This Is the Scary News That Might Have You Changing Your Netflix Habits
We’ve been counting the days ‘til the Gilmore Girls reboot drops (we mean… have you SEEN this featurette?), but even though we couldn’t be more stoked, we mayyyyyy want to space out our viewing parties instead of indulging in our normal binge-a-thon.
Unlike reading, which has recently been proven to increase our lives by up to two years (yay!), binge-watching kinda sorta has the opposite effect (read: It does).
We already knew that binge-watching could result in some pretty catastrophic mental health side effects, but perhaps unsurprisingly, it also has some pretty scary effects on your body. In fact, it could actually increase your chances of having a pulmonary embolism by up to 70percent.
A study from Japan, which was published in July, looked at 110,585 people between the ages of 40 to 69 years over 19.2 years and first broke the news that going from a daily TV intake of 2.5 hours or less per day to 2.5 to 4.9 hours per day was enough to elevate your chances by 70 percent. Any more than that (five hours or higher), and you can increase your chances by an additional 40 percent, making those that had the highest TV intake up to 250 times more likely to die in such a manner.
Whoa.
And no, it’s not a fluke — previous studies have found similar findings. So what gives? Well, it’s probably just what you think: the sedentary lifestyle. Dr. Hiroyasu Iso, one of the study’s authors, said that “the Japanese people are increasingly adopting sedentary lifestyles, which we believe is putting them at increased risk.”
While there are things you can do to reduce your risks (Dr. Iso recommends standing up every hour or so, moving around and stretching or tensing and relaxing your leg muscles in five-minute intervals while you’re watching), the bottom line remains clear: Watch in moderation.
Will this news be enough to change your Netflix viewing habits? Share @BritandCo!
(h/t Elite Daily, photos via Getty)
