How Meditation Can Influence Your Genes

This is potentially life-changing!

Mind-body interventions (MBIs) such as meditation, yoga and Tai Chi don’t simply relax us; they can ‘reverse’ the molecular reactions in our DNA which cause ill-health and depression, according to a study.

This is the summary of a study on sciencedaily.com.

Meditation and other practices can actually positively influence our genes.

Incredible, isn’t it? In this article, I go into more detail about this phenomenon.

Research of the universities of Coventry and Radboud, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, examines the effects of meditation and other mind-body interventions (MBIs) on the development of our genes, based on 18 studies with a total of 846 participants over a period of 11 years. It also analyzed how these changes in genes affect our health, both physical and mental.

More specifically, the research focuses on gene expression.

Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, protein or non-coding RNA, and ultimately affect a phenotype, as the final effect. — Wikipedia

Chronic Stress Makes Us Sick

In stressful situations, our sympathetic nervous system is stimulated, which is responsible for the so-called fight or flight response. This promotes the release of a molecule called nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) which regulates how our genes are expressed.

In a dangerous situation, this is useful, which is why it evolved in an evolutionary way.

However, this has an extremely negative effect on our health if the stress lasts for a long time. So says the study:

NF-kB translates stress by activating genes to produce proteins called cytokines that cause inflammation at cellular level — a reaction that is useful as a short-lived fight-or-flight reaction, but if persistent leads to a higher risk of cancer, accelerated aging and psychiatric disorders like depression.

In the past, this mechanism played an important role for our ancestors who lived as hunter-gatherers. Nowadays, however, these reactions are less a response to life-threatening situations and much more to psychological stress, which often lasts for a long time and harms us.

How Meditation Helps

According to the study, meditation as well as other MBIs can reduce the production of NF-kB and cytokines by helping to manage stress.

This reduces inflammation as well as the risk of disease as a result.

Incredibly, meditation alone can greatly reduce the risk of serious illnesses such as cancer or depression.

Researcher Ivana Buric is quoted as follows:

“Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of mind-body interventions like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps don’t realise is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business. These activities are leaving what we call a molecular signature in our cells, which reverses the effect that stress or anxiety would have on the body by changing how our genes are expressed.

Put simply, MBIs cause the brain to steer our DNA processes along a path which improves our wellbeing. More needs to be done to understand these effects in greater depth, for example how they compare with other healthy interventions like exercise or nutrition. But this is an important foundation to build on to help future researchers explore the benefits of increasingly popular mind-body activities.”

Thanks for reading!

Wait a second. You should get my articles in your inbox. Subscribe here. Maybe you also want to start writing on Medium yourself and make money. I made $3400 in my third month! You only need a membership for $5 a month. If you sign up with my link, you support me with a part of your fee without additional costs.

I think you will also like these articles: