Restorative Yoga’s Health Benefits Include Trimming Fat Study Finds

Restorative Yoga’s Health Benefits Include Trimming FatStudy Finds

Yoga’s health benefits may go beyond stress reduction – a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that for overweight women, restorative yoga may offer a way to actually trim subcutaneous fat.

Restorative yoga practice emphasizes relaxation over the more challenging forms of yoga and compared favorably with simple stretching when tested among a group of women who were clinically obese.

Maria G. Araneta, PhD, MPH, of the University of California, San Diego, said researchers examined whether women could lose body fat from less intense exercise than aerobic activity.

Other  studies had shown other health benefits from yoga to people at risk of diabetes, but the author said no study had specifically measured a loss of fat. A 48-week study comparing the 2 groups, one group practicing restorative yoga and the other doing stretching exercises. The researchers  found that the yoga students lost a significant 2.5 times more subcutaneous fat over the first six months, and continued fat loss afterward..

The restorative yoga group lost more than 2.5 times the amount of subcutaneous fat as the stretch group, and kept losing fat between the six-month mark and the 48-week mark. After six months, the stretch group reversed its progress, regaining almost half its lost fat.

Whilst stretching and aligning the body are involved, restorative yoga (yin yoga) are often performed in a reclined position, with limbs and torso supported by bolsters, blankets & pillows. These yoga poses are maintained longer than in other styles of yoga, often as long as 7 minutes. Measured slow breathing is encouraged.
It is believed that restorative yoga lowers levels of cortisol, which rises during times of stress and is known to increase abdominal fat.

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