Background: Numerous studies have reported physiological and therapeutic effects of yoga in patients with diabetes., Objective: The objective of this paper is to update the yoga practitioners, physical therapists, diabetologists, physicians, and physiologists with the growing evidence on effects of yoga for diabetes through a systematic literature search., Materials and methods: Systematic review of studies in MEDLINE and CINAHL from 1951-2010 was conducted using search terms yoga OR yogic AND diabetes OR diabetic IN title OR abstract for English articles. Consensus was obtained after independent blinded search and overall findings were summarized., Main findings: Seventeen included articles were heterogenous and studied all categories of effects of yoga which were categorized into yogic techniques, biological effects, psychological effects and social effects. Most of the reported effects were short-term and smaller sample size populations., Conclusion: There was an overall beneficial effects for yoga among patients with diabetes. These beneficial effects were found not only to be physical, but also mental and social aspects of care. Further studies on psychological and social effects of yoga on diabetic patients are warranted.

Key words: yoga, glycemic control, biopsychosocial model, diabetes mellitus