Yoga, Inflammation, and Metabolic Syndrome: An Informal Look
Exploring Yoga as a Potential Aid for Managing Metabolic Syndrome
Ex plain-Jane folks who trade their workday for downward dog—the so-called yogis— Love raving about yoga's mental and physical benefits. Science agrees, sorta. A recent study dives into the effects yoga has on those with metabolic syndrome.
At Medical News Today, we've been keeping tabs on studies that highlight the wide-ranging health benefits of yoga. Like, improving brain health, alleviating thyroid problems, easing depression symptoms, or even boosting prostate health and helping men conquer erectile dysfunction. Not to mention aiding in diabetes management.
But here's the kicker, most of these studies are observational—meaning, they don't prove causality—and they barely touch on the mechanisms driving the results.
Enter a study led by Dr. Parco M. Siu of the University of Hong Kong, China, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. This study tackled the link between yoga and cardiometabolic health in individuals with metabolic syndrome.
Turns out, it does more than just benefit them! The study also reveals the mechanisms responsible for these benefits.
Yoga Tames the Inflammatory Beast
Metabolic syndrome—a condition that's commonly associated with type 2 diabetes and heart disease—reigns over roughly % of the U.S. adult population.
Dr. Siu and his team had previously discovered decreased blood pressure and smaller waistlines in those who practiced yoga for a year. So, for this study, the researchers aimed to investigate the impact of a year of yoga on people with metabolic syndrome.
They randomly split 97 participants with metabolic syndrome and high-normal blood pressure into a control group and a yoga group. The latter group attended three, hour-long yoga sessions each week for a year.
The researchers also monitored the participants' blood for adipokines—proteins released by fat tissue that trigger an inflammatory or anti-inflammatory response from the immune system.
The study's authors summarize their findings, stating, "[The] results demonstrated that 1-year yoga training decreased proinflammatory adipokines and increased anti-inflammatory adipokines in adults with [metabolic syndrome] and high-normal blood pressure."
The researchers concluded that these findings support the maintained role of yoga in handling metabolic syndrome by favorably tweaking adipokines.
Dr. Siu chimed in on the study's findings, stating, "These findings help elucidate the response of adipokines to long-term yoga exercise, emphasizing the importance of regular exercise to overall health."
In essence, yoga could spell relief for those with metabolic syndrome by reducing inflammation and helping manage the condition's symptoms.
Enrichment Data:
"Yoga might curb inflammation in individuals with metabolic syndrome via various psychological, physiological, and immunological pathways. Elements such as stress reduction, mindfulness, physical activity, immunomodulation, adipokine regulation, and oxidative stress reduction can all contribute to decreased inflammation. Metabolic syndrome, a condition marked by high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess waist fat, and abnormal cholesterol levels, often thrives on chronic inflammation."
- The study conducted by Dr. Parco M. Siu and his team, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, reveals that yoga can decrease proinflammatory adipokines and increase anti-inflammatory adipokines in adults with metabolic syndrome and high-normal blood pressure.
- Metabolic syndrome, a condition often associated with type 2 diabetes and heart disease, is characterized by high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess waist fat, and abnormal cholesterol levels, and it often thrives on chronic inflammation.
- The findings of the study suggest that yoga might curb inflammation in individuals with metabolic syndrome via various psychological, physiological, and immunological pathways, including stress reduction, mindfulness, physical activity, immunomodulation, adipokine regulation, and oxidative stress reduction.
- Regular exercise, such as yoga, could be crucial in managing chronic diseases like metabolic disorders, as it seems to have a positive impact on overall health and wellness by reducing inflammation.
