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Yoga is everywhere in city life: studios on the corner, mats on commuter trains, clothes designed for the class, and posts about retreats. For many people it has become a lifestyle, with its own look. Behind the fashion, the practice itself is simple and old. Here is a look at why it caught on, and what you can realistically expect from it.

How popular has yoga become?

According to a national survey cited by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the percentage of U.S. adults who practiced yoga increased from 5.0 percent in 2002 to 15.8 percent in 2022. In 2017, 8.4 percent of children aged 4 to 17 practiced it. The NCCIH notes that most research on yoga in the United States has been done on predominantly female, non-Hispanic white, well-educated people with relatively high incomes, so results may not apply to everyone.

Why do people like it?

The NCCIH reports that in 2012 survey data, 94 percent of yoga practitioners did it for wellness-related reasons, and 17.5 percent did it to treat a specific health condition. The NCCIH adds that in one survey, people aged 40 to 54 were more likely to be motivated by muscle strength or weight loss, while those aged 55 or older were more likely to be motivated by age-related chronic health issues. City life gives plenty of reasons: long hours at a desk, stress, poor sleep and too little movement. Yoga combines gentle exercise, breathing and quiet time in a way that many people can fit into a busy week. Our post on what is yoga? gives a short introduction.

What does the research support?

Studies suggest that yoga may help relieve stress and improve mental and emotional health, sleep and balance. For depression, the NCCIH says that yoga can be a helpful addition to treatment, and a 2020 review of 7 studies of people diagnosed with major depression concluded that yoga may have small additional benefits when used with other treatment. That is a long way from the claim that yoga is better than a prescribed medicine. On stress in general, the NCCIH cites a 2020 review of 12 studies with 672 healthy adults that found beneficial effects of yoga on perceived stress in all of them, and a 2018 review of 14 studies in which most found improvements in resilience or general mental well-being. If you take medicine for depression or anxiety, do not stop it because you started yoga, and talk to your doctor before making any change.

Do you need special clothes and gear?

No. A mat or a non-slip surface and comfortable clothes that let you move are enough. Fashion and accessories can be fun, but they do not make the practice more effective. Choose clothing you can stretch and sweat in; our guide to choosing fitness apparel covers what to look for.

How do you fit it into a busy day?

Start with a short routine in the morning or evening. Even a few simple poses and some slow breathing can be a break. A beginner routine such as a gentle morning yoga routine takes little time, and how to start yoga safely explains the precautions to take if you have a health condition. Learn from a qualified instructor if you can, and avoid extreme practices such as headstands and forceful breathing until you have had guidance. Read more in the NCCIH review of yoga.

Yoga for Modern City Life: Yoga is now a Lifestyle

A rejuvenating 5-day body detox plan

In today’s world, you can hardly spend a day without meeting some pollution. At work, you may not be completely sure about the cleanliness of the water you drink or the food you eat. Around other people, you can hardly avoid air pollution, be it from smokers, sprays or vehicle exhaust. This can affect health in one way or another, even when your body shows no obvious reaction.

For these reasons, many people turn to a detox plan as a way to support a healthy body, a clear mind and good relationships with others.

How the body cleans itself

Our body has its own system of healing and detoxifying: the liver, kidneys, lungs, gut and skin remove waste every day. There is no evidence that this system becomes ‘overloaded’ in healthy people, but it does work best when you eat well, drink enough water, sleep and avoid smoking and too much alcohol.

Short detox plans are not a medical treatment and cannot remove toxins faster than your organs already do. What a plan like the 5-day detox can do is give you a break from processed food and help you start healthier habits, which many people find refreshing.

What to eat on the 5-day plan

Detox food is the core of the 5-day detox plan. During the plan, certain foods are avoided. Your meals consist mainly of fresh fruit and green, young vegetables. Fried food, processed food and food additives are left out. Meat is also dropped for a day or two; this is a matter of choice, as meat is digested normally by a healthy body.

Good foods to include are garlic, broccoli, beets, and seeds or nuts. Fresh fruit juices can be taken as drinks; if you take medicines, ask your doctor about grapefruit juice, which interacts with many drugs. Drink plenty of water as well, around six to eight glasses a day. Water helps your kidneys do their work, and waste leaves the body mainly in urine and stool.

Although you eat less while on the plan, you should not go hungry. Because your intake is limited to healthy foods, many people find it gives them a lift, but eat enough to keep your energy up.

Safety tips

There is no need to repeat the plan on a fixed schedule; a healthy everyday diet matters more. To make sure a plan is safe for you, consult a dietitian or doctor first, especially if you are pregnant, have diabetes or another health condition, or take regular medication.

After a few days of eating mostly fruit and vegetables, many people say they feel lighter and more alert. These are personal reports; the plan does not flush toxins out or change how much oxygen reaches your body.

Taking care of yourself on the inside matters as much as how you look on the outside.

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Magazines and social media make it easy to believe that fitness means a certain body shape. The people you see are a small and selective sample, and what they show is a look, not a measure of health. Being fit means that your heart, lungs and muscles work well for what you want to do. Here is how to approach it in a way that fits a real life.

Where do you find the time?

Most of us are busy, but the guidelines are more modest than people think. Adults need at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week, which is about 30 minutes on five days at the lower end, plus two days of muscle strengthening. You could walk for half of your lunch break, get off the bus a stop early or train for 30 minutes before the rest of the family wakes up. Even short sessions add up, and the first key message of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans is to move more and sit less. For ways to fit it in, see five easy ways to get moving and everyday activities that count as moderate exercise.

Why is the “perfect body” a poor goal?

If your reason for exercising is to look like someone on a poster, you are likely to feel disappointed, because genes, age and body type all influence how you look, whatever you do. Health benefits come from the activity itself. The Physical Activity Guidelines point out that regular activity can reduce anxiety and blood pressure and improve sleep and insulin sensitivity, and that it reduces the risk of excessive weight gain. A more useful goal is something you can measure by what you can do: walking farther, lifting a heavier weight or finishing a class without stopping. If thinking about your body causes you distress or leads you to restrict food or exercise compulsively, talk to a doctor or a mental health professional.

How can you tell that you are getting fitter?

Look at what your body can do. You may walk farther before you tire, climb stairs more easily, or lift a heavier weight than last month. Your resting heart rate is another clue. The American Heart Association says that a resting rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute is normal for most adults, that a very active person may be as low as 40, and that studies link a higher resting heart rate with lower physical fitness, higher blood pressure and higher body weight. Check it in the morning, before you get up, and watch the trend over months, not days.

What should you eat?

There is no secret. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourage a pattern built on vegetables, fruit, whole grains, protein foods and healthy oils, with limited added sugars, saturated fat and sodium. What you eat will show in your energy and recovery, not in a single muscle. Our guide to how carbs, fat and protein fit together shows how to balance a plate.

How do you stay positive and consistent?

Treat exercise as something you do for yourself. Pick activities you enjoy, because you will do them more often. Start small, track your progress by what you can do, rest when you need to and be kind to yourself on days when you miss a session. A friend or a class can make it easier; see group fitness classes.

What about becoming a fitness model?

Fitness modeling and competitions are a job, and the training and diet are often very strict and adapted to photo shoots and events. They are a very different thing from the fitness that keeps ordinary people healthy. If you want to try it, talk to a doctor and a qualified coach first, and do not copy extreme diets or training plans.

Body cleansing and detox for body and mind

What people mean by toxins

When we hear the word toxin, we often think of poison in a labeled bottle. Toxins can indeed be poisonous, but the substances we meet in everyday life, such as air pollution, tobacco smoke, alcohol and chemicals in food and household products, are not labeled that way, and we are exposed to many of them without noticing. This is the starting point of most detox plans.

So what happens when the body is loaded with pollutants? Many detox plans say that toxins block the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the body and brain, and that this makes your mind sluggish. There is no good evidence for that. If you feel exhausted after hard mental work, that is normal brain fatigue: the brain uses a lot of energy even when you are just sitting. Poor sleep, stress, dehydration and a poor diet are far more likely reasons for feeling sluggish than invisible toxins.

It is true that we do not always take good care of ourselves, and it makes sense to look after the body’s natural defenses. Your body already has its own system for getting rid of waste, which includes the liver, kidneys, lungs, skin and digestive system. You do not need a special detox to switch it on. The best thing you can do is to help these organs work well by living healthily.

A healthy diet is the safest cleanse

The safest way to “detox” is a normal healthy diet. Cut back on junk, which means alcohol, too much caffeine, fatty processed food and foods with a lot of additives, and replace it with easy-to-digest fruit and vegetables. They are rich in vitamins and give you energy, and the fiber in them supports your digestion. Fresh, cleanly prepared food is best.

Some detox plans include a short fast, with only fruit juice and herbal teas, usually under the supervision of a nutritionist or doctor. There is no good evidence that fasting removes toxins, and it can cause tiredness, headaches and low blood sugar. It is not suitable for everyone, for example during pregnancy or with diabetes, so speak to your doctor first. If you do not feel the need to fast, there is no reason to do it.

Some plans recommend supplements as well, for example fermented soy and algae powder. Fermented soy foods such as tempeh and miso can be part of a healthy diet, and algae powder may make you feel full, but there is no proof that either of them cleans the body of toxins. Supplements can also interact with medicines, so ask your doctor or pharmacist before you try them.

In the end, a healthy lifestyle is the real way to look after your body and mind: enough sleep, plenty of water, whole foods, regular exercise and little alcohol. If you feel tired or unwell for a long time, see a doctor rather than starting a detox.

What to eat to lower your cholesterol

High cholesterol is becoming a growing problem in the population. The rising number of Americans with high blood pressure and heart disease is ringing alarm bells in the country’s health sector. Health officials are working hard to slow the rise and to make people aware of their eating and exercise habits.

Understanding cholesterol

Although high cholesterol is a major cause of heart disease, not all cholesterol is bad. In fact, the body needs some cholesterol to make bile salts, vitamin D and hormones such as oestrogen and testosterone.

There are two main kinds of cholesterol, the good and the bad, as most people like to call them. The bad cholesterol, LDL, is raised by eating saturated fats and trans fats. These are found in many processed and prepared foods, such as potato chips and some baked and packaged foods.
LDL cholesterol sticks to the walls of the arteries. High levels of LDL can form plaques in the artery walls that may eventually narrow the arteries and slow the flow of blood. This makes the heart work harder and raises the risk of coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke.

What to eat

The good cholesterol, HDL, helps lower LDL by carrying cholesterol back to the liver, where it is removed from the body. HDL is made by the body and is not found in food, but healthy fats such as those in fish and nuts help keep your cholesterol balance healthy.

Fruits and vegetables also help lower cholesterol. Plant foods contain no cholesterol at all, so eating them does not add to your levels.

Another important thing about fruits and vegetables is that they are excellent sources of fibre, which your body needs to keep LDL cholesterol in check. Berries, citrus fruits and carrots are just some of the foods you can count on.

Another food that can lower cholesterol levels in the body is soy. A well-known study at the University of Toronto combined fibre-rich foods, soy, almonds and plant sterols and lowered the participants’ LDL cholesterol by roughly 29 percent in a one-month study where the food was provided, and by about 13 percent in a later six-month study of everyday diets. Oats, barley and olive oil are also great ways to lower LDL.

Foods that are very oily, especially deep-fried foods, are another source of the fats that raise LDL. To lower your LDL, cut down on deep-fried foods. If you do fry, use a vegetable oil such as olive or canola oil.

Use butter sparingly, as it is high in saturated fat. Instead, use a vegetable oil or a soft spread that is free of trans fats. Try to steam, braise, grill or bake your food. You will find that it is tasty and healthier.

Not only diet

Several other factors affect cholesterol levels in the body. Besides your eating habits, these include age, gender, family history and of course the amount of physical activity you do.

Exercise is very important in keeping LDL cholesterol at bay. It also raises HDL and improves circulation.