Effect of Laghu Shankhaprakshalana Kriya yogic gastrointestinal cleansing on body composition interoceptive awareness and selected physiological parameters in healthy adults

Abstract

Introduction: Shankhaprakshalana (SP) kriya is one of the shatkarma (hatha yogic cleansing practices) used to cleanse the entire gastrointestinal tract with water. This technique involves the consumption of lukewarm saline water in conjunction with dynamic yoga asanas followed by a phase of deep relaxation. Traditionally, it has been claimed that hatha yogic cleansing practices purify the physical body by reducing the kapha (mucus) and enhancing the awareness of the internal body. newlineObjective: This study investigated the effect of the weekly practice of Laghu Shankhaprakshalana (LSP) kriya on the body composition, interoceptive awareness (IA), constipation score (CS), blood pressure (BP) and pulse rate (PR) of apparently healthy adults. newlineMethodology: A two-armed randomized control group design was used. Sixty-five healthy male participants naive to yoga with a mean age of 26.92 ± 5.35 years were recruited and randomly divided into an LSP group (LSP-G) (n=32) and a control group (CG) (n=33). The LSP group engaged in LSP practice once a week for eight weeks, while the control group received no intervention. Anthropometric measurements (body weight and BMI), body composition (fat mass, lean body mass and water mass measured by the bio-electrical impedance analysis method) and IA (assessed by Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA-2)), constipation score (assessed by Cleveland Clinic constipation scoring system), BP (systolic and diastolic) and PR were studied before and after completing total eight sessions of LSP. The data was analysed using RM-ANOVA followed by post-hoc Bonferroni correction for a total of 60 participants (five participants withdrew from the study). newlineResults: Anthropometric measurement and body composition: In the present study, significant changes were noted within the LSP group for body weight (plt0.001, Cohen s d = -0.093, small effect size), BMI (plt0.001, Cohen s d = -0.123, small effect size), and fat mass (FM) (plt0.001, Cohen s d = -0.349, small effect size), with the negativ