The practice of yoga would prevent cardiovascular diseases, like cycling or walking, according to a meta-analysis of 37 studies.
What is the point of pedaling? Practicing yoga twice a week would be just as beneficial as walking or cycling in preventing cardiovascular disease. In any case, this is what a meta-analysis carried out in the Netherlands suggests, and published by the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
In all, 37 studies on the benefits of yoga were analyzed – a total of 2,700 people. The study authors found that yoga, practiced for more than three months, helped to lose weight and lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And this, thanks to the muscular work and the respiratory exercises induced in this discipline.
The benefits would not be lower or higher than those derived from more intense activity (brisk walking, cycling). “This finding is very important,” writes researcher Myriam Hunink from Erasmus (Netherlands) and Harvard (United States) Universities. People who cannot or do not like to do traditional aerobic exercises can reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease with yoga ”.
As effective as a drug?
The researcher also studied the impact of the practice on drug consumption. In some cases, yoga has been shown to be as effective as an allopathic treatment for blood pressure, according to the study. And therefore allowed the reduction of drug intake.
The therapeutic effects of yoga remain poorly understood by the scientific community, explains the researcher. Studies on this issue are limited in scope, as they often involve small cohorts of a few dozen people. In addition, traditional criteria to validate a test are difficult to apply in the case of yoga (especially for placebo studies). These therapeutic virtues could quite simply be explained by the soothing and anti-stress action of the exercises and postures.
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