Pranayama, a simple counterattack on obesity, via its impact on the serum leptin levels

Abstract

Overweight (i.e. BMI of 25- 29.9) and Obesity (BMI ?30) continues to be one of the neglected global health problems. Leptin is one of the chief adipokines in the body that is basically involved in maintaining a balanced appetite in association with the various other adipokines like the adiponectin, ghrelin etc., Pranayama is the simplest and the ancient, dateless, venerable, non- pharmacological intervention that could be potentially used to maintain a healthy life. To determine how the regular practice of pranayama could significantly alter the deranged serum leptin levels in the obese. The correlative study was carried out in Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital. The subjects included were 60 obese student volunteers of 17-19 years with no other known complications. We measured their serum leptin levels using ELISA method in the central laboratory, both before and after the pranayama training for 6 months. After 6 months of regular pranayama practice, there was a significant decrease in both their serum leptin levels and their BMI as well. Thus, it was concluded that we can potentially turn off our fat switch by beneficially reducing the serum leptin levels and enhancing the leptin receptor sensitivity in the obese with the regular practice of pranayama.