Studies have shown just two days of physical inactivity can have very detrimental effects on your body and health. According to the study performed at the University of Missouri, just two days of not exercising is enough to affect your body’s efficient use of insulin, which can lead to diabetes and other related diseases. Researchers conducted a study on rats and found insulin sensitivity decreased the longer the rats stayed inactive.
The rats were allowed to run on a spinning wheel for a three week period. After that time, the rats were stopped from running. Just two days after the rats stopped running, the amount of sugar taken into their muscles in response to insulin decreased by about one third in total. The findings were discussed in the research study.
Researcher David Kump said, “Insulin works by taking glucose, or blood sugar, out of the blood stream and into the muscle to be used for energy. The less efficient your insulin is the greater risk you have of diabetes, heart disease, obesity and hypertension.” Kump also added, “Everyone is looking at the benefits of exercise, but we are looking at the consequences of stopping that exercise. People already know that exercise is good for them. This shows that, within a very short time frame of inactivity, the insulin does not work as well and might have negative effects.”
This study is important to consider for several reasons. First of all, it has been obvious for a long time that exercise is good for you. This is no surprise to anyone. I don’t think you really need a research study to tell you that. Sometimes looking at something with a little logic goes a very long way. For example, did we really need research to know that smoking cigarettes was bad for us? Yes of course, big tobacco companies lied to us. But did you really believe inhaling a burning weed for years and years wasn’t going to do something bad to your health?
Anyway, it’s sometimes nice to have hard-core black-and-white proof in a research study. Especially when the results are so dramatic and can be so life changing for many. What I also like about this study is that it shows the consequences of not exercising and how bad that can be. There is no doubt in my mind that exercising makes you healthier and live longer. It is very beneficial. Most if not all would agree with that. I also have no doubt that if you do not exercise, it can cause diseases such as diabetes and heart disease and possibly shorten your life span.
This also refers to pain. Many people think that to get rid of back pain, you can just go exercise it away. This is just nonsense. If you have a herniated or bulging disc in your spine, exercise can and many times does injure it more. Once you get the disc fixed with spinal decompression, then you can go and exercise it to strengthen the area. But this does not work the other way around.
I have had countless patients finally get out of pain, start an exercise program and feel years younger. Some lose 10, 20, even 30 pounds because they can finally exercise without pain or further injuring themselves. And with this new study, it’s obvious these patients are not only looking and feeling better – they are healthier and adding countless years to their lives. It’s also obvious, if you are not exercising regularly, those years are being stolen from you as you are reading this.
Learn more about fitness. Stop by the health website site where you can find out all about alternative medicine and what it can do for you.