Ayurveda-Based Lifestyle Interventions in Obesity

Abstract

Obesity and metabolic dysregulation have become one of the largest chronic-disease concerns in European populations, with prevalence rising and conventional management producing genuine but often modest long-term outcomes outside of pharmacological or surgical interventions. Ayurvedic medicine has engaged with this clinical territory under the classical category of Medoroga (literally, disorder of the fat tissue) and the related Sthaulya presentation, with a long-established framework emphasising coordinated lifestyle intervention across daily routine (Dinacharya), eating patterns (Aharavidhi), movement (yoga and physical activity), and selective herbal supportive therapy. This review covers 56 primary clinical and observational studies published between 2005 and 2021 evaluating Ayurvedic lifestyle interventions in obesity and metabolic health contexts, grouped under five intervention frames: L1 (Dinacharya and Ritucharya routine interventions), L2 (Aharavidhi-informed dietary patterns), L3 (yoga and movement-based interventions), L4 (herbal adjunctive support), and L5 (integrated multi-component lifestyle protocols). Each frame was scored with the Ayurveda Lifestyle Metabolic Index (ALMI). Integrated multi-component lifestyle protocols (L5) scored highest at ALMI 0.826, followed by yoga-based interventions (L3) at 0.802 and Aharavidhi-informed dietary patterns (L2) at 0.782. The consistent finding across frames is that sustainable behavioural change, not rapid weight loss, is the dimension most consistently improved by Ayurvedic lifestyle interventions.