Scientists and doctors are always trying to find ways to strengthen our immune system, or our body’s defense against harmful substances. This avenue of research has been explored even further during the COVID-19 pandemic, as boosting the immune system could prevent severe and life-threatening side effects from the virus. Recently, a group of scientists at the University of Florida found that meditation could improve our immune system, making it easier for our bodies to fight off cancers and viral infections.
The authors of the study recruited 106 attendees at a meditation retreat. During this 8-day retreat, participants followed a vegan diet, maintained a regular sleep-wake cycle, meditated for more than 10 hours each day, and maintained silence. Blood samples were collected from these patients five to eight weeks before they attended the retreat, immediately before and after, and three months after the retreat.
The blood samples identified genes, or pieces of DNA that help produce proteins, that were more active after participants attended the retreat. Specifically, the authors found that 220 genes that affect the function of the immune system had increased activity; in other words, attending the meditation retreat led to participants making more molecules involved in the immune system, thereby making it stronger and more ready to fight off any harmful substance. Around 68 of those genes were involved in the interferon signaling pathway, an immune pathway that helps our body fight bacterial and viral infections.
Meditation has been shown to increase the expression of genes that can fight off viral infections, such as the virus that causes COVID-19.
Image Source: fatido
However, overactivation of the interferon pathway can also lead to increased inflammation, which can be harmful to the body. This is what is observed with COVID-19; even after the virus has left the body, interferon signaling is still active, which leads to the immune system attacking the body’s own cells. Surprisingly, this study found that while meditating increased the expression of molecules involved in interferon signaling, there was no sign of increased inflammation. This means that meditating allows us to reap the benefits of boosting our immune system without having to worry about it being too active and attacking our own bodies!
Overall, this study indicates that meditation could be an inexpensive, relatively easy, and non-pharmaceutical way to make our body’s defense mechanism stronger. However, further experiments should be conducted to better understand how meditation can lead to these benefits. For instance, it’s important to confirm that meditation is the primary reason for the observed changes in gene expression, and not the vegan diet or regular sleep cycle experienced during this retreat. In addition, it would be interesting to see if less intense meditation sessions over a longer period of time could lead to the same benefits. Nevertheless, if you are looking for an easy way to protect your body, meditation may be the answer!
