A new study shows that learning to relax can help slimmers become thinner.

Those who took part in activities designed to help them unwind, including meditation and yoga, could even lose weight without going on a diet.

Scientists believe that feelings of stress and anxiety can help to increase the desire for surgery and fatty foods, which are high in calories.

Those who manage these feelings are more able to resist the temptation to indulge in unhealthy snacks.

Scientists spent two years studying 225 overweight or obese women asked to try a variety of activities to help them de-stress.

One third of the women took part in "mind-body techniques", which included meditation, deep-breathing, yoga and positive visualisation, where participants are asked to imagine images of what they would like to happen in the future.

Another third concentrated on exercising as well as eating healthily.

The final group received information about nutrition in the post.

At the end of the study only those women who had practised the relaxation techniques had managed to lose weight.


The findings, published in the journal Preventive Medicine, show that they were also on average happier and healthier than the women in the other two groups.

Dr Caroline Horwath, from the University of Otago, in New Zealand, who led the study, said that all three groups had been successful in preventing weight gain.

But "the most striking results" were among those who took part in the intensive relaxation programme, she said.

One average they lost five and a half pounds (2.5kg) in weight.

Dr Horwath added: "At the two-year mark, these women were the only ones to maintain the psychological and medical symptom improvements.

"The positive results are exciting, given the limited long-term success of traditional dieting approaches.

"By learning and practising relaxation techniques as part of a wider lifestyle change programme, women have effective tools to manage stress and emotions without resorting to unhealthy eating."

The above from Telegraph.co.UK By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent



She said that helping women to "break free from chronic dieting and make sustainable lifestyle changes" was the way to ensure better health over the long term.

The study also found that participants who were extremely focused on losing weight were more likely to lose interest and drop out early than other volunteers.