Research Shows Meditation Reduces Inflammation

Inflammation has been shown to play a key role in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes. A growing body of research on mind-body interventions such as meditation, mindfulness, and yoga shows evidence of a connection between stress, inflammation, and mindfulness, and their impacts on health. These findings may be especially beneficial for people with chronic inflammatory conditions in which psychological stress plays a role, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and asthma.

Blood samples from one randomized controlled trial showed that subjects who underwent mindfulness meditation training had lower levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a biomarker of inflammation, than those who completed a relaxation program without meditation.

A recent large eight-week randomized controlled trial on aerobic exercise and meditation found that mindfulness meditation had a delayed effect on C-reactive protein, an important inflammatory biomarker.

A 2019 study of adults with alcohol dependence looked at the impact of mindfulness on patients with elevated levels of IL-6. Researchers found that greater mindfulness practice time was significantly associated with reduced IL-6 levels in this group.

A 2017 meta-analysis of 45 studies that looked at the immunological effects of meditation concluded that meditation practice leads to decreased physiological markers of stress in a range of populations. The analysis found that meditation reduced cortisol, C-reactive protein, blood pressure, heart rate, triglycerides, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

Research on brain wave vibration meditation, a brain education-based meditation (BEM), showed BEM helped to lower LDL cholesterol levels and the inflammatory gene expression in patients.

In another study that examined the effects of yoga and meditation, participants had increased blood levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 and lowered level of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-12 at the end of the three-month period.

Stress has also been shown to affect the gut microbiome. A 2017 study on the effects of stress and meditation found that meditation helps regulate the stress response, which suppresses chronic inflammatory states and maintains a healthy gut barrier function.