BEWARE: That Netflix binge may be fatal

It’s no secret that sitting isn’t good for you.  

And in the last two years of COVID-19, there’s no doubt you’ve been doing more of it. Netflix binges, zoom events, and teleworking have had us all spending more time sitting.  

But that all needs to stop… NOW.  

Because recent research reveals that sitting for too long can lead to a FATAL condition.   

Here’s everything you need to know… 

Prolonged inactivity linked to heightened clot risk  

I’m talking about blood clots.  

And they are so dangerous because they can break off and block other veins in different parts of your body. And if that happens to be your lungs—a condition also known as a pulmonary embolism—the outcome could be fatal. 

This is the main risk of deep vein thrombosis (or DVT)—the most common type of venous thromboembolism (VTE), where clots form in the deep veins of your legs. (This is a known problem associated with long trips in the car or a plane.) 

To reach this newest conclusion, researchers reviewed data from three different studies featuring more than 131,000 subjects, all over the age of 40 years, and all without pre-existing VTE. 

Subjects reported the amount of time they spent watching TV. Then, researchers placed them into two groups: prolonged viewers (who watched at least four hours of TV daily) and never/seldom viewers (who watched less than 2.5 hours per day).   

Follow-up ranged from five to 20 years—during which time, nearly 1,000 subjects developed VTE. And no surprises here: Prolonged TV viewers were 35 percent more likely to develop VTE than those who watched little to no TV.  

And this association held independently of key risk factors like age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and even physical activity levels. In other words, binge-watching could be dangerous no matter how healthy and active you are. 

This isn’t the first time that research has exposed the potentially lethal dangers of too much TV, either. In fact, you may recall the results of a similar study that I shared back in 2018… 

A gym membership isn’t enough 

In this study, researchers looked at data from more than 15,000 subjects from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC)—an ongoing study of circulatory diseases that began in the U.S. back in 1987. 

These subjects were between 45 and 64 years old at the study’s outset. And after collecting baseline information about subjects’ health—like weight, exercise, and smoking habits—researchers kept tabs on any hospitalizations that occurred through 2011. 

Ultimately, some disturbing trends emerged: Like the fact that patients who watched a lot of TV faced nearly two times the risk of VTE compared to subjects who didn’t. And once again, this lethal link held even after accounting for subjects’ weight and exercise levels. 

The bottom line? You can’t fight “sitting disease” with a gym membership alone. The only solution is to keep moving.  

Of course, this doesn’t require giving up your favorite shows for good. All you have to do is stand instead of sit, whenever possible. Or at the very least, commit to walking around for five minutes or so between shows or episodes—at least once every hour. (Set a timer if you need to.) 

These small changes can make a big difference. Heck, they may even save your life! 

For my very own “physical activity cocktail” that I indulge in daily, check out the current issue of my monthly newsletter, Logical Health Alternatives. In it, I explain why exercise doesn’t end with workouts—and how creating your own activity-based “cocktail” can easily become a way of life (while still enjoying some TV). Not yet a subscriber? Click here to become one! 

Source:  

“TV watching linked with potentially fatal blood clots.” Science Daily, 01/19/2022. (sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220119194301.htm)