Holiday Shopping May be Good for Your Health

Forget the online shopping cart, doing your holiday shopping at the brick and mortar stores is good for your health! Sitting is one of the worst things a person can do not only to their backs but to their over all health but for many of us it’s something that can not be avoided because it’s part of our job. Numerous studies have shown that sitting is implicated in causing an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, back pain, and early death.

In a study led by Dr. Emma Wilmot (a Clinical Research Fellow in Diabetes and Endocrinology at Leicester Diabetes Center, Leicester General Hospital) and the National Institute For Health Research,  the results of 18 studies were combined, totalling 797,577 participants. Research showed that subjects who sat for prolonged periods of time had an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and death. According to Dr. Wilmot, the average adult spends 50-70% of their time sitting and by reducing the amount 0f time spent sitting , the chances of getting the aforementioned diseases may be reduced; back pain may also be reduced!

The good news is the holidays has lots of opportunities to sneak in some exercise. Here is the top 5 things you can do to get go go going!

1) Go out shopping! Avoid the internet this holiday season and pick up gifts at the store. If you want to avoid the malls consider shopping locally on Church Street, Bloomfield Ave or Valley Road. Support our local shops!

2) Chop down your own Chirstmas Tree! This year instead of picking up a tree, take a family to cut down a tree. Not only will it be great exercise but it will be a great way to make memories.

3) Shovel the driveway! Or at least some of it.

4) Go for a walk! Stroll through your neighborhood or Branch Brook Park and enjoy the winter wonderland.

5) Volunteer. Give back by giving the gift of your time and energy. It can be a very simple gesture such as helping your neighbor carry their groceries or find a local non profit that you would like to start supporting.

Motion is life and when we start to deprive our bodies of it, we are slowly creating an opportunity for disease to set in. For patients that are very sedentary a  chiropractic visit offers them the ability to “loosen” their backs, align the spine and to mobilize the vertebral joints.

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