of the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine, the first-of-its-kind teaching kitchen operated by a medical school.
Dr Harlan attended medical school at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and pursued his residency at Emory University School of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals in Atlanta, GA.