Practicing yoga may help people who are overweight or obese improve their cardiometabolic health, according to a study published April 22 in an open access journal. PLOS Global Public Health By Widya Wasityastuti and colleagues at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Yoga is a popular form of exercise around the world and is a gentle and approachable form of exercise for many people. To better understand the potential health benefits of yoga, the authors of this study conducted a meta-analysis, examining 30 yoga studies for its cardiometabolic benefits. They focused on studies that looked at outcomes such as blood pressure, lipid profile, glucose homeostasis, inflammatory markers, and antioxidant measurements, as well as studies that looked at people with a BMI of over 23 in Asian countries and 25 in other countries, indicating that participants were overweight or obese. Of the 30 studies reviewed, 23 were conducted in Asian countries, and the remaining studies were conducted in the United States, Germany, and Australia.
Across 30 studies and a total of 2,689 participants, the authors found that people who practiced yoga had significantly lower blood pressure, with an average reduction of 4.35 mmHg in systolic blood pressure and 2.06 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure. They also found a modest beneficial effect on low-density and high-density lipoproteins, a type of cholesterol that has been associated with increased risk of stroke.
The authors note that it is unclear how much yoga is needed to produce these effects, as the studies they analyzed did not specifically target obese people and did not measure a dose response, but they note that the studies they analyzed favor at least 180 minutes of yoga per week. The study also focused on Asian participants, and practitioners with comorbidities were excluded from the analysis. Finally, it is important to note that due to the nature of this study, although a correlation was found, causation cannot be confirmed here. Further research will be needed to understand whether yoga has similar benefits for other people, not just those with comorbidities such as diabetes or heart disease. The authors suggest that although more high-quality trials are needed, the meta-analysis supports the potential benefits of yoga for cardiometabolic health in overweight and obese people.
The authors summarize as follows: ”Our review suggests that yoga may provide an additional option to help improve some aspects of cardiometabolic health, particularly blood pressure, in overweight or obese adults.. ”
They added: ”Although yoga is often viewed primarily as a health practice, our findings suggest that yoga may support certain cardiometabolic health outcomes in overweight or obese adults. ”
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Reference magazines:
Wastiastuti, W. others. (2026) Effects of yoga on cardiometabolic health in overweight or obese adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PLOS Global Public Health. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0006174. https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0006174
