Gentle yoga classes may help people with type 2 diabetes take off a small amount of weight and steady their blood sugar control, a small study suggests.

The study of 123 middle-aged and older adults, found that those who added yoga classes to standard diabetes care shed a handful of pounds over three months. Meanwhile, their average blood sugar levels held steady - in contrast to the non-yoga-practicing "control" group, whose blood sugar levels rose.

The findings, reported in the journal Diabetes Care, do not suggest that yoga should replace other forms of exercise for people with type 2 diabetes - a disease commonly associated with obesity.