Managing Metabolic Syndrome Through Yoga Practices
Yo, listen up! Yogis around the globe reckon yoga's got some serious benefits for both your body and mind. But does science back it up? A new study dives deep into this, examining how yoga affects individuals with metabolic syndrome.
At Medical News Today, we've been hyping up yoga for quite a while, linking it to better brain health, thyroid improvements, depression relief, prostate enlargement, and diabetes management, just to name a few.
However, most of these studies were observational—they can't prove that yoga causes these effects. And most haven't delved into the mechanisms behind the findings.
But a study, led by Dr. Parco M. Siu from the University of Hong Kong, aimed to change that. This badass research, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, focused on yoga's impact on cardiometabolic health.
The study revealed some mad results. Not only did yoga help those with metabolic syndrome, but it also shed light on the mechanisms behind these benefits.
Yoga calms inflammation
Metabolic syndrome is a condition that's often linked to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. In the U.S., around 47% of the adult population suffer from it.
In past research, Dr. Siu's team discovered that those who practiced yoga for a year had lower blood pressure and smaller waists. So, they wanted to investigate the effects of a year of yoga on people with metabolic syndrome.
To do this, they split 97 participants into two groups: a control group and a yoga group. The control group didn't receive any intervention, but the researchers checked up on them monthly. The yoga group, on the other hand, hit the yoga mat three times a week for an hour each session for a whole year.
The researchers also tracked the patients' blood for adipokines—proteins released by fat tissue that tell the immune system to release either an inflammatory or anti-inflammatory response.
Based on the study results, the researchers found that a year of yoga training reduced proinflammatory adipokines and increased anti-inflammatory adipokines in adults with metabolic syndrome and high-normal blood pressure.
"These findings support the positive role of yoga in managing metabolic syndrome by favorably modulating adipokines," say the researchers.
The study suggests that yoga could be a sweet addition to the lifestyle interventions to decrease inflammation and help individuals with metabolic syndrome to manage their symptoms.
Dr. Siu summed up the research results, stating, "These findings help to expose the response of adipokines to long-term yoga exercise, emphasizing the importance of consistent exercise to human health."
So, there you have it fellow yogis and yogis-to-be! Yoga ain't just some hippie nonsense; it actually helps reduce chronic inflammation in folks with metabolic syndrome and high-normal blood pressure. Holla!
- The study led by Dr. Parco M. Siu revealed that a year of yoga training reduced proinflammatory adipokines and increased anti-inflammatory adipokines in adults with metabolic syndrome and high-normal blood pressure.
- Yoga, as shown in the research, could be beneficial in managing metabolic syndrome by favorably modulating adipokines, which play a role in inflammation.
- The findings of the study suggest that yoga, when included in lifestyle interventions, could potentially help individuals with metabolic syndrome to manage their symptoms by decreasing chronic inflammation.
- Dr. Siu's study underscores the importance of consistent exercise, like yoga, for human health, particularly in the context of improving cardiovascular health and managing medical conditions such as metabolic disorders and chronic diseases like type-2 diabetes.
