A Study on Yoga-Based Lifestyle Intervention versus Dietary Intervention Alone on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors among People with Prediabetes

Background: Prediabetes is presented as a metabolic state that predisposes persons to a greater risk of diabetes progression in the future. Prediabetes is an intervening stage between normoglycemia and diabetes with impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance. This study aimed to compare the effect of the yoga-based lifestyle intervention (including diet) versus dietary intervention (DI) alone on cardiometabolic parameters namely fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C), lipid profile; triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), heart rate variability (HRV), and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) among people with prediabetes. Methods: A randomized controlled study was conducted on 250 people with prediabetes who were randomly allocated by computer-generated methods to the yoga-based lifestyle intervention (including diet) ( n = 125) and DI alone ( n = 125) groups. Yoga sessions were approximately 45 min 6 days a week over a period of 6 months. Assessments were made at baseline and after 6 months of intervention. Results: Post-intervention comparison of cardiometabolic parameters in yoga-based lifestyle intervention (including diet) versus DI alone showed a significant decline in body mass index ( P = 0.0002), waist–hip ratio ( P = 0.0001), systolic blood pressure ( P = 0.0001), diastolic blood pressure ( P = 0.0001), perceived stress score ( P = 0.0001), FBG ( P = 0.0001), HbA1C ( P = 0.0001), lipid profile; TG ( P = 0.008), LDL ( P = 0.0001), VLDL ( P = 0.0001), HRV ( P = 0.0001), CIMT ( P = 0.02) and a nonsignificant decline in, TC ( P = 0.22), HDL ( P = 0.211), FFQ ( P = 0.164). Conclusion: The finding of this study suggests that a 24-week yoga-based lifestyle intervention which includes diet significantly decreased cardiometabolic parameters compared to DI alone among people with prediabetes.