Caution for OL: What are the risks of sitting too much?

Sitting inside an air-conditioned office is so comfortable that we enjoy the refreshing cool temperature even when the weather is hot out there. However, researchers have linked sitting for long periods of time with several number of health concerns, including obesity (notice that office lady? You’re gaining weight gradually and unconsciously) and metabolic syndrome (including 4-high: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, high body fat). It could also bring back problem if the chair or your sitting position is not correct.

Here are some workouts for you during working hours.

(a)    Look for opportunity to stand

You’ll burn more calories standing than sitting. Stand for 45 minutes after lunch helps to burn out unwanted calories.

(b)   Practice fitness breaks

Rather than having snacks in the café during short breaks, you can do some simple stretching exercises. For example, while standing, grab one of your ankles and bring it up to your hips. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds.

(c)    Change your office chair to a fitness ball

If your office is spacious enough, try to trade your office chair to a fitness ball. You will improve your balance and tone your core muscles while sitting at your desk. You can even use it for some other workplace exercise during the day.

(d)   Get social

Try to avoid using inter-com or instant messaging while you want to pass a message to your colleagues. Walk to them.

(e)   Store some fitness equipment in your office

Keep the resistance cords that offer weight-like resistance when you pull on them. The Chinese traditional scrapping would be the best recommended exercise by scrapping the body muscles to relief muscle tension and to smooth the blood vessels.

Information retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/HealthyLivingIndex/HealthyLivingIndex

Fight Against Breast Cancer With Plastic Free Living

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women and it is the second leading cause of cancer death among women. Research shows that at certain exposure level, some of the harmful chemicals in the plastics products may leach into the food or water contained, for example BPA, not only causes developmental disruption among children, also acting as one of the factors that lead to cancer.

BPA is a weak synthetic estrogen found in many rigid plastic products, food and formula can linings, dental sealants, and on the shiny side of paper cashier receipts (to stabilize the ink). Its estrogen-like activity makes it a hormone disruptor, like many other chemicals in plastics. Hormone disruptors can affect how estrogen and other hormones act in the body, by blocking them or mimicking them, which throws off the body's hormonal balance which can also make hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer develop and grow. Furthermore, some believe that the BPA also affect the fetus’ brain development in the womb. Study also found that women with high level BPA contain in their urine are more likely to have daughter with hyperactivity, anxiety and depression.

Try to use as little plastic products as possible, especially if you are pregnant. Love your body, love our mother earth. These are the steps that you could take to reduce the exposure to harmful chemicals in the plastics:

1.    Don’t cook or heat any food with plastic containers. You will never notice if the chemicals leach into your food.

2.    Use ceramic, glass or stainless steel containers to store your food and beverages. Especially choose a better ceramic water bottle if you like to spare some water in your car.

3.    Reduce canned food/drink you take and canned formula for your baby.

4.    Avoid plastic containers with recycled code of #3 and #7, they usually contain BPA.

It cannot be denied that plastic-products have bought us many conveniences in our life especially it is lower in cost as compared with glass and ceramic products. However, the harmful effects that have bought to human health are tremendous. Be a wise consumer, spend your hard-earning money wisely on a better and healthier product.

Information retrieved from:

(      http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/factors/plastic

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-key-statistics