You're the type to spend the weekend in front of the TV to be up to date with the latest season of Narcos ? We advise you to put the remote control down, because an Australian study has just revealed that binge-watching (the fact of chaining the episodes of a series) can kill. We are exaggerating a bit, but the fact is that spending many hours in front of your television set is linked to an increased risk of dying from an inflammatory disease, such as diabetes, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, according to an Australian study carried out by researchers at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and published in the journal Medicine &Science in Sports &Exercise .
The study, conducted over 18 years (it started in 1999!), followed 8,900 volunteers, classified into 3 groups:those who watch TV less than 2 hours a day, those who watch it between two and four hours and those that exceed four hours of daily viewing. Verdict? The researchers estimated that each hour spent watching TV increased the risk of dying from an inflammatory disease by 12%, even among “average” binge-watchers (between two and four hours of TV a day). The explanation is quite simple:sitting for (a very) long time causes inflammation in the body, a defense mechanism that normally occurs following an infection or a stressful situation. If they remain in the blood for too long, the chemical molecules released can be dangerous and promote certain diseases.
Moreover, it has been shown that binge-watching reduces the pleasure one feels in watching a series (and that one remembers the episodes less well)... So, it's no big deal if you don't watch only one serial episode per day! Can you imagine the free time you will gain?!
