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Health Benefits of Tai Chi |
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The following articles are short summaries of the scientific information about the benefits of Tai Chi. College students and Instructors are familiar with the general well-being and health we all experience when we practice our Tai Chi and it is reassuring to know that these benefits are being proved in a scientific way. Many of these trials were done on older people, as they have more health problems, but the positive effect of Tai Chi practice will be enjoyed by people of all ages.
Type 2 Diabetes
 In March 2008, the British Journal of Sports Medicine reported that studies by researchers in Taiwan and Australia indicated that Tai Chi can help people control type 2 diabetes, which is suffered by some 250 million people world-wide and can lead to blindness, kidney failure, high blood pressure and heart disease.
After 12 weeks of Tai Chi (3 hours per week) the participants lost a craving for food, slept better, lost weight and their insulin resistance improved, blood sugar level dropped and their blood pressure dropped significantly. It was explained that “the relaxation element of Tai Chi may help reduce stress levels, preventing the release of adrenalin which can lead to insulin resistance and high blood glucose levels”. “Strenuous physical activity depresses the immune system response, while moderate exercise seems to have the opposite effect”. Reported in the Herald Sun 4 April 2008
Blood Pressure
 Studies at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine have shown that Tai Chi can lower the systolic blood pressure by 7mm Hg in just 6 weeks of Tai Chi practice. This surprised the researchers who expected the Tai Chi exercise group to have minimal changes compared with the control group who did moderate aerobic exercise and whose systolic blood pressure dropped by 8mm Hg.
This study was presented at the American Heart Association’s 38th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in 2008.
Osteoporosis
 Researchers at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Chinese University of Hong Kong showed that regular Tai Chi practice helped retard bone loss in the weight-bearing bones of post-menopausal woman (aged 50 to 59) compared to woman who did not exercise. This makes Tai Chi an ideal exercise for the prevention of osteoporosis in both men and women.
The results were published in Archives of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation in 2002.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 26 February 2009 )
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