14 DAY TRIAL // The positive health effects associated with yoga have been known for centuries, but modern science failed to identify the reasons why this technique is so efficient. New data from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) finally provide an answer.
According to researchers here, practicing yoga can reduce the cellular inflammation that usually accompanies stress. By acting on the root effect of stress, yoga can reduce it, and make it more bearable for practitioners, who begin to feel relieved after a session.
“The goal of the study was to determine if meditation might alter the activity of inflammatory and antiviral proteins that shape immune cell gene expression. Our analysis showed a reduced activity of those proteins linked directly to increased inflammation,” UCLA expert Dr. Helen Lavretsky says.
The new study was originally meant to assess whether meditation is an effective tool of reducing stress in individuals who take care of dementia patients. In this subgroup of the population, the incidence of depression is usually very high, PsychCentral reports.