Impact of a Residential Yoga and Naturopathy Intervention on Weight and Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients with Obesity: A Retrospective Study.

Abstract

Background: Obesity increases the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hepatic steatosis, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, etc. Unhealthy food habits and lack of physical activity play an important role in obesity. Yoga and naturopathy provide holistic and individualized care to treat the disease by promoting the innate self-healing capacity and thus may be beneficial in obesity management.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the impact of a residential yoga and naturopathy intervention on weight and other cardiovascular risk factors in patients with obesity.

Materials and methods: A retrospective study design was adopted in which data between August 2019 and October 2022 were screened from hospital inpatient records and 452 eligible patients' data were included. Subjects received a residential yoga and naturopathy intervention. Their baseline and post-intervention parameters were extracted and data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test.

Results: A significant reduction was observed in weight, body mass index, hip circumference, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, mid-arm circumference, mid-thigh circumference, blood pressure, pulse rate, mean arterial pressure, rate pressure product, double product, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, and perceived stress scale score after yoga and naturopathy intervention. However, no significant changes were noticed in postprandial blood glucose levels in the post-test compared to the pre-test assessments.

Conclusion: Residential yoga and naturopathy intervention have a potential therapeutic impact in reducing weight and its associated cardiovascular risk factors in patients with obesity. However, prospective randomized controlled trials are recommended to validate the study findings.