“Is yoga advisable to manage diabetes?”

Any form of exercise where your muscles are being utilized will help lower your blood sugar.

Exercise that emphasizes rhythm and flexibility is very beneficial in managing diabetes. Yoga incorporates harmony, rhythmic breathing , stretching and gentle muscle strengthening without resorting to mechanical devices. Balance improves and injuries are avoided in a supervised setting. Most importantly, mental concentration benefits and good diet habits are encouraged. The smooth glucose profile will reflect these changes in mind and body , which reduce stress.

Yes, Yoga is good. Any exercise that increases muscle activity will improve the uptake of glucose from the blood stream and lower the sugar, but also make sure you are following a plant-based diet low in carbs and saturated fat.

Respectfully,

Marvin A. Leder, MD, FACP, FACE

Yoga is fine. General advice is to walk at least 30 minutes a day 5-7 days a week.

Yes. There are many articles in the literature recommending yoga for people with diabetes. Yoga does 2 things (maybe many more) 1) it can substitute for the exercise part of your life style change program 2) can bring some mental help that will help with blood sugar control. A lot of high BS is brought about by mental stress that causes the release of the hormones epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisone. These hormones raise blood sugar. Yoga helps us to cope with problems that might cause the release of these hormones thus keeping BS under control. You should ,of course keep up the proper diet & other life style changes your Dr. has prescribed. Yoga is a supplement to the other aspects of your program