Meditation Reduces Heart Disease Deaths

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Meditation Reduces Heart Disease Deaths

_http://www.naturalnews.com/027798_meditation_heart_disease.html_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/027798_meditation_heart_disease.html)

 

 

NaturalNews) The Medical College of Wisconsin in conjunction with

Maharishi University in Iowa funded a study about the effects of transcendental

meditation on health. Researchers discovered that over the course of nine

years, the group assigned to meditate saw a 47 percent reduction in strokes,

heart attacks and deaths.

 

 

Two groups of African-Americans were assigned either to meditate or to

make certain lifestyle changes. The group told to meditate was instructed to

do so twice a day for 20 minutes. The other group was given instruction on

traditional methods to reduce the risk of heart disease. After nine years,

20 incidences of stroke, heart attack, or death occurred in the meditation

group while 31 incidences occurred in the health education group.

 

 

Dr. Robert Schneider, lead author of the study and the director of the

Centre for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University, stated

that the meditation group experienced an overall reduction in blood pressure

as well as a significant reduction in psychological stress. Supporters of

transcendental meditation claim that the study proves the long-term positive

effects of the practice on those who participate in it.

 

 

Researchers noted, however, that among those in the health education

group, very few followed the instructions and made any sort of significant

changes in their lifestyles. Such lifestyle changes may have proven more

effective if group participants would have followed the instructions in the

same

way as those in the meditation group did. For this reason, the study does

not accurately capture the positive benefits of lifestyle changes apart from

meditation.

 

 

Because transcendental meditation involves spiritual practices that

conflict with the beliefs of various other faiths, some may wish to pursue

other

avenues of achieving better health and preventing the onset of heart

disease without violating their convictions.

 

 

CoQ10, omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs), vitamin C, B vitamins, and

vitamin D are a few of the many vitamins and nutrients that work to maintain

heart health. Blueberries are an excellent source of pterostilebene, a

compound identified by the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help prevent

heart disease and type-2 diabetes.

 

 

Resveratrol, another powerful antioxidant found in the skins of both

grapes and blueberries has received a lot of attention recently for its

powerful

effects in bolstering cardiovascular health. A Harvard Medical School

study showed that high doses of resveratrol given to obese mice allowed them to

live long, healthy lives despite eating diets high in fat.

 

 

Sources for this story include:

 

_http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8_ (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8)

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_http://www.healthylivingnyc.com/article/95_

(http://www.healthylivingnyc.com/article/95)