Yoga
Practiced by as many as 20 million Americans every year, yoga in the United States is comprised mainly of body postures, breathing exercises, and meditation. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that yoga interventions can lower cortisol levels, but does this translate into weight loss? Practicing yoga for four or more years has been associated with less weight gain over time, but yoga practitioners also tend to exercise twice as much in general and eat more healthful diets (for example, 45 percent higher consumption of fruits and vegetables).
There are randomized controlled yoga trials showing weight loss, but they’re often in comparison to control groups who did nothing. Indeed, compared to no changes in physical activity, doing about 30 hours of yoga has been shown to lead to about five pounds of weight loss and an inch off the waist.
Yoga was compared head-to-head to resistance exercise and walking for weight loss. Doing 36 hours of resistance training led to a 1 percent drop in body fat, compared to the sedentary control group, and doing the same amount of yoga led to the same 1 percent drop. In another study, walking at least 90 minutes a day on a plant-based diet also led to similar amounts of weight loss compared to swapping in the same amount of yoga—about five pounds and an inch off the waist in 15 days. The walking group were told to walk at their own pace, which ended up being more of a leisurely stroll, but that matched the metabolic cost of most yoga, which is classified by American College of Sports Medicine criteria as a light-intensity physical activity.
What about Bikram—or hot—yoga, practiced at a humid 100°F and purported to burn a thousand calories a session? That’s a bit of a stretch. When put to the test, calorie expenditure during hot yoga was no more fat-burning than room-temperature yoga. Overall, yoga doesn’t appear to have any special weight-reducing benefits, but the best form of exercise is the one you’ll actually do, so if you enjoy it, go for it. Namaste.
For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.
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