How healthy is yoga really? We check the medical research - and do the practical test :) Finally again with the wonderful maiLab stuntwoman Saadet! ► Subscribe to maiLab: http://bit.ly/2kru8qh ► Instagram: / maithink ► Twitter: / maithi_nk maiLab is produced by Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim for funk (ARD & ZDF) ►YouTube: / funkofficial ►funk Web-App: https://go.funk.net ►Facebook: / funk ►https://go.funk.net/impressum SOURCES Holger Cramer: https://www.uni-due.de/naturheilkunde... https://kem-med.com/kompetenz-in-klin... The 8 limbs of yoga: Table 1 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2... Breathing: Breathing exercises in yoga can increase the concentration of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA:: https://yogafordepression.com/wp-cont... Breathing synchronizes the activity of the entire cerebral cortex, makes the brain "vibrate": https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/... Breathing influences our ability to remember (better ability to remember when inhaling & breathing through the nose): https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jne... Epilepsy: The potential effectiveness of yoga has been investigated, but without conclusive results: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/... High blood pressure: Yoga alone cannot be an effective therapy for high blood pressure, but as an addition to conventional methods such as appropriate medication, yoga could help: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2... https://academic.oup.com/ajh/article/... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science... Chronic back pain: According to current research, yoga can keep up quite well with conventional exercise therapies: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/... Depression: Yoga can help with mild depression, but with major, clinical depression rather not: https://www.emerald.com/insight/conte... Cancer / breast cancer: Yoga could have potential as an adjunct therapy (NOT as a direct cancer therapy) to increase well-being, reduce stress, and alleviate symptoms and side effects: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/a... General cardiovascular health: Yoga is often not intense enough to have positive cardiovascular effects: https://bmccomplementalternmed.biomed... Nevertheless, there are always positive effects that suggest that the effects of yoga go beyond exercise: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/... Similar effect with yoga for weight loss - here too, often not intense enough to achieve a corresponding calorie reduction. Nevertheless, weight loss is noted, probably due to general changes in lifestyle, incl. Nutrition: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... Yoga has potential as an adjunct therapy for cancer and other diseases. Cancer therapies are often so stressful for patients that they discontinue therapy or do not complete it properly: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... Hot Yoga / Bikram Yoga: This study compares the 26 asanas in a 40 °C room with the same exercises in a normal temperature room and finds no differences in terms of vascular elasticity: https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.co... Side effects / risks: Be careful with glaucoma, as inverted positions can increase the intraocular pressure and worsen glaucoma, in the worst case leading to blindness. Otherwise, yoga, like other sports or movements, has a corresponding risk of injury, but not a particularly high one. Case reports of accidents / injuries / risks of yoga: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/art...