Exercise can be an important part of managing your diabetes. It can help keep your blood sugar levels steady and even help lower your chances of getting the disease in the first place. Brisk walks, running, and strength training with weights are good choices. So is one that many people may not consider: Yoga. Asana also modulates gene expression and increase muscle activity, strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance, resulting in favorable effects on body weight, adiposity, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance. Yoga reduces oxidative stress, as demonstrated by reductions in serum malondialdehyde, interleukin 6, and leptin levels, and improvements in adiponectin levels. Yoga therapy increases the number of insulin receptors and increases the proportion of receptor binding in patients with diabetes. It improves insulin kinetics by reducing fasting insulin levels, shifting the peak insulin level to the left, and by normalizing the insulin-to-glucose ratio. It also reduces levels of free fatty acids, indirectly indicating improved insulin sensitivity or reduced insulin resistance. Yoga and various breathing exercises were found to lead to improvements on lung function tests. Yoga improves cell-mediated immunity, as demonstrated by improvements in the lymphocyte migration test in people with type 2 diabetes. Yoga also prevents the development of diabetes in high-risk individuals. It was found to improve symptom scores in people with diabetes. It also results in reduction of fasting blood sugar, postprandial blood sugar, hemoglobin A1c, and anti-diabetic drug requirements, suggesting improved glycemic control. Yoga therapy results in a reduction in body weight, body mass index, the waist-to-hip ratio, body fat percentage, body fat mass, and skin fold thickness, thereby increasing lean body weight. Ready to discover more? Grab a copy of this book now.