Anthropometric, biochemical and clinical parameters in climacteric yoga practitioners

Objective This study aimed to evaluate anthropometric, biochemical and clinical parameters in climacteric yoga practitioners. Methods This study investigated 108 climacteric women. We recruited 28 women between 40 and 65 years old who started yoga practices in premenopause and had already practiced for at least 5 years. As controls, we selected 30 physical activity (PA) practitioners who had practiced for at least 5 years and 50 sedentary women in the same age range. We conduced anthropometric, biochemical and blood pressure measurements. Results The yoga group had significantly lower fasting blood glucose than the PA practitioners and sedentary women. Yoga practitioners also had lower weight, body mass index, waist circumference, body fat percentage and waist-to-height ratio; higher levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; lower levels of triglycerides, insulin, Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance, uric acid, apolipoprotein B and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; and lower frequency of metabolic syndrome, lipid accumulation product, visceral adiposity index and systolic blood pressure than the sedentary women. Conclusion Yoga practitioners had lower glucose serum concentrations than the PA practitioners and sedentary women. Overall, the yoga group also had better anthropometric, biochemical and clinical variables than the other groups. Although further investigation is required, yoga practice in premenopause seems to be beneficial for women when they reach menopause.