This exercise lowers cholesterol. The effects are after a month!

Often around the age of 40, we start to worry about cholesterol levels. If our lifestyle and diet leave much to be desired, usually then our body clearly shows that we will not go unpunished any longer. Bad cholesterol, or LDL cholesterol, is one of the leading causes of plaque and heart disease. One of the first medical recommendations we will receive is exercise. It turns out that there is an ideal exercise that can really impact your cholesterol levels.

1. Lifestyle changes are necessary to lower cholesterol. In addition to introducing an appropriate diet, physical activity turns out to be extremely helpful
2. According to scientists, one type of exercise deserves special attention. Yoga has been proven to be extremely effective in lowering the level of so-called LDL
3. Yoga also has many scientifically proven benefits for physical and mental health
4. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

When we think of cholesterol, we usually think of LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, which builds up in the form of plaque. In addition to it, there is also HDL cholesterol, commonly known as “good cholesterol”, which supports the health of the cardiovascular system. In order to effectively lower too high blood cholesterol, it is necessary to change the lifestyle, in addition to a proper diet, physical activity plays a huge role here. Sometimes it is necessary to implement pharmacological treatment.

To stay healthy, it is recommended that you spend at least 150 minutes a week on moderate-intensity exercise. A research study published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health suggests yoga is one of the most effective forms of exercise to lower cholesterol.

The best exercise to lower cholesterol

According to scientists, practicing yoga helps lower the level of bad cholesterol and is extremely effective compared to other forms of physical activity. The study showed that bad cholesterol (LDL) levels dropped after just one month of regular yoga sessions.

The researchers revealed that their study was inspired by a yoga workshop taking place in Chandigarh. The high popularity of the event and the queues for tickets not only caught the attention of researchers, but also increased the sample size during the research. The final number of participants in the experiment was 281 people, including 195 with comorbidities and 86 healthy people.

After a month of exercises, the participants were re-examined. LDL cholesterol levels have been shown to decrease compared to the results obtained at the start of the study. It also turned out that a better effect of practicing yoga was observed in women. However, additional research is still needed to confirm the link between practicing yoga and the effects of female hormones on the body.

The benefits of practicing yoga

While yoga is often associated with alternative or folk medicine, modern science confirms that this type of physical activity has a lot to offer. There are many scientifically hydrated benefits of yoga. How does yoga affect our health?

1. Yoga improves flexibility. It is especially desirable in elderly people who are already suffering from problems with the locomotor system.
2. Yoga helps relieve stress. It works best in conjunction with meditation and breathing work, and is one of the most effective relaxation methods.
3. Yoga practice improves mental health. Both exercise-based yoga and breathing practices have been shown to significantly minimize symptoms of depression.
4. Yoga can reduce inflammation. As many as 15 scientific studies were analyzed and it was proved that yoga – of different styles, intensity and duration – reduced biochemical markers of inflammation in several chronic diseases in the studied people.
5. It will also build your physical strength. While most people associate yoga with stretching and flexibility, some types of yoga can also be considered strength-building exercises.
6. Yoga can reduce anxiety. Some forms of yoga relieve anxiety.
7. This type of physical activity can improve your quality of life.
8. Yoga can boost your immunity. Chronic stress negatively affects the immune system. Some studies have found a clear link between yoga practice and an increase in natural immunity.
9. Yoga has been shown to improve balance and overall performance in athletes. A similar effect is observed in the elderly. Yoga has also been shown to be helpful in improving balance function in people with brain injuries.
10. Yoga can improve cardiovascular function. According to research, yoga-related breathing exercises can actually affect the cardio-respiratory center in the brain.
11. Yoga can be a great way to fight insomnia and sleep disorders.
12. Yoga can improve your self-esteem.
13. Some yoga asanas can support bone health and help fight osteoporosis and osteopenia. Scientists have found that just 12 minutes of yoga a day can significantly improve bone health.
14. Thanks to yoga, you can improve your body posture and work on a better awareness of your body.
15. Yoga can improve brain function. Research suggests that practicing yoga activates areas of the brain responsible for motivation, executive functions, and attention.
16. Yoga can prove irreplaceable during burnout syndrome.

We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time, Dr. Agnieszka Bolikowska – the founder of Linguistics, creator of the 6oMethod® method, will tell us about what slow learning is. How to break the language barrier? How to learn to make mistakes? You will learn about this and other aspects of language learning in today’s episode. Listen!