Researchers at the University of Copenhagen discovered that mindful eating and yoga dancing can help overweight women reduce waist circumference and body fat. The research was published in the journal nutrients.
Yoga dance is an exercise strategy that combines elements of dance and yoga to develop endurance and strength. Mindful eating involves developing healthy eating habits to lose weight without counting calories.
39 women under 65 years of age were included in the study. All participants were overweight or obese. They were divided into groups: the first did yoga dances three times a week, the second attended conscious nutrition seminars once a week. The third group combined activity and diet changes. Another group served as control and lived as usual. The body composition of the women was assessed using x-ray absorptiometry.
On average, over eight weeks, participants in the mindful eating group lost 1.3 kg, those in the yoga dance group lost 3 kg, and those in the combination group lost 1.80 kg.
Compared with the control group, participants in all intervention groups had reduced waist circumference and systolic blood pressure, improved mental health, quality of life, and increased energy intake.