Despite the limited caloric burning powers of yoga, a recent study suggests that it might enable the middle-aged people to curb weight gain. Yoga is a physical training program that involves meditations and slow stretches. The findings of the research depicted that overweight individuals in their 50s who practiced yoga on a regular basis lost approximated 5 pounds over a 10 year span of time. At the same token, people of the equal age range who did not do yoga gained over 13 pounds over the duration of the time.

In essence, over the span of a decade middle-aged people of normal weight normally pack on the pounds; however, the individual who practiced yoga gained less weight than the people who did not engage in yoga. Despite the findings, a researcher/co-author of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study, Alan Kristal’s opinion, the link between weight loss and yoga is futile.


Since people who practice yoga are more in tuned with their bodies, they are more prone to make healthy eating choices and be more cognizant of bad habits. Not to mention, yoga alleviates stress and depression; as a result, people are less apt to eat out of boredom or anxiety. Not to mention, aside from the extremely strenuous yoga practices, insufficient energy is burned to counter weight gain.

In conclusion, researchers’ compiled data from more than 15,000 individual ages (53 to 57). They were surveyed about diet, exercise, weight and their health histories. The published findings of the Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine portrayed how individuals who practiced yoga were more apt to avoid junk food and over consumption because they were more attuned to the needs of their bodies.