A new study has revealed that practicing yoga can be beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes.
Analysis of 123 middle-aged and older adults showed that diabetics who took part in gentle yoga classes, together with standard diabetes care, managed to reduce their body mass index (BMI) from an average of 25.9 to 25.4 over a three month period. A BMI between 25 and 30 is considered overweight .
The results, which were published in the journal Diabetes Care, also revealed that yoga practicing diabetics were able to control and keep their average blood sugar levels steady, whereas those in the non-yoga control group experienced a rise in blood sugar.
However, lead researcher Shreelaxmi V. Hegde of the Srinivas Institute of Medical Science and Research Center in Mangalore, India, stressed that the effect of yoga on BMI and blood sugar control was "marginal", and added that yoga should not be seen as a replacement for other forms of exercise for diabetics .
Hegde and colleagues also found that yoga practices significantly reduced signs of oxidative stress, a situation which is believed to contribute to a host of chronic diseases.
The medical expert said that if a decline of 20 per cent in oxidative stress were sustained over time, it could lower the chances of diabetes complications such as such as heart and kidney disease, nerve damage and diabetic retinopathy.
Yoga Shows Some Benefit For Diabetes
Mon, 05 Sep 2011
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