title: An investigation into the acute and long-term effects of selected yogic postures on fasting and postprandial glycemia and insulinemia in healthy young subjects.
abstract: The study was conducted to examine the hypothesis that yogasanas help in the treatment of diabetes mellitus by releasing insulin from the pancreas. Twenty healthy young voluntees (17 male, 3 female; age 19-31 years) participated in the study. Each volunteer performed four sets of asanas in random order for 5 consecutive days each with a 2-day gap between consecutive sets of asanas. The four sets of asanas were: (I) dhanurasana + matsyendrasana, (II) halasana + vajrasana, (III) naukasana + bhujangasana, and (IV) setubandhasana + pavanamuktasana. Blood samples were collected on days 4 and 5 of each set of asanas for measurement of glucose and insulin levels before the asanas, within 10 min after performing the asanas, and 30 min after ingestion of 75 g glucose, which in turn was ingested immediately after the second blood sample. A standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was also done before and after the study. On the days of the pre-study or post-study OGTT, no asanas were done. The serum insulin levels after the asanas were lower (P<0.05) than those before the asanas. However, the serum insulin level 0.5 h after the post-asana oral 75 g-glucose challenge was higher (P<0.05) in Set IV than the 0.5 h postprandial insulin level in the pre-study OGTT; the same trend was observed in other sets as well although statistically not significant. The observations suggest that the performance of asanas led to increased sensitivity of the B cells of pancreas to the glucose signal. The increased sensitivity seems to be a sustained change resulting from a progressive long-term effect of asanas. The study is significant in that it has for the first time attempted to probe the mechanism by which yogasanas help diabetes mellitus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manjunatha
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Vempati
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Bijlani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy; D005215:Fasting; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D019518:Postprandial Period; D011187:Posture; D015013:Yoga
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin