Can meditation help heal your gut?

Evidence suggests that frequent daily meditation over several years may help to heal your gut - boosting the body's immune system according to recent study by General Psychiatry.

The small study was performed on a group of 37 Tibetan monks from three temples and 19 secular residents from neighbouring areas, where stool samples were taken to a lab in Shanghai. The resulting study published in General Psychiatry revealed that the Monks - who are avid meditators, practicing meditation for up to two hours per day for between 3-30 years - had more of the good bacteria strains that are associated with positive mental health than their neighbours. Other findings also indicated that inflammatory pathways and metabolic health was stronger in the group of Monks.

None of the participants in the study had used agents to alter their gut microbes for three months leading up to the study.

So, did the study show that meditation is good for the gut, and subsequently good for your overall health?

Researches did caution that the study was observational and difficult to draw any firm conclusions, therefore merited further research. However the team concluded that “long-term Tibetan Buddhist meditation may positively impact physical and mental health' and that 'the microbiota enriched in monks was associated with a reduced risk of anxiety, depression and cardiovascular disease and could enhance immune function. Overall, these results suggest that meditation plays a positive role in psychosomatic conditions and well-being.'

The good news is that if you are a dedicated meditator, know that you are doing good for not only your mental health but your gut health too. And to support you in your meditation practice, here's a few of our top meditation props to benefit your mind and your microbiome...