Yoga protects the heart as well as hardy sports?

Endurance sports is regarded as bullet for prevention of cardiovascular disease. The same protective effect can be also achieved through yoga.

Yoga is good. The gentle but intense stretching and moving helps to relax, can relieve depression and even to keep the brain young. However, for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases has been recommended jogging or other movement-intensive sports. Now a study published in the Journal of Preventive Cardiology, showed that yoga has a positive effect on the risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

For analysis, the researchers chose almost 3,000 people who take a part in research. For all participants the classic risk factors for cardiovascular disease were initially checked: Blood pressure, body weight and cholesterol levels. Some of the volunteers regularly visited yoga classes, other completed classic endurance training in the form of jogging or cycling, a third group made no sport. At the end of the study period, all risk factors were checked again.

Yoga comparable with classic endurance training.

The result: Yoga had not only positive than no training, its effect was even comparable to that of traditional endurance training. Thus, the risk for cardiovascular disease decreased in both sports variants in a similar manner. Group that is regularly engaged yoga were able to reduce their blood pressure by an average of five mm Hg, the value of the “bad” LDL cholesterol fell by 12 milligrams per deciliter, and the average body weight was reduced by 2.32 kg. Also, the pulse of the subjects decreased, which indicating an improved condition.

The effect of yoga exercises on the cardiovascular risk factors is thus comparable to the typical endurance sports like Nordic walking or jogging. Why the gentle yoga has good effect on the cardiovascular system, the researchers could not know. They suspect that the stress reduction beneficial effects on the neuroendocrine status and on metabolic and cardiac-vagal functions.

Yoga useful for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

The British Heart Foundation agreed to the setting in a press release, but hinted that might not be the meditative relaxation, but rather the quite strenuous breathing exercises explain the preventive effect. The deep breathing could improve the oxygenation of the body and lower blood pressure through this mechanism, said a spokeswoman for the British Heart specialists.

Even the body weight can be reduced by regular yoga training. Thus, the researchers emphasize that this more gentle form of exercise, especially for the elderly or physically debilitated people.