The secret to good health? Try meditating like a Buddhist monk

Advocates healing meditation to elevate mood and well-being.

But now scientists say the practice can increase levels of “good” bacteria in the gut and offer a range of mental and physical health benefits.

Researchers in China evaluated the gut microbiome and blood samples of Tibetan monks and compared them to local people who followed a similar diet but did not meditate.

Monks had more microbes, which have been linked to a lower risk of anxiety, depression and heart disease, and stronger immune systems.

The results suggest that meditation plays a “positive role” in mental and physical health by promoting gut health, the team said.

Research has shown that the gut microbiome—the trillions of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the gut—is linked to mood and health via the gut-brain axis.

Meditation is an “internal mental exercise” that has been shown to improve physical and mental health.

He tends to sit still and pay attention to the sensation of breathing – and return his attention to it when the mind starts to wander.

Tibetan Buddhist meditation, which originated in ancient Indian Ayurveda​​​​ – an alternative system of medicine – guides the mind to enable “self-regulation of the body to cultivate well-being and provide insight into the true nature of all phenomena ,” they said researcher.

However, researchers at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in Shanghai noted that it remains unclear whether meditation alone affects the gut microbiome.

To find out, they analyzed stool and blood samples from 37 Tibetan Buddhist monks from three temples and compared them with 19 non-religious residents in neighboring areas.

For three to thirty years, the monks meditated for at least two hours every day.

They followed either samatha meditation – which focuses the mind by focusing attention on a single object or mantra – or vipassana, in which monks contemplate “the true nature of all phenomena”.

Meanwhile, the control group did nothing.

Both groups were matched for age, blood pressure, heart rate and diet. Rice, bread, pasta, vegetables and meat were the main foods consumed by both groups.

In the last three months, no one has taken pills that can change the volume and diversity of gut microbes, such as antibiotics, probiotics or antifungal drugs.

The results, published in the journal General Psychiatry, showed the monks had a richer microbiome, better mental health and healthier hearts.

Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes – two common types of bacteria – were dominant in both groups, which the researchers said was to be expected.

However, Bacteroidetes – which previous studies have linked to a lower risk of anxiety – was significantly enriched in the monks’ stool samples, making up 29 percent of the sample compared to four percent in the control group.

And the monks had abundant Prevotella bacteria (42 percent vs. 6 percent) and high levels of Megamonas and Faecalibacterium — types of bacteria associated with better mental health.

The team, led by associate professor Ying Sun, said that these bacteria are collectively linked to better mental health, according to previous research.

The group investigated which physical processes could be behind this.

The results suggested that molecules in bacteria activate anti-inflammatory and metabolism-boosting body mechanisms.

Meanwhile, analysis of blood samples showed that levels of cholesterol and the protein apolipoprotein B – which can serve as markers of heart disease risk – were lower in the monks than in the control group.

The researchers noted that their study was small and observational — so unable to draw any definitive conclusions — and that all of the participants were male.

And they didn’t look at the actual rates of mental and physical health problems among participants.

But the findings are strong enough to warrant further research into the connection between meditation and health, the researchers said.

“These results suggest that prolonged deep meditation may have a beneficial effect on the gut microbiota, allowing the body to maintain optimal health,” the team added.