Let's say you're trying to find some solid information about a serious health problem that concerns you, high blood pressure, diabetes.

Yet everywhere you look, someone's trying to sell you something like vitamins, yoga mants, blenders, drugs?

Well, breathe a sigh relief because all we bring you are the facts. Welcome to the nutrition facts podcast. I'm your

host Dr Michael Greger. Today we look at the effect yoga may or may not have on a

wide variety of conditions and yes I do a little myth busting in both directions.

The practice of yoga for health has become popular in the United States and worldwide.

A 2016 survey estimated that 36 million Americans may be involved in yoga to varying degrees.

Though the origins of yoga go back thousands of years it was only introduced in the United States

about a century ago what are the risks and the benefits?

Yoga users tend to report having a better health status, but that doesn't necessarily mean

yoga was the cause.

For example, yoga practitioners were more likely to be normal weight rather than obese and

that alone could give you better health.

Of course, if the yoga was responsible for the weight loss, then that would certainly be to

yoga's credit, but yoga users are also more likely to be white, female, young, and college educated, all of which are independently associated with better health status.

The same thing with higher socioeconomic status.

Yoga practitioners also tend to exhibit other positive health

behaviors, specifically more regular physical activity in general, and a vegetarian diet.

And the more yoga people practice, the more likely they were to cut out meat and eat more and more fruits and vegetables.

For every additional day per week of yoga practice, the odds of being vegetarian increased 20%.

How about one of three yoga teachers surveyed in the UK follow a plant-based diet

much higher than the general population?

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