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The Silent Inflammation That Afflicts 3 Out of 4 Americans

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carotenoids as natural astaxanthin

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By Dr. Mercola – July 12, 2011

Scientists long ago discovered that a class of naturally occurring pigments called carotenoids held powerful antioxidant properties that are crucial for your health.

Carotenoids are the compounds in your foods that give you that vibrant cornucopia of color—from green grasses to red beets, to the spectacular yellows and oranges of bell peppers—as well as all of the beautiful flowers in your garden.

There are more than 700 naturally occurring carotenoids, but most people are familiar with only a few. Right now, you probably have about ten different carotenoids circulating through your bloodstream.

Only recently has one particular carotenoid jumped to the front of the line in terms of its status as a “supernutrient,” becoming the focus of a large and growing number of peer-reviewed scientific studies.

This carotenoid is called natural astaxanthin.

Synthetic (laboratory-made) astaxanthin is now commonly used worldwide to supplement fish feed lots in order to help them obtain the desired pinkish to orange-red color. You really should avoid synthetic astaxanthin because it’s made from petrochemicals.

Not only does natural astaxanthin carry potent antioxidant abilities, but as it turns out, it is also a powerful anti-inflammatory, which will be the focus of this article. Other carotenoids are easily obtainable through a good diet rich in fresh organic produce. However, this powerful carotenoid is harder to come by.

Astaxanthin Is in a League of Its Own

Astaxanthin is produced only by the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis when its water supply dries up, forcing it to protect itself from ultraviolet radiation. It’s the algae’s survival mechanism—Astaxanthin serves as a “force field” to protect the algae from lack of nutrition and/or intense sunlight.

There are only two main sources of astaxanthin—the microalgae that produce it, and the sea creatures that consume the algae (such as salmon, shellfish, and krill).Astaxanthin is now thought to be the most powerful antioxidant found in nature.

This pigment is the most commonly occurring red carotenoid in marine and aquatic animals and is what gives salmon their characteristic pink color. Astaxanthin is far more powerful than beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, lycopene and lutein, other members of its chemical family. It exhibits VERY STRONG free radical scavenging activity and helps protect your cells, organs, and body tissues from oxidative damage and inflammation.

What Makes Astaxanthin Special?

There are many properties that make this carotenoid unique. Here are the main differences:

  • Astaxanthin is by far the most powerful carotenoid antioxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: astaxanthin is 65 times more powerful than vitamin C,1 54 times more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 times more powerful than vitamin E.
  • Astaxanthin is far more effective than other carotenoids at “singlet oxygen quenching,” which is a particular type of oxidation. The damaging effects of sunlight and various organic materials are caused by this less-stable form of oxygen. Astaxanthin is 550 times more powerful than vitamin Eand 11 times more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing singlet oxygen.
  • Astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier AND the blood-retinal barrier (beta carotene and lycopene do not), which brings antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection to your eyes, brain and central nervous system and reducing your risk for cataracts, macular degeneration, blindness, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Astaxanthin is soluble in lipids, so it incorporates into cell membranes.
  • It’s a potent UVB absorber and reduces DNA damage.
  • It’s a very potent natural anti-inflammatory.

And how about some more great news?

There have been no adverse reactions found for people taking astaxanthin. Before I go into how astaxanthin works as an anti-inflammatory, let’s review what inflammation is and how it can cause devastating disease.

What You Need to Know About Inflammation

Inflammation is a necessary and important biological process that allows you to survive. It’s your body’s response to fighting infection and repairing damaged tissues—in other words, it’s part of your natural healing process. If you didn’t have inflammation, you’d never heal from any infection or injury.

When a foreign bacterium or virus enters your body, your inflammatory body kicks in to eliminate it. If you sprain your ankle, your inflammatory system activates to begin repairing damaged tissues.

There are five classic signs and symptoms of inflammation:

  1. Redness
  2. Pain
  3. Warmth
  4. Swelling
  5. Loss of function

Even sunburn is a sign of inflammation—when UV rays begin to damage your skin cells, the inflammatory “machine” turns on, making your skin red and warm. Mast cells are the key initiators of inflammation, activating potent “mediators.” The mediators attract white blood cells, and activate cells that produce additional mediators.

Mediators come in many forms, including:

  • Histamines
  • Tumor necrosis factor-alpha
  • Nitric oxide
  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Interleukins
  • Prostaglandins (produced from arachidonic acid and the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes)

Although having a red, swollen and painful sprained ankle is a clear sign you are experiencing inflammation, you may have an undercurrent of inflammation in your body and not even be aware. And silence can be deadly.

Chronic Inflammation: Silence Is Deadly

Inflammation comes and goes in your body as part of the normal healing process. However, prolonged inflammation can be devastating. Many people are experiencing ongoing, low-level inflammation without even knowing it—and this is a crucial factor behind chronic disease.

This systemic or “silent” inflammation is the evil twin of oxidation, and where you find one, you nearly always find the other. But this type of inflammation doesn’t cause you any pain—it lives “under the radar,” quietly lingering for years and even decades, where it silently injures your heart, brain, and immune system.

Left unchecked, systemic inflammation can lead to anything from asthma to rheumatoid arthritis to Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, the number of diseases linked to chronic inflammation is staggering:

There are many, many more. Unfortunately, Americans have the highest levels of silent inflammation in the world, with over 75 percent of people afflicted.

Why?

Two words: diet and lifestyle. Some of the largest contributors to chronic inflammation are smoking; a diet high in sugar, fried foods and trans fats; inadequate exercise; stress; and vitamin D deficiency. There are a couple of ways to measure how much inflammation is silently occurring in your body.

One blood test measures a substance called C-reactive protein (CRP), which might actually be a better predictor of your heart attack risk than lipids. Another test is called Sed Rate (or ESR for “erythrocyte sedimentation rate”), which is especially helpful in monitoring rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

CRP is produced in your liver and coronary arteries, then released into your bloodstream when your body is fighting inflammation. In one study, natural astaxanthin was found to reduce CRP levels by 20 percent in just eight weeks. Another study found astaxanthin caused 43 percent of people with high CRP levels to drop into the average-risk range.

Clearly, this powerful agent has a remarkable ability to cool down the inflammatory process, thereby decreasing your body’s need to produce CRP.

By decreasing inflammation, astaxanthin can help prevent, and treat, a number of problems that result directly from inflammation, including rheumatoid arthritis, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other repetitive stress injuries, which I will talk more about shortly.

Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Are Definitely NOT the Answer

Anti-inflammatories have earned a bad reputation. This is due to the fact that most of the compounds people commonly recognize as anti-inflammatories are DRUGS, rather than natural agents. Natural anti-inflammatories, on the other hand, can be very beneficial and lack the adverse side effects of anti-inflammatory drugs.

As a quick review, let’s review the truth about some anti-inflammatory drugs:

  • Aspirin can cause your stomach to bleed (acts on both COX-1 and COX-2)
  • Tylenol (acetaminophen) can damage your liver
  • Vioxx and Celebrex (non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, or NSAIDS) can cause heart problems (act strongly on COX-2 only)

In 1999, the New England Journal of Medicine stated that NSAIDS have caused as many deaths as AIDS. Vioxx alone has killed more than 60,000 people! I urge you to avoid these dangerous anti-inflammatory drugs since they have the potential to cause very serious side effects and even death. But astaxanthin is a different story and will not harm you.

Astaxanthin affects a wide range of mediators, but in a gentler, less concentrated manner and without the negative side effects. And it works for 4 out of 5 people. In one study,2 more than 80 percent of arthritis sufferers improved with astaxanthin.

Folks, that is four out of five people, that is impressive.

How Astaxanthin Tells Your Inflammation to ‘Chill’

A great deal of research has been done into how astaxanthin reduces inflammation. As is true for many antioxidants, its anti-inflammatory properties are related to its powerful antioxidant activity.

Astaxanthin suppresses a variety of inflammatory mediators—including tumor necrosis factor alpha, a major prostaglandin and a major interleukin, nitric oxide, COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. It takes longer to produce effects than NSAIDS, but this means it doesn’t result in the dangerous side effects.

As G. Cole, UCLA Professor of Medicine and Neurology, reported to Newsweek Magazine in a Special Summer Issue in 2005 (pages 26-28):

“While anti-inflammatory drugs usually block a single target molecule and reduce its activity dramatically, natural anti-inflammatories gently tweak a broader range of inflammatory compounds. You’ll get greater safety and efficacy reducing five inflammatory mediators by 30 percent than by reducing one by 100 percent.”

So, what sorts of conditions can astaxanthin treat?

Astaxanthin May Help You Be an Athlete Extraordinaire or Weekend Warrior

The evidence is very positive for astaxanthin’s effects on a variety of inflammatory disorders. Let’s take a look at the human clinical studies related to four common inflammatory complaints: tennis elbow, carpal tunnel, rheumatoid arthritis, and exercise-related joint soreness.

    1. Tennis elbow (tendonitis): Caused by inflamed tendons, tennis elbow results in pain and decreased grip strength when gripping something with your hand.

A study by the Health Research and Studies Center involved giving tennis elbow sufferers an eight-week course of astaxanthin. The treatment group showed a 93 percent improvement in grip strength, as well as decreased pain.

    1. Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), aka “repetitive stress injury”: CTS is a debilitating disease of the wrist that manifests as numbness, pain, and even paralysis.

A study by the above group found eight weeks of astaxanthin supplementation resulted in significant pain reduction, both in terms of severity and duration, leaving researchers concluding that astaxanthin might be a viable alternative to surgery.

    1. Rheumatoid arthritis: RA is a painful and disfiguring autoimmune disorder.

After receiving astaxanthin for only eight weeks, RA sufferers showed a 35 percent improvement in pain levels, as well as a 40 percent improvement in their ability to perform daily activities. [Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 21(5):Oct, 2002.]

    1. Post-exercise joint soreness: Can astaxanthin be of benefit to you if you are healthy and have no disease or affliction?

In 2001, Dr. Andrew Fry of the University of Memphis studied the effects of astaxanthin on healthy people who trained with weights and who would typically experience exercise-induced joint soreness. He gave young male subjects astaxanthin for three weeks, while they performed strenuous workouts, and then evaluated them for knee pain.

The placebo group experienced post-training knee soreness, lasting up to 48 hours after their workouts. But the treatment group showed no increase whatsoever in knee joint soreness following workouts. [Fry, A. (2001) “Astaxanthin Clinical Trial for Delayed Onset Muscular Soreness.” Human Performance Laboratories, The University of Memphis, Report 1, August 16, 2001.]

So it appears that this amazing nutrient can help you, whether you are a top athlete or a weekend warrior, whether you have mild overuse symptoms or a major inflammatory illness—it truly seems to have benefits for anyone and everyone!

Make Sure Your Astaxanthin Is the Natural Variety from Marine Algae—NOT Synthetic

Some aquaculture companies are beginning to use natural astaxanthin instead of synthetic, even though it costs more, because it’s better for the health of the animals, and it’s far superior for pigmentation. Animals fed fish food with natural astaxanthin have higher survival rates, better growth rates, better immunity, fertility, and reproduction. Unfortunately, synthetic astaxanthin still dominates the farmed salmon industry worldwide.

If your salmon label does not read “wild” or “naturally colored,” you’re probably going to be eating a coloring agent somewhat closer to motor oil than antioxidant. Natural astaxanthin is more than 20 times more powerful as an antioxidant than synthetic astaxanthin.

Wild salmon are 400 percent higher in astaxanthin than farmed salmon, and 100 percent of their pigment is natural astaxanthin, rather than synthetic. Plus, wild salmon have much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than the farmed version.

But even if you are successful in purchasing genuine wild salmon, there is the problem with high levels of mercury and other unwanted toxins, not to mention the skyrocketing prices.

Final Recommendations

You may recognize the name astaxanthin because I have mentioned it in reference to krill oil, my favorite source of animal-based omega-3 fatty acids. One of the reasons I am such a fan of krill is that itnaturally contains astaxanthin. And our krill oil has the highest concentration of astaxanthin of any krill oil on the market today.

But, as high as it is, new research suggests you could enjoy even MORE benefits by further increasing your astaxanthin, even if you are already taking a krill oil supplement.

If you decide to give astaxanthin a try, I recommend with a dose of 8-10 mg per day. If you are on a krill oil supplement, take that into consideration; different krill products have different concentrations of astaxanthin, so check your label.

 

krill oil vs fish oil infographics

Learn why krill oil is a safer and smarter choice than fish oil through the Fish Oil versus Krill Oil: The Cold, Hard Facts infographic. Use the embed code to share it on your website or visit our infographic page for the high-res version.
<img src="https://media.mercola.com/assets/images/infographic/krill-oil-vs-fish-oil.jpg" alt="krill oil vs fish oil infographics" border="0" style="max-width:100%; min-width:300px; margin: 0 auto 20px auto; display:block;"><p style="max-width:800px; min-width:300px; margin:0 auto; text-align:center;">Learn why krill oil is a safer and smarter choice than fish oil through the <a href="http://www.mercola.com/infographics/fish-oil-vs-krill-oil.htm"><strong>Fish Oil versus Krill Oil: The Cold, Hard Facts</strong></a> infographic. Visit our infographic page for the high-res version.</p>

Sitting Eight Hours a Day Significantly Increases Your Risk of Dying

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By Dr. Mercola, February 06, 2015

If you’re like most people, you spend a vast majority of your day sitting down—in your office, commuting to and from work, watching TV in the evening… Research1 shows that the average American spends nine to 10 hours of their day sitting.

Certain occupations, such as telecommunications employees spend an average of 12 hours sitting each day. I was certainly in that group and for 15 years was sitting more than 12 hours a day. And, the more sedentary you are at work, the more sedentary you will tend to be at home as well.

Thankfully, last year, the evidence became overwhelmingly compelling and I have essentially eliminated 95 percent of my sitting. I found that merely getting up for a few minutes even six times an hour would not help eliminate my back pain but stopping sitting altogether did.

Even on weekends, the average person sits for eight hours. This behavior can be more problematic than you might think, as the human body was designed to be in more or less constant movement throughout the day.

I really wasn’t  aware of this prior to last year, but the evidence shows that prolonged sitting actively promotes dozens of chronic diseases, including overweight and type 2 diabetes, even if you’re very fit. This is really highly counterintuitive as it would seem physically fit people could get away with sitting.

However, research shows that maintaining a regular fitness regimen cannot counteract the accumulated ill effects of sitting eight to 12 hours a day in between bouts of exercise. This is very strong evidence to seriously consider eliminating as much sitting as you can.

Sitting really is the new smoking and it increases your rate of lung cancer by over 50 percent. Who would have known that sitting is far more dangerous than second hand smoke?

Analysis Concludes: Sitting Kills, Even if You Exercise

There’s really compelling evidence showing that when you sit for lengths of time, disease processes set in that independently raise your mortality risk, even if you eat right, exercise regularly and are very fit; even a professional or Olympic level athlete.

The most recent systematic review2,3 looked at 47 studies of sedentary behavior, and discovered that the time a person spends sitting each day produces detrimental effects that outweigh the benefits reaped from exercise.

Sitting was found to increase your risk of death from virtually all health problems, from type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease to cancer and all-cause mortality. For example, sitting for more than eight hours a day was associated with a 90 percent increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Other research4 has found that those who sit the most have a 112 percent increased Relative Risk of diabetes, and a 147 percent increased relative risk of cardiovascular events compared to those who sit the least.

All-cause mortality is also increased by 50 percent. In fact, chronic sitting has a mortality rate similar to smoking.5 And, the less you exercise, the more pronounced the detrimental effects of sitting. To counteract the ill effects of prolonged sitting, the authors of the featured review6 suggest that you:

  • Keep track of how much you’re sitting each day, and make an effort to reduce it, little by little, each week
  • Use a standing desk at work. Although standing up frequently is better than constant sitting I am now strongly convinced that avoiding sitting completely is far preferable and has better metabolic effects.
  • When watching TV, stand up and/or walk around during commercial breaks

More Studies Highlighting Debilitating Effects of Sitting

Part one in a two-part series of articles7 published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) at the beginning of January also highlights the hazards of our modern sedentary lifestyle, suggesting that public policy needs to be reassessed and updated to focus on increasing movement during work hours.

The article summarizes the findings from the 2015 Inaugural Active Working Summit, where a number of health effects of sitting were reviewed, including cancer and mental health. For example, one study presented at the summit found that sitting increases:

  • Lung cancer by 54 percent
  • Uterine cancer by  66 percent, and
  • Colon cancer by 30 percent

The reason for this increased cancer risk is thought to be linked to weight gain and associated biochemical changes, such as alterations in hormones, metabolic dysfunction, leptin dysfunction, and inflammation—all of which promote cancer. Research also shows that your risk for anxiety and depression rises right along with hours spent in your chair.

Why Sitting Causes So Much Harm

Download Interview Transcript

Dr. James Levine, co-director of the Mayo Clinic and the Arizona State University Obesity Initiative, and author of the book Get Up! Why Your Chair Is Killing You and What You Can Do About It, has dedicated a good part of his career to investigating the health effects of sitting. His investigations show that when you’ve been sitting for a long period of time and then get up, a number of molecular cascades occur. For example, within 90 seconds of standing up, the muscular and cellular systems that process blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol—which are mediated by insulin—are activated.

All of these molecular effects are activated simply by carrying your own bodyweight. These cellular mechanisms are also responsible for pushing fuel into your cells and, if done regularly, will radically decrease your risk of diabetes and obesity. In short, at the molecular level, your body was designed to be active and on the move all day long. When you stop moving for extended periods of time, it’s like telling your body it’s time to shut down and prepare for death… As noted by Dr. Levine, while we clearly need to rest from time to time, that rest is supposed to break up activity—not the other way around! Inactivity—sitting—is not supposed to be a way of life.

“[T]his very unnatural [sitting] posture is not only bad for your back, your wrists, your arms, and your metabolism, but it actually switches off the fundamental fueling systems that integrate what’s going on in the bloodstream with what goes on in the muscles and in the tissues,” he says.

As a consequence of sitting, your blood sugar levels, blood pressure, cholesterol, and toxic buildup all rise. The solution to these adverse events do not involve a prescription—all you need to do is get up, and avoid sitting down as much as possible. If you’ve been sitting down for a full hour, you’ve sat too long, and the cellular mechanisms involved in the maintenance of your body and health are shutting down. We are in the process of providing all our employees at mercola.com standing desk options. If you have a sit down job I would strongly encourage you to present this information to your employer and get a stand up desk.

Avoiding Sitting is the First Step Toward a Healthier Lifestyle

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends getting at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week, but researchers say this may be too ambitious a goal for many people—particularly the elderly, at least to start. They suggest a more realistic approach may be to simply avoid sitting still as much as possible.  In a paper8 titled, “Recommendations for Physical Activity in Older Adults”, Professor Phillip Sparling and colleagues write:

“There is now a clear need to reduce prolonged sitting. Secondly, evidence on the potential ofhigh intensity interval training in managing the same chronic diseases, as well as reducing indices of cardiometabolic risk in healthy adults, has emerged. This vigorous training typically comprises multiple 3-4 minute bouts of high intensity exercise interspersed with several minutes of low intensity recovery, three times a week.

Between these two extremes of the activity spectrum is the mainstream public health recommendation for aerobic exercise… 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more… However, many people, especially in older age groups, find it hard to achieve this level of activity. We argue that when advising patients on exercise doctors should encourage people to increase their level of activity by small amounts rather than focus on the recommended levels. The 150 minute target, although warranted, may overshadow other less concrete elements of guidelines. These include finding ways to do more lower intensity lifestyle activity…”

A Fitness Tracker Can Be a Helpful Tool

Part of the solution may also be to reassess your use of technology. Your TV, for example, can increase your sedentary time by hours each day, so consider trading some of that sedentary time for something more active. That doesn’t mean that all technology is detrimental though.9 I’m very excited about the explosion of wearable fitness trackers for example, which can measure your activity levels and track how long and how well you sleep. It’s hard to change a habit if you’re not tracking it, and devices like these can help you modify your behavior over time, such as motivating you to walk more, and get in bed earlier to get your eight hours of sleep.

If you don’t already have a fitness tracker, I would encourage you to get one. Jawbone’s Up3,10 when it is released later this year, will be among the most advanced fitness trackers to date, but even more advanced ones are sure to follow. The Apple Watch,11 which is also set to launch this year is one example. I have reviewed many of them and Jawbone is one of the best, featuring a suite of state-of-the art sensors that provide a wide array of health data. I recommend aiming for 7,000 to 10,000 steps per day, over and above any exercise regimen you may have, and to shoot for eight hours of sleep each night. With a fitness tracker, you can track all of this and more. I was probably doing 2,000 steps a day prior to using one and now I am up to about 15,000 steps a day or about eight miles. I am able to read my Kindle while walking and have been able to read a book a week.

When Sitting Is Unavoidable, Keep Posture in Mind

While it’s certainly possible to limit sitting, it’s still an unavoidable part of most people’s lives. The question then becomes, how can you limit the risks associated with sitting? Paying attention to your posture is one way. A recent CNN article12 suggests “sitting smarter” by incorporating yoga postures and being aware of your breathing, and presents a five-point yoga-based posture check that can make for healthier sitting.

Also familiarize yourself with your body’s signals to shift or move. Following the recommendations by “posture guru” Esther Gokhale may also go a long way toward improving posture-related pain associated with prolonged sitting, and will likely help ameliorate the worst risks of sitting. The basics of healthy sitting include the following points:

    • Stack sitting: In order to allow the bones in your spine to stack well and permit the muscles alongside them to relax, sit with your behind sticking out behind you, but not exaggeratedly so. Now, when you breathe, each in-and-out breath will automatically lengthen and settle your spine. This gentle movement stimulates circulation and allows natural healing to go on even while you sit.

While conventional advice tells you to tuck in your pelvis to maintain an S-shaped spine, Esther has found that a J-spine is far more natural. A J-spine refers to a posture where your back is straight, your lumbar relatively flat, and your buttocks are protruding slightly. By tucking your pelvis, you lose about a third of the volume in your pelvic cavity, which squishes your internal organs. This can compromise any number of them in a variety of ways. This is further compounded if you’re both “tucked” and “hunched” while sitting.

    • Stretch sitting. Another way to elongate your spine is by using your back rest as a traction device. You can see her demonstrate this move in the video below. You will need either a towel or a specially designed traction cushion for this purpose. This simple maneuver brings your back away from the back rest, lengthens your spine, and then roots you higher up against the back rest.

This position helps you maintain an elongated spine, and by getting traction on your discs, you allow them to rehydrate and prevent the nerves from being impinged between your vertebrae. It will also help flatten out your lumbar area, and this alone can sometimes provide immediate pain relief if you have sciatic nerve root pain. Although please remember that sitting should be your last resort when you have no alternative. It is far better for you to stand than sit. It might take a bit to adjust but once you do it will be every bit as comfortable as sitting.

Make Walking a Part of Your Daily Routine

The evidence is overwhelming at this point—10,000 studies and growing—that prolonged sitting will reduce your lifespan by promoting dozens of chronic diseases, even if you exercise regularly. I’ve previously recommended standing up and doing exercises at your desk every 10-15 minutes to counteract the ill effects of sitting, but after reading Dr. Levine’s book, I’m convinced even that may be insufficient if you’re seeking optimal health. I really think the answer is to stand up as much as possible.

That said, I realize some people may be limited by work policies and/or other factors, and eliminating sitting altogether is too lofty a goal. I’m simply suggesting you take a closer look at how you spend your day, and find ways to stand up or move more often. For a number of tips and tricks, please see my previous article, “Tips for Staying Active in the Office.” Remember, as a general rule, if you’ve been sitting for one hour, you’ve sat too long. At bare minimum, avoid sitting for more than 50 minutes out of every hour.

I believe high intensity training, non-exercise activities like walking 7,000 to 10,000 steps a day, and avoiding sitting whenever possible is an ideal combination for optimizing your health. And, while I recommend walking in addition to your regular fitness regimen, not as a replacement for it, if you’re currently doing nothing in terms of regimented exercise, walking is certainly a great place to start. For many, simply getting and staying out of your chair is a first step that can bring you closer to a healthier lifestyle. As you become more used to low level, non-exercise activity, you’re more likely to get motivated enough to start exercising more vigorously.

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