Johns Hopkins Health Alert
Yoga for Your Heart’s Sake
You know you need to exercise, but finding an activity that holds your interest for the long haul can be tough. While moderate-intensity walking is most often recommended as a means to get moving and improve your heart health, a number of once-exotic forms of exercise -- including yoga and tai chi -- have worked their way into the Western mainstream and offer a way to mix up your exercise routine.
Yoga for your heart. Of the mind-body forms of exercise, yoga is the best studied for its cardiovascular effects. Yoga, which is part of the traditional healing system of India, known as Ayurveda, involves a series of physical poses designed to increase strength and flexibility. Classes often include some instruction in specific breathing exercises and meditation as well.
The possible benefits of yoga for your heart. Some small studies indicate that yoga may help reduce blood pressure, blood cholesterol, body weight, and blood glucose levels in people with coronary heart disease or its risk factors.
One study reported that yoga might also benefit individuals with heart failure. Compared with heart-failure patients who received standard medical therapy, those who added an eight-week yoga program to their treatment regimen showed improvements in exercise capacity and quality of life and had lower blood levels of inflammation-related substances such as C-reactive protein. (Inflammation contributes to the progression of heart disease.)
In another study, of 101 middle-aged adults from India with the metabolic syndrome, those randomized to take yoga classes for three months, along with standard care, experienced reductions in their blood pressure, blood glucose, and triglyceride levels and their waist circumference.
In addition, small studies looking at the short-term physiological effects of yoga suggest that the practice affects nervous system activity in a way that lowers heart rate and blood pressure and suppresses inflammation.
Some caveats. Unlike the proven benefits of moderate intensity activities like walking, the current research on yoga does not tell us whether it aids in preventing coronary heart disease in people with risk factors or in preventing heart attacks and other complications in people with coronary heart disease.
In addition, a recent study of 20 participants found that gentler forms of yoga (the forms appropriate for people with coronary heart disease) are unlikely to match moderately paced walking in boosting cardiovascular fitness. In the study, yoga was equivalent to walking on a treadmill at only 2 miles per hour -- a leisurely stroll.
Bottom line: While this early research is promising, relatively little is known about what mind-body activities can do for your heart. Therefore, you should not substitute these practices for more proven heart-healthy physical activities like brisk walking.
Posted in Heart Health on August 20, 2010
Reviewed January 2011
Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician. Click here for additional information: Johns Hopkins Health Alerts Disclaimer
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