Yogic practices on oxidative stress and of antioxidant level: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Background Many clinical trials have evaluated the oxidative stress reduction and enhancement of antioxidant status following yogic practices, but a review has not been reported earlier. Present study is designed to systematically review the effect of yogic practices on oxidative stress and antioxidant status. Content Using the MEDLINE, EMBASE SCOPEMED, and Indian database electronic searches were performed through August 2016 using the keywords yoga AND oxidative stress OR antioxidant which yielded 97 studies. Selections were made to include only experimental studies written in English, published in peer-reviewed journals and investigating the effects of regular yogic practices on oxidative stress and antioxidant status in these studies. Summary and outlook Search yielded a total of 97 trials, 11 met rigorous criteria for final systematic review. Healthy population showed overall enhancement of antioxidant status and reduced oxidative stress following yogic practices. Diabetic patients showed increased glutathione, vitamin C content and superoxide dismutase activity and decreased malondialdehyde content following yogic practices. Prediabetic and hypertensive patients showed reduced malondialdehyde content following yogic practices. Renal disease patients showed decreased protein oxidation, and increased superoxide dismutase activity following yogic practices. Regular yogic practices can improve antioxidants and reduce oxidative stress in healthy, diabetic, prediabetic, hypertensive and renal disease patients. Studies on other disease population have rarely been reported and studies are very few to conclude strongly.