Eight Ways Yoga Can Benefit Your Body ChemistryMeredith WalkerYoga doesn’t just benefit your muscle tone, mental state and emotional health, it can have a big effect on internal things you can’t see, but certainly can feel. There are numerous aspects of body chemistry that are impacted in a positive manner by yoga, including:
- Sodium - Prepackaged, canned and fast foods can be loaded with sodium. Yoga can help battle some of the bad effects of these foods that form a large part of many people’s diets. For even greater benefits, try doing yoga in a hot room, just make sure to rehydrate when you’re done.
- Glucose - The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published a study in 2007 that suggested that yoga may alter or lower blood glucose levels, helping you more effectively keep them in a healthy range.
- Cholesterol - If you’ve got high cholesterol, yoga may be able to help by burning fat and improving your blood circulation. Additionally, The Buffalo Center for Integrated Medicine reported that yoga can help in lowering LDL cholesterol, due to the stress-lowering effects it has.
- Lymphatic System - Many people are only aware of their lymph nodes when they’re swollen and painful when they’ve got a cold or flu. At these times, the lymphatic system is doing what it was designed to do: boost your immunity. Many proponents of yoga recommend poses that invert or twist, that are supposed to promote lymphatic system strength.
- Endocrine System - Doing yoga regularly can help regulate and control hormones in your body, making you feel better physically and mentally.
- Vitamin C - Some studies have suggested that doing yoga actually causes your body to retain more vitamin C, boosting your immunity and offering many antioxidant benefits.
- Triglycerides - Having too many triglycerides in the blood can put you at a higher risk for a heart attack or high blood pressure. Doing yoga regularly, according to a study by the SP Medical College in India, can significantly lower your levels and keep you healthier.
- Red Blood Cells - When you don’t have enough red blood cells in the body you can feel run down and ill. Yoga has been shown to actually increase the number of red blood cells in the body, bringing more oxygen to your whole body and making you more alert.
Doing yoga regularly can have numerous benefits, even if you can’t see them immediately on the surface so consider adding it to your workout schedule or practicing it whenever you can.
This article was contributed by Meredith Walker, who writes about the online nursing programs. She welcomes your feedback at MeredithWalker1983 at gmail.com.
Copyright © 1999. Meredith Walker
Last Modified: 2009-06-25
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