If you are like most people, you sit at a desk and work somewhere between 8-10 hours a day. Occasionally you stand up to get coffee or something from the printer, but you spend most of the day on your keister. New research over the past few years is suggesting that this is hazardous to your health. No, not the coffee or the printer, although that could be a topic for another discussion, sitting is the culprit. Some people even refer to it as ‘the new smoking’.

 Our bodies are built for motion; postural muscles support our frame and can remain active essentially all day without fatiguing. These muscles prefer to use fat as a fuel source because it is a slow burning high calorie fuel. Postural muscles are rich in proteins called lipoprotein lipase which help absorb fat. The catch is that Lipoprotein Lipase is almost completely shut off when you are sitting. Another wrinkle in the issue is that fat is transported in the blood with cholesterol. Using fat as a fuel helps convert LDL (bad cholesterol) into HDL (good cholesterol). You can see a 22% reduction in HDL from sitting for several hours! This is one of the reasons why people who sit a lot have a double or even triple incidence of heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

Sitting for 8 hours or more can negate the health benefits of exercising even if it’s daily. Sitting also propagates a condition called lower cross syndrome: tight and shortened hip flexors and hamstrings coupled with over stretched and weak glutes and quadriceps. Lower cross is a cause of pain and a cofactor in many injuries, especially for weekend warriors. Standing strengthens your postural muscles, helps prevent/correct lower cross syndrome and also burns an extra 60 calories per hour.

Another difficulty is that a standing desk might not be the solution either, as there is an increased incidence of carotid atherosclerosis (increased stroke risk). The missing factor might simply be movement. A good intermediate solution is to stand up and move around occasionally, it doesn’t have to be much, just circling your chair or walking to the end of the room and back. Limit your uninterrupted sitting to 20-30 minutes. Increase your levels of “non-exercise” activity: take the stairs, walk to work or park further away, stand at meetings, walk to a colleague’s cubicle instead of calling or emailing them or any other ideas you can imagine. We are designed to move, if you don’t use it you lose it.

It’s nearing the end of winter, but we still won’t see the sun shine consistently for a couple more months here in rainy Vancouver. Thankfully the days have been getting longer for almost 2 months now. One outcome of decreased exposure to the sun is that our body produces less Vitamin D. I became interested about the role of Vitamin D after I heard that most of the 2009/10 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks prescribed 5000IU daily by their team Doctor.

Vitamin D is an oil soluble vitamin that is created when your skin is exposed to ultraviolet light but can also be ingested in a small number of foods or as a supplement. UVB is the specific wave length that stimulates the production. UVB is partially absorbed by cloud cover, pollution and sunscreen and it is completely blocked by glass and most thick winter clothing. This reaction can create a lot of vitamin D for your body; 15 minutes full body exposure (without sunscreen) can create 25,000IU during peak sun hours. There are different forms of vitamin D that are present in your body that become active when processed by your liver and kidneys.

Vitamin D is actually a hormone and is important in many bodily functions. It is well known for increases calcium absorption in the gut and it also helps your bones utilizes the calcium. Vitamin D is linked to reduced rates of colorectal, prostate, breast and pancreatic cancer, but it is not a clear relationship. Lesser know functions of Vitamin D are that it modulates cell growth, neuromuscular function, enhances the immune system and reduces inflammation. These are the reasons that the Blackhawks are taking Vitamin D: decreased healing times, increased athletic performance and a boosted immune system.

The most studied function is that of bone health. It is well understood and documented that decreased levels of vitamin D cause Rickets in children and osteomalacia (soft bones) in adults. The levels of serum 25(OH)D, a form of Vitamin D in your blood that has the longest half life(15 days), can predict these conditions quite accurately. When looking at cell growth (healing), neuromuscular function (physical performance), immune function and reduced inflammation, the minimal serum levels of 25(OH)D are more vague and less understood. Compounding this problem is the fact that vitamin D is oil soluble and there are consequences of ingesting too much, such as soft tissue calcification, heart arrhythmia and kidney stones. These are typically reported in cases where people take a supplement of 10,000+ IU daily. Extended exposure to the sun does not cause vitamin D toxicity because heat from the sun increases the breakdown rate of the Vitamin D created in the skin.

Recently the recommended daily intake was increased from 400IU to 1000IU, which is a step in the right direction but with the northern climate it is generally not enough, specifically in winter.

Vitamin D3 can be found in most fish and fish oils, especially deep-water fish, and in liver, beef and egg yolks. Many dairy products and orange juices are fortified with vitamin D2. However, the liquid form of Vitamin D3 is the most bio-available supplement.

In summary Vitamin D is an important aspect of maintaining health. In our climate it is readily available in the summer but should be supplemented in the darker winter months. Supplementation for adults between 1000-4000IU per day with D3 in liquid form is optimal depending on lifestyle, activity level and sun exposure.

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