Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Vindicated!

Ha! After all those years of being scolded for bad posture...well, OK, Mom never really scolded me much, but I've secretly harbored a little guilt, occasionally. Come to find out slouching is a GOOD thing! I often find myself sitting in my desk chair similarly to the guy in this photo as I type or surf.

Healthy Habits That Aren't: Sitting up straight
According to a study presented in 2006 at the annual conference for the Radiological Society of North America, so-called “perfect” posture might actually be contributing to back pain. Go ahead, call your mom and gloat. But make sure you get your facts right. When this story first came out last November, many newspapers incorrectly reported that slouching was the better way to sit. The problem turned out to be a “slanguage” barrier. In England, where the story was first reported, “slouching” refers to reclining backward, which is, according to the study, a great way to relieve pressure on your lower back. Translated into American slang, however, the news reports gave many people the impression that hunching forward was healthy, when, in fact, it’s actually worse than sitting up straight.

And THEN...this one! I can never manage to be consistent about drinking all that water every day.

Healthy Habits That Aren't: Drinking eight glasses of water a day
Admit it, this is one healthy habit that’s a royal pain. Luckily, it’s also completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might actually be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in vain, to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day myth. His report, published in the American Journal of Physiology, concluded that this standard health advice was complete and utter bunk that, like many urban legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Too bad both of those statements ARE true for pregnancy. You definitely need (at least) eight glasses of water (or other liquids- milk or juice). And sitting up supposedly helps the aches and pains that we can get while pregnant. I know that I personally feel a huge difference when I sit up straight as compared to when I am lazy and don't.

But I have to say that the photo you linked to is definitely the way that I sit a lot of the time while I am pregnant. :) There just isn't enough room in a person's body for a baby AND all our organs to make sitting up straight comfortable.