White guys aren’t having the best year. Or maybe they are? The jury is out.
If you’re a white guy, however you feel like it’s going, this study on heart disease is certainly not good news: Staying in shape may be killing you.
Researchers at the University of Illinois tracked the physically activity of 3,175 black and white participants over a period of 25 years, bucketing them by whether they exercised less than, equal to or three times more than the national guidelines (150 minutes a week), expecting to see that the last bucket of participants would be healthier than the first two.
What they found, however, was that people who exercise more than recommended were at a 27 percent higher risk for clogged arteries than those who exercised less.
And if you’re a white guy, hold onto your butts: White males were 86 percent more likely to develop plaque and calcium build up in their heart’s arterial walls, which, as the Daily Mail points out, means that working out for just 7.5 hours per week doubles your chance for heart disease. Cue the white guy blinking meme.
That doesn’t mean white dudes should immediately stop working out — the study’s co-authors do stress that the plaque buildup could, possibly, be the more “stable” variety, which was not determined in this study. Let us know when you figure that out, will ya?
White men: At least we still have our privilege.
A few other things we learned about our bodies today:
- Even more bad news, guys: 1 in 9 of us has oral HPV. Go get checked.
- Colorado are seeing 6.5 percent less opioid deaths, possibly thanks to cannabis legalization. Yay, weed!
- Stress is as bad for our bodies as junk food.
- A human parasite’s ability to “smell” danger is giving scientists clues on how to stave off dementia.
- In today’s “no, duh” news, women’s edition: Maybe don’t clean your vaginas with a cucumber.
Jeff Gross
Jeff Gross is MEL’s senior editor for social media and content marketing. His daily ICYMI column, which chronicles all things meta on the site, is the quickest way to catch up on MEL, and the funniest thing you’ll read all day. Follow him on Twitter.
