Is slouching that bad for you? – part 4

In previous blog posts I have explored the following reasons for not slouching

So finally I would like to focus on how slouching affects your breathing.

You’ll notice that people don’t sigh when they sit slumped — they have to sit up to take a deep breath,’ observes Professor Stephen Spiro of the British  Lung Foundation.

‘That’s because the lungs work best when we’re vertical. If you’re slumped forward you don’t fully breathe and ventilate the lungs, because they’re compressed and the diaphragm is coming up into the chest — so you won’t breathe as easily and efficiently.’

This can cause particular breathing problems for anyone with asthma or lung disease.

‘If you’re an asthmatic you probably don’t have bad posture because people are quite clever at correcting themselves,’ says Professor Spiro.

Physiotherapist Sammy Margo adds that slumping can mean less oxygen gets to the brain.

‘Slumped or C-shaped people complain of being tired and fatigued all the time and it’s because the lungs are squashed and cannot get enough air in, and the brain needs plenty of oxygen to function at its best.’

In addition, if you slumped you are breath with be short and shallow from your upper chest.  In order to relax and digest food your body needs the parasympathetic nervous system to be dominant.  A quick way to do this is to sit up right and take deep breaths and this simulates the parasympathetic system.  So slumping may be contributing to you feeling anxious and finding it hard to relax and switch off when you leave work!

Related Posts

  • Natural ways to boost fertility through diet

    In my previous post, I shared tips on how to change your lifestyle to boost your fertility.  In this post, I wanted to share some tips on nutrition to boost your fertility based on scientific evidence. 1. Take a multivitamin Women who take a daily multivitamin take 5% less time to conceive than those taking a placebo. 2. Supplementation Take supplementation to correct any nutritional deficiencies.  A study showed that magnesium deficiency is associated with female, infertility, increased miscarriage rates, and increased incidences of premature and low-birth-weight babies.  When magnesium supplements were given for four months to six magnesium deficient women with unexplained infertility, all six conceived within the following eight month and produced healthy babies.  In men, low levels of zinc have been linked to poor sperm quality and infertility. 3. Optimise your diet. Researchers found that an optimal diet for fertility was one with:

    • a lower intake of trans fats with a greater intake of monounsaturated fats (found in olive oil, avocados and nuts)
    • a lower intake of animal protein with a greater intake of vegatable protein (found in peas, lentils and beans)
    • a greater intake of plant-based iron (from sources like whole grains, leafy green vegatables, nuts and seeds)
    • a preference for high-fat diary products (like full-fat cheese and milk)
    References Czeizel AE, Metneki J, Dudas I 1996 The effect of preconceptional multivitamin supplementatoin on fertility Int J Vitam Nutr Res 66(1):55-8 Howard JM, Davies S,  Hunnisett A 1994 Red cell magnesium and gluthathione peroxidase in infertile women -- effects of oral supplementation with magenesium and selenium Magnes Res Mar;7(1)49-57 Colagar AH, Marzony ET, Chaichi MJ 2009 Zinc levels in seminal plasma are assocaited with sperm quality in fertile and infertile men Nutr Res 29(2):82-8 BV Rossi et al 2014 Modifiable risk factors and infertility: What are the connections? Americal Journal Lifestyle Medincine; 10(4), 220-231

  • One for all you amateur athletes

    In my lifetime I have seen more and more people become what a friend insightfully called amateur athletes.  This is due to the impact of the public health campaign to get to us to recognise the importance of regular exercise to keep us healthy.  This has led to more people going to the gym regularly taking part in all forms of sporting competitions. I appreciate I am older than most of the clients who visit out clinic.  But when I was growing up it was quite rare for people to go the gym or for adults to take part in sports-based competitions who were not professional athletes. A recent review published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine concludes that sleep is an important determinant of health, wellbeing and performance in collegiate athletes, it is not always a priority for them.   In addition sleep allows the body to repair itself which is crutial if you are working towards a fitness goal e.g. a triathalon or marathon or big hockey game etc This made me wonder about the clients we see at the clinic, who are juggling demanding careers, personal fitness goals, busy social lives, families and sometimes living in environments that are not conducive to restorative sleep. So, I wanted to leave you with a question, how much of a priority is sleep in your life? Here is a reminder of some Sleep tips Reference https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/53/12/731.full

  • More tips on how to reduce severity of a cold

    Following on from last weeks blog article on the benefits of garlic in fighting colds and flu, I wanted to share more tips on how to reduce the severity of a cold.

    1. Take a zinc supplement: Take zinc lozenges or syrup within 24 hours of the start of a cold, as this may reduce the duration of the cold.  The important thing is to take the zinc within 24 hours.
    2. Rest.  You body needs rest to heal.
    3. Soothe a sore throat.  I personally like to gargle with sea salt water - 1/2 tea spoon of sea salt dissolved in a large glass of room temperature water. Note: This is in appropriate for children as they may not be able to gargle properly.
    4. Sip warm liquids.  This could be chicken soup, team or warm apple juice.  Personally I like a wedge of lemon in hot water with a little chunk of ginger sweetened with manuka honey.
    5. Vitamin C.   The scientific jutry is still out on Vitamin C. Personally I dose up with 1000mg of vitamin C throughout my cold.  Taking vitamin C before the onset of cold symptoms may shorten the duration of the symptoms.  Vitamin C may provide benefit for people at high risk of colds due the the frequency of exposure.
    6. Echineacea.  Study results on whether echinacea prevents or shortens colds are mixed. Some studies show no benefit. Others show some reduction in the severity and duration of cold symptoms when taken in the early stages of a cold. Different types of echinacea used in different studies may have contributed to the differing results.Echinacea seems to be most effective if you take it when you notice cold symptoms and continue it for seven to 10 days. It appears to be safe for healthy adults, but it can interact with many drugs. Check with your doctor before taking echinacea or any other supplement.
    Remember that antibiotics attack bacteria but they are no help against cold viruses. References https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24715076