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DNA Explainer: How Yoga reduces the risk of cancer at the molecular level

Millions around the world enjoy the health benefits of yoga but are unaware that the benefits begin at the source of the body's biology i.e. the DNA.

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Doing Yoga regularly doesn’t just help you relax but also works on your genetic code to improve your health on the molecular level. It has the power to ‘reverse’ molecular reactions in our DNA which cause depression, stress and even cancer.

A study, published a few years ago, had reviewed a decade worth of data and analysis of the impact of mind-body intervention (MBIs) activities like Yoga, Tai chi and meditation on the behavior of our genes.

The 11-year research, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology in 2017, evaluated 18 studies including 846 participants to conclude that there’s an observable pattern in the changes that the body undergoes from MBIs like Yoga.

The study also shed light on how these Yoga-induced changes to the DNA improve our physical and mental health.

How Yoga makes you healthy, starting from the DNA

The combined research from Coventry University in the UK and Radboud University in the Netherlands analysed how MBIs affect gene expression. This means the way in which your genes are activated and produce proteins which influence your body, brain and immunity.

A stressful event triggers the 'fight-or-flight' response which comes from the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). On the molecular level, it amplifies the production of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) molecules which activate genes to produce proteins called cytokines.

Cytokines cause inflammation at cellular level which translates into stress. This inflammation, useful for impulse amid ‘fight-or-flight’ situations, is extremely unhealthy for the body when persistent in the long-term.

Persistent stress not only leads to psychiatric disorders like depression but also heightens the risk of cancer and accelerates aging.

But those who practice Yoga showed the opposite effect in the study. Yoga decreased production of NF-kB and cytokines, thus reversing of the “pro-inflammatory gene expression pattern” leading to the risk on “inflammation-related diseases and conditions.”

In today’s extremely stressful environment, longer-term pro-inflammatory gene expression is found to be common leading to an increasing number of psychiatric and health problems.

MBIs like Yoga helps the body cope up with these ill-effects induced by our fast-paced, stressful lives.

As per Ivana Buric from the Brain, Belief and Behaviour Lab in Coventry University's Centre for Psychology, Behaviour and Achievement, activities like Yoga “are leaving what we call a molecular signature in our cells, which reverses the effect that stress or anxiety would have on the body by changing how our genes are expressed. Put simply, MBIs cause the brain to steer our DNA processes along a path which improves our wellbeing.”

If you’ve been depriving your body of the health benefits of Yoga, June 21 aka the International Yoga Day is the perfect day to embrace the life-altering activity.

 

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