Yoga as a Tool for Metabolic Syndrome Management
Y'all know the yogis, always going on about how yoga's supposed to be good for you, right? Well, what does the science really say? Let's check it out, focusing on a new study that looks at how yoga impacts people with metabolic syndrome.
At Medical News Today, we've been keeping our ears tuned to the health scene, and we've seen studies suggesting that yoga boosts brain health, nips thyroid troubles in the bud, and eases the gloom of depression. It's even been suggested that yoga helps enlarge peeps' prostates or tackle erectile dysfunction and assists diabetes fighters in managing their symptoms.
But hey, most of these studies are observational, so they can't draw any conclusions about cause and effect. Few studies have looked at the underlying mechanisms that could explain these findings. But a new study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports and directed by Dr. Parco M. Siu from the University of Hong Kong in China, is shaking things up.
This badass study investigated how yoga affects cardiometabolic health - and the results are jaw-dropping! Not only does it benefit people with metabolic syndrome, but it also reveals the mechanisms behind the benefits.
Yoga Crushes Inflammatory Response
Metabolic syndrome? Sounds like a dance move, but it's actually a condition associated with type 2 diabetes and heart disease. In the U.S., an estimated one out of every three adults live with metabolic syndrome.
Dr. Siu and his crew previously researched and found that yoga lowers blood pressure and trimming waistlines among those who practiced yoga for a year. In the new study, they wanted to see how a year of yoga would impact individuals with metabolic syndrome.
They assigned 97 participants with metabolic syndrome and high-normal blood pressure to either a control group or a yoga group. Participants in the yoga group got down with three 1-hour yoga sessions a week for an entire year.
The researchers also monitored the patients' blood for those messenger proteins known as adipokines - they're released by fatty tissue to let the immune system know whether to go for a pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory response.
The study authors lay down their findings, stating, "[T]he 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 point to the beneficial role of yoga in managing [metabolic syndrome] by favorably influencing adipokines," add the researchers.
The results suggest that yoga could be a nicely easy lifestyle choice that can minimize inflammation for people with metabolic syndrome.
Dr. Siu weighs in on the results, saying, "[T]hese findings shed light on the response of adipokines to long-term yoga exercise, which underscores the importance of regular exercise for human health."
So go ahead, grab your yoga mat, and get your stretch on! It just might help you stay cushy in the long run.
- This new study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, has revealed that yoga can benefit people with metabolic syndrome by decreasing proinflammatory adipokines and increasing anti-inflammatory adipokines.
- In a year-long study directed by Dr. Parco M. Siu from the University of Hong Kong, participants with metabolic syndrome and high-normal blood pressure who practiced yoga showed a significant decrease in proinflammatory adipokines and an increase in anti-inflammatory adipokines.
- Adipokines are messenger proteins released by fatty tissue to communicate with the immune system, and their pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory response can impact metabolic disorder and chronic diseases like type-2 diabetes and heart disease.
- Regular yoga practice can potentially be an effective way to manage metabolic syndrome, a condition associated with type-2 diabetes and heart disease, by maintaining a balanced adipokine response and reducing chronic inflammation.
