Summary
A new study has found that while yoga does not burn as many calories as a treadmill or bicycle workout, it can be an effective weight management tool for the middle aged.
Original source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050804/ap_on_he_me/fit_yoga_weight;_ylt=AsXkIZQL6HJojrYSzHcAGOus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3czJjNGZoBHNlYwM3NTE-
Details
Researchers found that overweight people in their 50s who regularly practiced yoga lost about five pounds over 10 years, while a group in the same age range gained about 13 1/2 pounds over the same period.
Middle-aged people of normal weight generally put on pounds over 10 years, but those who did yoga gained less weight than those who didn't practice yoga.
The link between yoga and weight loss has nothing to do with burning calories, said Alan Kristal, one of the researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who co-authored the study.
Instead, he thinks yoga helps keep people more in tune with their bodies and eating habits and aware of bad habits, such as eating because of stress, boredom or depression.
The findings, published in the July/August issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, showed that those who practiced yoga tended to avoid junk food and overeating because they wanted to respect their bodies.
Mary Imani, a yoga teacher at 8 Limbs Yoga Center, said it's difficult to eat heavily and do yoga.
Gary Miller, who studies obesity and weight loss at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, called the research encouraging, but said it's difficult to prove a direct influence from a single study.
Most yoga fans say weight loss is just an added bonus from the disciplined form of meditation, controlled breathing and prescribed postures.
"Yoga does many things," said Kathleen Hayes, who has practiced yoga for four years and manages a
yoga studio in Seattle.
For the 47-year-old Imani, a yoga practitioner for nearly two decades whose weight has fluctuated since she became menopausal, "It's all about trying to find harmony and balance."
About the author: Mike Adams is an award-winning journalist and holistic nutritionist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has published numerous courses on preparedness and survival, including financial preparedness, emergency food supplies, urban survival and tactical self-defense. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2010, Adams launched TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the founder of a well known HTML email software company whose 'Email Marketing Director' software currently runs the NaturalNews subscription database. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
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Tuesday, August 09, 2005
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