Want to Shed Those Unwanted Pounds? Try Yoga
Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have found an association between yoga and mindful eating. It turns out that people who practice yoga regularly are more mindful of what they eat and that can play a key role in long-term weight maintenance.
The study was prompted by initial findings reported four years ago by Dr. Alan Kristal, P.H., and colleagues, who found that regular yoga practice might help prevent middle age spread in normal-weight people and may promote weight loss in those who are overweight. At the time, the researchers suspected that the weight-loss effect had more to do with increased body awareness, specifically a sensitivity to hunger and satiety than the physical activity of yoga practice itself.
"In our earlier study, we found that middle-age people who practice yoga gained less weight over a 10-year period than those who did not. This was independent of physical activity and dietary patterns. We hypothesized that mindfulness – a skill learned either directly or indirectly through yoga – could affect eating behavior," said Kristal, associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center.
The researchers found that people who ate mindfully – those were aware of why they ate and stopped eating when full – weighed less than those who ate mindlessly, who ate when not hungry or in response to anxiety or depression. The researchers also found a strong association between yoga practice and mindful eating but found no association between other types of physical activity, such as walking or running, and mindful eating. They reported the findings in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association
According to a report released last week by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, U.S. obesity rates went up in 28 of the 50 states; only the District of Columbia reported a reduction. The rise in obesity rates has been sharp in the last 20 years. Despite the U.S. obsession with weight control and body image, more than two-thirds of states now have adult obesity rates above 25 percent.
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I have been doing yoga for 7 years now. I only practice once or twice a week, but totally believe the weight loss fact. I am in tuned to my body and when I am blotted I lay off the food so I can do my poses better. You can feel the weight even slightly. I want to do yoga until I am 80+ because moving and better posture will make you live so much longer. I am fifty and I can do a head stand and a back bend. I could not do a back bend in fifth grade. There is interesting statistics in India on the amount of people and the lack of heart decease that all do Yoga. Maybe empowher can find out those figures. I also do Pilates to keep my core strong.
July 10, 2010 - 9:00pmThis Comment