Yoga is an essential part of the current LOHAS (“healthy and sustainable lifestyle”) current. But is there any truth to the healthy benefits attributed to its practice? The latest scientific studies on the subject indicate that quite a bit.
Without going any further, a couple of years ago a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania (USA) showed that the modality known as Iyengar yoga fights hypertension, which in the long runlowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. To this is added that recent studies carried out at the Yoga Institute of Santacruz in India suggest that adopting yoga postures or asanas with some frequencyreduces cholesterol levels by 23%in blood. With these exercises toodecrease the accumulation of fat in the arteries and the levels of fibrinogen in the blood, a protein that participates in the formation of clots. Without forgetting that statistics show that those who practice this disciplinevisit a hospital fewer times in their lifetimethan those that don’t.
As if that were not enough, it is enough to know seventeen postures of viniyoga, an easy style to apply that combines movements and breathing, toend chronic back pain, especially if they affect the lower back, as could be read in a study published inAnnals of Internal Medicine. Not only did the research participants notice the anesthetic effects of exercise, but after a few months of practice, they regained the ability to execute movements that months before caused them excruciating pain. If what usually hurts us is the head, a yoga session also helps to avoid it, as it emerged from an article published inHeadachethat links this activity toprevention of migraines.
Other benefits of yoga become apparent through a simple blood test. For example, a study by the University of Ohio (USA) published in the journalPsychosomatic Medicine revealed that practicing this discipline once or twice a week continuously reduces theblood concentration of interleukin-6, a molecule linked to the body’s inflammatory response and which seems to be involved in heart attacks, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and other pathologies. Furthermore, the investigation showed that, when subjected tointense stress, the bodies of “yogis” respond with less intensity than those who lead a sedentary life or against those who practice other types of physical exercise.
