Abstract

Background: Obesity, a social problem worldwide, is associated with chronic low grade inflammation with increased oxidative stress (OS). Over-expression of oxidative stress damages cellular structures leading to the development of obesity-related complications. Practice of yoga has shown decrease in oxidative stress in diabetes mellitus and other chronic diseases. So, the aim of this study was to find out the effect of yoga on oxidative stress in obese adults. Materials and Methods: A total of 124 subjects, of which 59 male (age 28.9±3.0yrs.) and 65 female (age 31.2±3.1yrs.) with BMI, ≥25 to ≤40 were recruited for the study. The changes in serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant status (TAS) were assessed at 1st day (Pre), at the end of 3 months (post-1) and 6 months (post-2) of yoga intervention. Results: The data obtained was analysed by ANOVA for repeated measures which has shown significant reduction in serum MDA level (<0.001)and TAS (<0.01) following yoga intervention of obese adults in both the genders. Mann-Whitney test was performed to see the difference in MDA and TA Sacross the gender which indicated that there are significant changes between the genders when pre assessment values were compared with post-2 following yoga intervention. Conclusion: Reduction in the level of oxidative stress marker, MDA and improvement in TAS suggest that yogic practices have therapeutic and protective effects on obesity by decreasing oxidative stress.

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