Hot yoga offsets negative effects of high-salt diet on blood pressure in Black women: Study

Participating in hot yoga for four weeks reduced blood pressure in Black women, according to a study from Texas State University. Researchers also found the blood pressure drop and a widening of the participants' arteries occurred despite three days of high salt intake. The study is published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology and has been chosen as an APS select article for June.

"This study represents the first step in uncovering new ways of preventing the harmful effects of high sodium diets which are highly prevalent in America culture," says Stacy D. Hunter, Ph.D., FACSM.

While salt is consumed in excess by most adults in the U.S., Black Americans are disproportionately affected by its adverse effects. Black women between the ages of 20 and 50 are twice as likely as their white counterparts to have uncontrolled high blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association.

In this first-of-its-kind study, 14 Black women ages 20 to 60 consumed a low-sodium diet for three days, followed by three days of a high-sodium diet. Next, participants were randomly assigned to four weeks of hot yoga (125.6°F) or a control group in which they did not exercise. The results of blood pressure and flow-mediated dilation assessments indicated that this brief heated exercise intervention can alter the effects of salt on blood vessel function in Black adult women.

Researchers hope the findings of this study represent the initial steps to improving human health through the long-term practice of hot yoga. Study authors believe it's possible yoga could prevent the effects of lifelong habitual high-sodium intake and possibly lower cardiovascular risks associated with the "highly prevalent dietary practice."