For a long, long time, experts from the medical community have advised us to not lead sedentary lifestyles, as these increase the risk of health issues. It has practically become common knowledge that being physically inactive leads to problems.
Well, it would seem that there is a benefit to being physically inactive. Maintaining cognitive health could benefit from it. And this is not just some random rant on the internet. There is a study performed by researchers affiliated with the University of Cambridge, located in the United Kingdom, that seems to indicate so.
Results
According to the study performed at Cambridge University, people that have jobs which involve sitting at a desk have a significantly lower chance of experiencing cognitive decline when compared to people who have jobs that are more physically active.
Popular Knowledge
This is in stark contrast with the mantra that is said a lot in our days “What is good for the heart, is good for the brain”. It seemed to make a lot of sense, but the way it relates to what is actually good in our day-to-day lives can be quite confusing, according to Shabina Hayat, the lead author of the study performed at Cambridge.
Scientists’ Opinion
Hayat continued by mentioning the fact that they had an extremely large cohort of volunteers. With all that, they became able to explore the relationship between the different types of physical activity that there are and in a variety of benefits. All of the results obtained in the research were published in the academic journal International Journal of Epidemiology.
Research
The study is based on some data that was collected form the Epic-Norfolk Cohort, which is a long-term project that involves about 30,000 participants that are aged somewhere between 40 and 79. This research ahs the ultimate goal of establishing links between diet, daily activities, and cancer.