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How Yoga Can Affect Your Endocrine System

endocrine systemYoga not only plays an important role in maintaining our health but also has a very good effect on our endocrine system. Due to a hectic lifestyle and everyday stress, people are experiencing a lot of hormonal problems. Some of the health issues faced by both men and women are hormonal changes, underactive or overactive thyroid and hormonal imbalance. Increase in cortisol levels, insulin deficiency or insulin resistance, early puberty and early menopause are few hormonal disorders that women face. It’s therefore good to know more about the endocrine system. The Endocrine system is a collection of glands that release hormones directly into the bloodstream to the targeted cells.

Why Is The Endocrine System Important For Us?

Endocrine system  helps maintain the body’s homeostasis (balance). Metabolism, growth, sexual development, mental growth, mineral balance, heart rate regulation, setting our sleep cycle, muscular and skeletal growth are the functions of endocrine gland.

Role of the Hypothalamus: Hypothalamus is a part of the brain that is responsible for the direct control of the endocrine system through the pituitary gland. Hypothalamus is also the center of emotions and is affected by strong emotions, odor, powerful thoughts, taste, stress, laughter, etc.

Pituitary gland is the master gland controlling the whole endocrine system including the pineal gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, thymus gland,  adrenal glands, pancreas, ovaries and testes. The hypothalamus sends signals to pituitary gland, which then releases chemicals to stimulate the hormones from other endocrine glands. So this will work like Hypothalamus–pituitary-organ pathway.

The Role of Yoga in Controlling the Hormonal System

  • Pranayama: has a good effect on the endocrine system. Pranayama means stretching , modifying and lengthening the breath. Pranayama has dual benefits. In Pranayama, when you control your breath, it controls both your mind and your body. We supply more oxygen to the lungs which is transported to each and every cell of the body. The blood supply and the oxygen supply to the brain and hypothalamus increases, thereby, improving their functioning. One can control stress and emotions in a better way because stress can disturb the functioning of the hypothalamus. Pranayama improves the relationship between hypothalamus –pituitary and the other glands and thus, the entire endocrine system is balanced.
  • Yog Nidra or Yogic Sleep: is a great way to control stress and emotion. It is not about going to Shavasana and just sleeping but staying awake and controlling your thoughts and senses, replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, relaxing and energizing your mind and body. Yog Nidra will improve the functioning of the brain, hypothalamus and the relationship between hypothalamus and pituitary and the other endocrine glands.
  • Yogic Poses: like Sirsasana, standing forward bend increases blood flow to brain and improves the functioning of the brain and hypothalamus along with improving the  functioning of pituitary and pineal gland. Halasana and shoulder stand improve the functioning of thyroid and parathyroid gland. Ardh Matsyendrasana and Balasana will stimulate pancreas for the release of insulin and glucagon from pancreas. Setubandhasana and Bhujangasana will stimulate testes and ovaries.

We hope this article helps you improve the functioning of your endocrine system and bring balance to your mind and body! Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more on how yoga can help you, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

You can also practice yoga online with guidance from a certified expert by subscribing for GOQii Pro Classes within the GOQii App.

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Health Benefits of Weight Lifting You Might Not Know

weight lifting

Whenever I advise my players to include weight lifting in their workout regimes, their reactions range from, “It’s too complicated or difficult for me,” to “No! I don’t want to bulk up”. These are the misconceptions engraved in our minds from the glossy images of sculpted and chiseled bodies of men and women appearing in fitness websites and magazines!

Apart from the fact that many of these photographs are Photoshopped or Edited, they unanimously promote the sole purpose of weight lifting as ‘body building’, which defers many people who want to actually stay fit and active, from it. Weight lifting, in essence, is not just about getting toned and sculpted! The benefits of weight lifting are numerous, ranging from improving your body composition, burning fat, strengthening your bones and joints and increasing your happiness quotient as well!

Health Benefits of Weight Lifting

  1. Get Stronger and More Active: Weight lifting stimulates the growth and development of the slow twitching muscle fibers (type2 muscle fibers) which improves agility, endurance, and builds up your stamina and strength, thus, boosting your performance in doing activities of daily livings (ADLs).
  2. Boosts Resting Metabolism: When the muscles are stimulated after strength training, they need to work harder to rebuild. Hence, they utilize more calories for redevelopment and growth! Muscles are metabolically active tissues which keep burning calories even during the resting phase known as the Afterburn Effect!
  3. Strengthens Your Bones and Joints: Weight training not only strengthens your muscles and ligaments but also improves bone density. The way muscles start developing under stress, the bones also adapt by increasing deposition after consistent weight lifting. This becomes more important as one reaches the age of early 40s when we are prone to natural decline. Also, stronger ligaments and bones prevent the occurrence of injuries while performing cardio and other activities!
  4. Lower Risk of Diabetes & Blood Sugar Levels: A study funded by the National Institute of Health has found that men who added weight lifting to their cardiovascular exercise routine had a 34% lower risk of diabetes. It’s advisable for individuals with type 2 diabetes to include weight training in their workout regime as toned muscles improve insulin sensitivity and better utilization of glucose!
  5. Improves Heart Health: As weight lifting improves the lean muscle mass in the body, it improves blood flow to different body areas which put less pressure on arteries, thus improving cardiac muscles pumping capacity!
  6. Improves Posture & Balance: Weight lifting strengthens your core, tones up your muscles and improves your posture. It reduces undue stress on different bones and joints, especially the shoulders, spine and hips which are more prone to injuries because of bad posture! Weight training also promotes the development of smaller muscle sets known as stabilizers. These take care of keeping you upright and helping you balance on a slippery surface or on one foot when you are reaching out to a higher shelf!
  7. Makes You Happier: Weight training stimulates the release of endorphins in the body which are also known as the ‘feel good hormones’. They trigger the happy centers in the brain. A well-toned, lean and fit body elevates your mood and self-esteem. Weight training brings you out of your comfort zone. High intensity weight training proves the worth in persisting through uncomfortable situations – a lesson which can be applied to be successful in other aspects of life too.

How to Start Your Weight Training Journey?

The simple mantra is just ‘go ahead’. Simply enter a gym or put on a video to see how you can take your journey forward. Start with minimum weights and gradually increase. Make sure to start under the guidance of an expert to avoid injuries or wrong postures or techniques. Keep setting challenges and targets which will keep you motivated to push harder.

You can even subscribe to GOQii’s Personalized Health Coaching to seek guidance from your GOQii Coach, tackle myths and get the right information about weight training.

Push past your limits to the extent that your toughest workout now, becomes your warm up later! If you hit a wall, simply climb over it. What stops you from hitting the gym? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Achal Agarwal Loses 37kg, Reverses Lifestyle Diseases & Gets Healthier With GOQii

Achal AgarwalWhen we think of weight loss, the first thing that comes to mind is to eat less and exercise. Theoretically, this is the right way to go about it. But, this is not as easy as it sounds. It requires a great level of determination and willpower. However, once the decision to succeed is made, you will achieve your goal. Roadblocks in fitness and health can come in many ways – excuses, laziness, busy etc. Today, we bring to you one such story of determination and will power from our player Achal Agarwal.   

Life Before GOQii 

Achal Agarwal, 42, based in Noida, handles operations for a large German MNC in India as its COO. Before joining GOQii, he was overweight, weighing around 121 kg. Due to being overweight, he had developed medical conditions such as Diabetes, High Lipids (Cholesterol), Stomach Problems (Acidity, constipation) and Fatty liver. His waist was 44 inches. 

“I had all sorts of issues. I was totally ignoring my health. I was doing nothing. Stress levels were high and I needed my drink daily,” says Achal. After having severe palpitations and the scare of COVID-19, he decided that he had to take care of his own health. 

Joining GOQii & Making A Lifestyle Change 

After he bought the GOQii Balance, a smart weight scale, he found a coupon code and downloaded the GOQii App. When he explored the app, he found various health services. He came across the personalized coaching service, and took it up. 

He says that the Coach’s knowledge helped him bring about necessary changes in his diet and exercise. He says that, “The Coach has been very motivating and she has been there all along trying to find out if I am doing well. GOQii has been very helpful and I think a health coach is more than enough for one to follow and get better.”

The changes brought about by Achal Agarwal’s coach included: 

  • Basic walk to complete 6k steps a day (later he began completing 15k steps daily) 
  • Increased water intake and cutting down on tea intake 
  • Avoid maida and processed foods 
  • Having multigrain roti 
  • Increasing fruit, vegetable and protein intake 
  • Stopping sugar and alcohol completely 
  • Practicing Pranayama to reduce stress 

Achal says that his best stress buster now is walking – he loves it! He even conducts his meetings at work on walks, completing 20k steps on a daily basis. He further adds that, “The journey has not been easy but it’s been fun.” He further adds that his coach has been extremely understanding and has worked out everything around his schedule. He used to do stringent workouts and the coach introduced pre and post workout meals and that helped. His GOQii Coach has been regularly advising him on dietary changes. What Achal likes the best about coaching is that it is non-intrusive.

Thanks to all the lifestyle modifications suggested by his GOQii Coach, in the last 10 months, he lost close to 37kg. His Current weight is 83.2kg and his waist size has reduced by 7 inches. His HbA1c reduced from 7.9% to 5.1%. His Cholesterol levels lowered as well as his fasting sugar. 

Achal Agarwal has now become a health mentor to a lot of his colleagues. He has been sharing tips with his employees and co-workers and many of whom have managed to get on a healthier path. A fine example of this can be seen in Sushma Mishra who has been able to lose 8kg in the last couple of months. She says, “I never expected I could also get healthy, do exercises and lose weight. But, with the small tips that Achal Sir gave, I followed them and it’s helping me. He is such an inspiration and a role model to all of us”.  He has also been recommending people to download the GOQii app and use it.

To know more about his journey, check out this session of GOQii Health Talks where he spoke to our Founder & CEO Vishal Gondal about his changes, challenges and more! 

What Does His Coach Have To Say About Achal Aggarwal?

Achal Agarwal is one such player who is very disciplined, dedicated, and maintains consistency with any habits that were suggested by me. He was always very sincere from the beginning and never missed his daily workout and healthy diet. The player came on board in Nov 2020 with medical conditions like Diabetes, High Lipids (Cholesterol), uric acid, high CRP levels, stomach problems (Acidity, constipation) and Fatty liver.

We slowly introduced small changes as mentioned above. In the last 10 months Achal’s progress has been tremendous! Apart from weight loss and his vitals returning to normal, Achal says that his complete change of mindset towards health and fitness have been amazing! 

Does Achal Agarwal’s story inspire you? Do you want to make a change? Subscribe for GOQii’s Personalized coaching now and speak to a certified GOQii Coach: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

For more inspiring stories, check out Healthy Reads. 

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Some Good Carbohydrates For Diabetics

good carbohydratesAlthough it’s a complicated disorder, diabetes can be managed and, in some cases, even reversed. Choosing healthy foods and drinks, in essence, managing nutrition, is the key to manage diabetes. Carbohydrates are among the foods that we start avoiding in case we see high sugar levels. We start considering carbs as an enemy, which is definitely not the case.

Ideally, when we eat carbohydrates, the body converts it into glucose which further increases sugar levels. It is due to this that we consider avoiding carbohydrates. They are an integral part of a healthy diet and before we begin to avoid them, we need to understand them. 

There are 2 types of Carbohydrates 

  • Simple carbs: which are easily broken down in the body, they lead to a sudden increase in the sugar levels. 
  • Complex carbs: which are absorbed slowly in the body and due to this, there isn’t a sudden increase in the sugar levels.

So complete elimination of carbohydrates is not recommended, rather we can shift to a diet which provides a good amount of complex carbs. Starch and fibers are the types of complex carbs, and as we all know, there are lots of health benefits of including fibers in the diet.

Good Carbs You Can Include 

  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Whole Grain products
  • Beans
  • Pulses
  • Nuts

How To Incorporate Complex Carbs In Your Diet 

  1. Replace wheat rotis (flat breads) with multigrain or oats rotis (flat breads)
  2. Replace the white rice with brown rice
  3. You can also replace the brown rice with Dalia (Bulgar Wheat) or Quinoa, if or whenever possible
  4. Include more vegetables in your meals 
  5. Have at least 1 portion of fruits a day – preferably apple, papaya, guava, pears, cherries or berries
  6. Include salads in at least 1 meal a day
  7. Add boiled beans, sprouts, boiled pulses, nuts or mixed seeds to the salads

With these tips, do remember that it is not just reducing the carbs but an overall lifestyle modification that is really important. With the diet, it is really important to follow an exercise routine, to manage stress and to cut down any unwanted habits of smoking or alcohol. If you are a diabetic and have stopped having carbs, do start including complex carbs in a limited portion in your daily routines. 

Please note that before you begin with any of the aforementioned foods, kindly check with your doctor, dietitian or nutritionist. We hope this article on Good Carbohydrates for Diabetics helps you – do share it with your friends and family. For more on diabetes management, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by our experts on GOQii Play. 

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From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

As we observe World Cancer Day under the powerful theme ‘United by Unique’ (2025-2027)**, we are reminded that every individual’s journey with cancer is distinct, yet united by shared resilience, hope, and the collective fight against this disease. This theme places people at the centre of care and their stories at the heart of the […]