Deep meditation may change gut flora for improved health.
Author: BMJ
A tiny comparative research published in the open access journal General Psychiatry found that regular deep meditation practiced for many years may assist to control the gut flora and perhaps lessen the risks of physical and mental ill health.
The gut microorganisms detected in a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks were significantly different from those found in their secular counterparts, and have been related to a decreased incidence of anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular disease.
According to research, the gut microbiota may influence mood and behavior through the gut-brain axis. This includes the immunological response, hormone signaling, stress response, and the vagus nerve, which is the principal component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates a variety of vital biological activities.
The group and individual designs are significant in that these deep-thinking Tibetan monks may serve as representations of certain deeper meditations. Despite the modest number of samples, they are uncommon due to their geographic position.
Meditation is increasingly being utilized to treat mental health illnesses including depression, anxiety, drug misuse, traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and chronic pain. According to the researchers, it is unclear if it can also change the makeup of the gut microbiota.To find out, the researchers examined the feces and blood samples of 37 Tibetan Buddhist monks from three temples, as well as 19 secular inhabitants from the surrounding communities.According to the experts, Tibetan Buddhist meditation derives from the ancient Indian medicinal system known as Ayurveda and is a kind of psychological training. The monks in this research had been doing it for at least two hours a day for three to thirty years.
In the previous three months, none of the individuals had used any of the following medicines that may change the number and variety of gut microbes: antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, or antifungal treatments.Age, blood pressure, heart rate, and nutrition were all comparable in both groups.Stool samples indicated substantial variations in microbial diversity and volume between the monks and their neighbors.
As predicted, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes species predominated in both groups. Bacteroidetes, on the other hand, were highly enriched in the monks' stool samples (29% vs 4%), which also included a lot of Prevotella (42% vs 6%) and a lot of Megamonas and Faecalibacterium.
"Several microorganisms enriched in the meditation group [have been] related with the relief of mental disease," the researchers write.
According to earlier studies, they include Prevotella, Bacteroidetes, Megamonas, and Faecalibacterium species.
The scientists then used a sophisticated analytical approach to determine which chemical pathways the microorganisms may be impacting. This suggested that in the meditation group, various protective anti-inflammatory mechanisms, as well as metabolism (the conversion of food into energy), were boosted.Finally, functional examination of blood samples revealed that levels of agents linked with an increased risk of cardiovascular illness, such as total cholesterol and apolipoprotein B, were much lower in monks than in their secular counterparts.
Although it is a comparative research, it is observational in nature, and the number of participants was small, all male, and resided at a high altitude, making it impossible to make definite or generalizable findings. The probable health consequences could only be deduced from previously published studies.
However, based on their results, the researchers believe that the effect of meditation in preventing or treating psychosomatic disease warrants more investigation.
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