Office workers – or anyone who spends a good portion of their working day sitting could put them at risk of an early death.
We all know this. It’s the reason standing desks and office yoga exist.
So what can we do to improve our general health if our jobs require us to be seated and typing away at a keyboard?
Well you can start by adding this one drink.
It’s something most of you ignore in this side of the world (West Africa) – a cup of coffee everyday may actually keep the doctor away.
We’re not making this up as a way to justify a caffeine addition either, as research from Soochow University in China analysed long-term data from 10,000 people in the US and found that a certain drink cut their death risk.
Apparently, people who sit for long periods of time but also drink coffee are 1.58 times less likely to die of any cause than those who don’t consume the stuff, with the effect lasting for up to 13 years.
This statistic certainly sounds to good to be true, so how does this all work? The study found that drinking the chugging lattes and cappuccinos seemed to offer protection from all the nasty impacts of being sedentary for so long, such as diabetes and heart disease.
They also found that people who drank coffee also had better protection than those who exercised. Overall, the research came from 10,639 people, with those who sat for several hours a day had an increased risk of dying if they didn’t drink coffee.
So if you’re not a fan of a steaming cup of coffee, then it may be worth holding your nose and gulping it down.
You don’t have to be absolutely downing gallons of the stuff for this supposed protection – even one mug of it is ok. Although, two to three cups a day were found to be the most effective.
This is all backed up by previous studies which suggest having caffeine in the blood can reduce people’s risk of developing heart disease or type 2 diabetes.
However, coffee won’t solve all of your problems, so don’t substitute it for a healthy diet.