Managing Metabolic Syndrome Through Yoga Practice: Insights into the Benefits of Yoga for Metabolic Health
Yoga enthusiasts, often referred to as "yogis" in the Western world, sing praises about the incredible benefits of yoga for both mind and body. But do those claims hold water in science? A recent study delves into the impact of yoga, specifically on individuals with metabolic syndrome.
Here at Medical News Today, we've been reporting on numerous studies showcasing yoga's potential advantages for our health. From enhancing brain health and cognition to improving thyroid issues and alleviating depression symptoms, yoga seems to be a jack-of-all-trades.
However, most studies are observational, implying they can't establish causality, and few have examined the mechanisms behind the results.
A new study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports and led by Dr. Parco M. Siu from the University of Hong Kong in China, aimed to fill that gap by investigating yoga's effect on cardiometabolic health.
The study revealed that one year of yoga practice not only benefited individuals with metabolic syndrome, but it also unveiled the mechanisms behind these benefits.
Yoga Decreases Inflammatory Response
Metabolic syndrome, frequently associated with type 2 diabetes and heart disease, impacts approximately 47% of the adult population in the United States.
Dr. Siu and his team previously found lower blood pressure and a smaller waist circumference among yoga practitioners after a year. In the new study, the researchers wanted to examine the impact of a year of yoga on individuals with metabolic syndrome.
Participants were randomly assigned to either a control group or a yoga group. While the control group received no intervention, participants in the yoga group attended three 1-hour yoga sessions per week for a year. The scientists also monitored the patients' adipokines, proteins released by fat tissue that signal the immune system to either release an inflammatory or anti-inflammatory response.
The study authors summarize their findings, stating, "[The] results demonstrated that 1-year yoga training decreased proinflammatory adipokines and increased anti-inflammatory adipokine in adults with [metabolic syndrome] and high-normal blood pressure."
"These findings support the beneficial role of yoga in managing [metabolic syndrome] by favorably modulating adipokines," the researchers add.
The study results imply that yoga could be a valuable lifestyle intervention to reduce inflammation and aid individuals with metabolic syndrome in managing their symptoms.
Dr. Siu also commented on the study's findings, saying, "These findings help to reveal the response of adipokines to long-term yoga exercise, which underpins the importance of regular exercise to human health."
As per enrichment data, yoga not only reduces pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-α, but it also improves mitochondrial function and upregulates anti-inflammatory genes like TGF-β and IL-10. This mitigates oxidative stress, a driver of inflammation in metabolic syndrome. Yoga's impact on inflammation aligns with improved metabolic and mitochondrial function, making it a promising adjunct intervention for managing metabolic syndrome-related inflammation.
- Yoga, specifically for individuals with metabolic syndrome, has potential benefits for cardiometabolic health, as revealed in a study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.
- The study found that one year of yoga practice decreased proinflammatory adipokines and increased anti-inflammatory adipokines in adults with metabolic syndrome and high-normal blood pressure.
- The researchers suggest that these findings support the beneficial role of yoga in managing metabolic syndrome by favorably modulating adipokines.
- Yoga's impact on inflammation, by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines and upregulating anti-inflammatory genes, aligns with improved metabolic and mitochondrial function.
- Therefore, yoga could be a valuable lifestyle intervention to reduce inflammation and aid individuals with metabolic syndrome in managing their symptoms, potentially contributing to overall health-and-wellness, fitness-and-exercise, and nutrition, as well as improving cardiovascular-health by decreasing the risk of metabolic disorders and chronic diseases like type-2-diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
