Emphasis of Yoga in the Management of Diabetes

Abstract

Objectives: For years, exercise has been considered a cornerstone of diabetes management, along with diet and medication. Growing evidence supports the beneficial effects of yoga in physical and mental health through down regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The purpose of this article is to provide a scholarly review of the literature of research studies comparing the effects of yoga and exercise in diabetes patients.Methods: This review focuses on published research articles indexed in the PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Science Direct and Scopus. Search criteria included research articles written in English with the key words "yoga", "diabetes mellitus (DM)", "Type 1 DM", "Type 2 DM", "Exercise". Only clinical or human studies published in English language were included. Exclusion criteria included articles that were not written in English. Conclusion:Exercise can improve glucose uptake by improving insulin sensitivity and reducing body adiposity in both patients of type 1 and type 2 DM. Yoga is an ancient discipline designed to bring balance and health to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the individual. Yoga may be an attractive alternate to traditional aerobic exercises and strength training program, as it requires only a little space and needs no equipment and literally devoid of side effects, mainly focusing on relaxation of mind and body. It provides a less strenuous and more pleasurable exercise experience to an individual. Yoga can help the person feel better, both improving the physical fitness and elevating the mood. Numerous studies have shown positive benefits of yoga in the management of diabetes with good impact on glycemic control, lipid profile and cardiovascular status. Further it can alleviate stress. Yoga can be considered as a good alternate for exercise therapy.

Therapeutic Role of Yoga in Type 2 Diabetes

“…In patients with diabetes, pancreatic cells may be rejuvenated and pancreatic β-cell sensitivity may be increased by the alternating abdominal contractions and relaxations involved in yoga practice. Improved blood supply to muscles may enhance insulin receptor expression in the muscles, causing increased glucose uptake [ 2 ].…”

“…Abdominal stretching during yoga exercises is believed to result in the regeneration of pancreatic cells [ 2 ]. The various postures during yoga practice help to improve the sensitivity of β-cells to glucose, thereby improving insulin secretion, and increase the blood supply to the muscle and muscle relaxation, thereby improving glucose uptake.…”

“…Psychological stress also increases the risk and severity of diabetes. Lack of physical activity was found to increase the risk of diabetes by 3 times and the risk of coronary artery disease by 2.4 times [ 2 ].…”

Non Pharmacological Approaches in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus

“…Different types of postures and breathing exercises are present in yoga to stimulate the pancreas. In diabetes there are yoga postures that rejuvenate the organ cells and also improve the organ ability to produce insulin by improving the blood flow to the pancreas [64][65][66][67][68][69]. In case of diabetes all the yoga postures should be practiced or performed before the meals but only after consuming small amount of fluids.…”

Phytochemical Screening, Invitro antidiabetic activity of Muntingia calabura leaves extract on alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes

“…Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an inescapable and multifactorial incessant metabolic issue, is portrayed by deformities in endogenous insulin discharge or activity, or both, which brings about endless hyperglycemia, a clinical sign of diabetes, regularly joined by glycosuria, polydipsia polyuria and weight reduc-tion (Thangasami and Chandani, 2015;Vasanth S et al, 2018).…”