By Jenny Park
Have you heard critics say, “Yoga for Diabetes – Seriously?” Many people who don’t practice yoga, see it as just laying around the floor. Have you ever met someone who doubted that yoga is beneficial for health? You might be asked, “where’s the proof” when you mention the good that yoga can do for practitioners. As yoga teachers, the following information should be made available to our students who have diabetes.
Exercise is an important part of disease management for people who have diabetes. If you have diabetes, should yoga be on your list of physical activities? Absolutely! Yoga is an excellent exercise for diabetics and not only for any direct physical benefits. That’s because yoga practice is holistic and engages the body, mind and spirit. Involvement of all three is important for diabetics because the disease is affected by physical stressors as well as by emotional and social ones, and practicing yoga can help reduce those stressors.
Dozens of published research studies can back up claims that yoga for diabetes is beneficial for patients. Below are a some of the many studies that demonstrate what diabetes patients can enjoy when practicing yoga.
The author of a 2007 meta-analysis published in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India and conducted at Osmania Medical College reported on the results of “well designed studies” that explored the role of yoga for diabetes and compared the results obtained from people without the disease. Overall, the findings confirmed the claim that yoga is useful in controlling diabetes because patients who practiced it experienced a significant decline in blood glucose levels and maintained a healthy glycemic status for prolonged periods. Patients also showed a decline in percentage of body fat, a reduction in acute complications and an improvement in insulin sensitivity.
In another meta-analysis, a team at University of Virginia Health Systems reported their findings in the Journal of the American Board of Family Practice in 2005. The mix consisted of 70 studies of which all but one was controlled or uncontrolled clinical trial. The reviewers found that yoga practice was associated with improvements in glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, lipid profiles, blood pressure, oxidative stress (which contributes to disease advancement and complications) and other factors.
At the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a research team conducted a prospective randomized controlled trial to see what impact yogic breathing had on glycemic control and quality of life. The participants were assigned to receive standard diabetes treatment or to be taught yogic breathing along with routine care. The results (Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2012) revealed that the individuals who practiced yogic breathing reported a significant improvement in quality of life and a trend toward better glycemic control.
If new students have diabetes, there should be no question that yoga should be a part of their lives. It’s up to us, as teachers, to let them know the facts and that they are welcome. Additionally, diabetes tends to run through families. This means the message about yoga for diabetes is going to be taken home. We provide classes and an indirect form of adjunct therapy, which we know as a yogic lifestyle. We cannot promise cures, but we often receive positive feedback from our students. Students who bring their A1C readings down, tell their friends and family about their progress. This creates a state of self-empowerment, which is the path toward managing one’s life.
© Copyright – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division
Do you want to become a mindfulness meditation teacher?
To see our selection of Yoga instructor courses and continuing education courses, please visit the following link.
https://aurawellnesscenter.com/store/
Click here to see our online Yoga Nidra teacher training course.
Are you an experienced teacher looking for YACEP credits or continuing education?
Subscribe to Our Newsletter for Special Discounts and New Products
Related Resources
52 Essential Principles of Yoga Philosophy to Deepen your Practice
by Rina Jakubowicz
A Relaxing Way to De-stress, Re-energize, and Find Balance
by: Gail Boorstein Grossman
YOGA: THE PATH TO HOLISTIC HEALTH
by B.K.S. Iyengar
TEACHING YOGA: Essential Foundations and Techniques
By Mark Stephens
How You Can Control Diabetes With Yoga
Angadi P, Jagannathan A, Thulasi A, Kumar V, Umamaheshwar K, Raghuram N. Adherence to yoga and its resultant effects on blood glucose in type 2 diabetes: a community-based follow-up study. Int J Yoga 2017;10:29–36.
Innes KE, Vincent HK. The influence of yoga-based programs on risk profiles in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2007;4:469–486.
Aswathy S, Unnikrishnan AG, Kalra S. Effective management of type 2 DM in India: looking at low-cost adjunctive therapy. Indian J Endocrinol Metab 2013;17:149–152.
Bystritsky A, Danial J, Kronemyer D. Interactions between diabetes and anxiety and depression: implications for treatment. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am 2014;43:269–283.
Innes KE, Bourguignon C, Taylor AG. Risk indices associated with the insulin resistance syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and possible protection with yoga: a systematic review. J Am Board Fam Pract 2005;18:491–519.
Agrawal RP, Aradhana SH, Beniwal R, Sabir M, Kochar DK. Influence of yogic treatment on quality of life outcomes, glycaemic control and risk factors in diabetes mellitus. Int J Diab Dev Countries 2003;23:130–134.
Hegde SV, Adhikari P, Kotian S, Pinto VJ, D’Souza S, D’Souza V. Effect of 3-month yoga on oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes with or without complications: a controlled clinical trial. Diabetes Care 2011;34:2208–2210.
Gordon L, Morrison EY, McGrowder D, Penas YF, Zamoraz EM, Garwood D, et al. Effect of yoga and traditional physical exercise on hormones and percentage insulin binding receptor in patients with type 2 diabetes. Am J Biochem Biotechnol 2008;4:35–42.
Bhaskaracharyulu C, Raju PS, Madhavi S. The effect of yoga on lipoprotein profile in diabetics. J Diabet Assoc India 1986;XXVI:120–122.
Sahay BK. Role of yoga in diabetes. J Assoc Physicians India 2007;55:121–126.
Kapur A. Proceedings of novo nordisk diabetes update. In: Yoga and diabetes. Bombay: Health Care Communications; 1994. pp. 159-167.
McDermott KA, Rao MR, Nagarathna R, Murphy EJ, Burke A, Nagendra RH, et al. A yoga intervention for type 2 diabetes risk reduction: a pilot randomized controlled trial. BMC Complement Altern Med 2014;14:212.
Vaibhavi B, Satyam T, Sanjibkumar P, Raghuram N, Ramarao NH. Effect of holistic module of yoga and Ayurvedic Panchakarma in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a pilot study. Open J Endocr Metab Dis 2013;3:90–98.
Cui J, Yan JH, Yan LM, Pan L, Le JJ, Guo YZ. Effects of yoga in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis. J Diabetes Investig 2017;8:201–209.
Sahay BK, Murthy KJR, Raju PS, Madhavi S. Effect of yogic practices on exercises tolerance in diabetes. Diabetes 1991;40 Suppl 1:398.
Hagins M, States R, Selfe T, Innes K. Effectiveness of yoga for hypertension: systematic review and meta-analysis. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2013;2013:649836
Melkote GS. Science of Yoga versus modern medicine in Seminars on Yoga. (CURI MHE) New Delhi. 1975:190-202.
Divakar MV, Bhatt, Mulla A. Effect of yoga therapy in diabetes and obesity. J Diabetic Assoc Ind 1978;18:75-8.
Shambekar AG, Kate SK. Yogic exercise in management of diabetes mellitus. J Diabetic Assoc Ind 1980;20:167-70.
Sahay BK, Ramananda Yogi, Raju PS. Madhavi S, et al. The effect
of yoga in diabetes in Diabetes Mellitus in developing countries Ed Bajaj JS (Interprint, New Delhi). 1984:379-81.
Sahay BK. Yoga and Diabetes in Novo Nordisk Diabetes Update 94 Proceedings. Ed. Anil Kapur, Publ. Health Care Communications, Bombay, 1994;159-68.
Sahay BK, Murthy KJR. Raju PS. Madhavi S, et al. Long term follow up on effect of yoga in diabetes in Baba Shole ed Diabetes Research in Clinical Practice. Abstracts of XIII congress of IDF Abstract p65-004-293-655.
Raju PS, Anil Kumar K. Reddy SS, Madhavi S, et al. Effect of yoga on exercise tolerance in normal healthy volunteers. Ind J Physiol Pharmacol 1986;30:121-32.
Sahay BK. Role of yogic practices in the prevention of NIDDM in Abstracts of the 15th International Diabetes Federation Congress at Kobe 1994:95.
1 thought on “Yoga For Diabetes: What the Research Says”