(S)itting Not-So-Pretty

This week, I hiked Multnomah Falls with a friend despite not having the time to do so. It felt great  (well, the downhill part did) ... and I enjoyed it (aside from the part where my lungs and leg muscles burned) ... and I know I was better for having taken the time to invest in myself and in my friendship.

And I know I should do this more often. As in daily. Maybe not in 3 hour increments, but 30 minutes. At least. I know I would feel better, and look better, and BE better.

This super scary infographic tells me - in no uncertain terms - that sitting down is killing me. "Sitting 6+ hours per day makes you up to 40% likelier to die within 15 years than someone who sits less than 3." And that's true even if you exercise and eat right. Let's not discuss the many ways I'm not eating right.

Pretty much.
Photo: Liberapedia

Okay, so with full knowledge that I am speeding up my own demise, why is it still so difficult to get up and move?

Right now, for me, it's absolutely the time factor. Between work and school, I'm overextended and under-exercised. So much of what commands my time and attention each day involves sitting at the computer, sitting to read, sitting while driving. But this is all justification, and I know it. And once again, my friends in the animal kingdom prove just how much smarter they are than me, because they simply do what they need to do so stay healthy. So much for superior human cognition.

You go, frog.
Photo: Getty Images, Corey Hochochka

Animals' coping abilities exceed shelter-building and traveling in numbers for safety, among other behaviors and defenses we are quick to give them credit for. These intuitive creatures will alter their diets and behaviors to protect themselves from parasites and to remain healthy and viable.

Woolly bear caterpillars fight parasitic flies by eating plants rich in
toxic pyrrolizidine alkyloids.
Photo: The Scientist, Wikimedia, Alton N. Sparks, Jr

Chimpanzees combat gut nematode parasites by slurping bitter leaf juice.
Photo: The Scientist, Stock xchng, big foot

Many primates, like these Japanese macaques, tackle intestinal parasites
with a sweeping solution: unchewed rough leaves, swallowed whole,
carry nematodes with them.
Photo: The Scientist, Wikimedia, Fg2,bukk

Capuchin monkeys stave off skin infections and irritating insects by rubbing
themselves with aromatic plants and insects.
Photo: The Scientist, Wikimedia, Steven G. Johnson

Honey bees seek out propolis to resist infection by a larval fungal parasite.
Photo: The Scientist, Wikimedia, Jon Sullivan

Sheep choose tannin-rich food to reduce gut nematode infections.
Photo: The Scientist, Wikimedia, Fir0002

Infected monarch butterfly mothers prefer to lay their eggs on milkweed
speciesthat help their caterpillar offspring fight protozoan parasites.
Photo: The Scientist, Wikimedia, Simon Koopmann

Drosophila melanogaster larvae increase their intake of
parasite-killing alcohol when infected by a parasitic wasp.
Photo: The Scientist, Wikimedia, Mr.checker

Swallowing small stones helps reduce parasite burden
in double-crested cormorants.
Photo: The Scientist, Wikimedia, Alan Vernon

Eating tannin-rich plants may help increase successful
pregnancies in sifaka lemurs.
Photo: The Scientist, Wikimedia, or Jean-Louis Vandevivère

Identifying the choices that animals make to self-medicate is not only a fascinating study of animal behavior, but it could help people as well. (For a somewhat related conversation but slightly off-topic detour, watch this interesting TED Talk on What Veterinarians Know That Physicians Don't, where we are reminded that since humans are animals too, we should pay attention to how non-human patients on the planet live, grow, get sick and heal.)

When humans self-medicate, it tends to be in destructive forms. There are some nasty vices out there that I'm glad I don't partake in, but I do have food. And sugar-free Red Bull.

And I sit.

And the longer I write this blog, the more I sit. So, I'll let all this sit with you until my next post.

See you at the zoo!


For more information:
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32966/title/Natural-Born-Doctors/