Improve your odds of not getting sick

For your immune system to keep you healthy, the white blood cells need to effectively engulf and kill bacterias and viruses. This process is called phagocytosis.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could improve the ability of your white blood cells to kill bacterias and viruses, in other words improve phagocytosis. If you could do it without taking any medication, that would be even better.

That was exactly what was investigated in the reviewed research(Fernandes CA, et.al.,2012).

Twenty-nine healthy individuals, both men and women, 24 to 67 years old, participated in the study. They received three hours of training, weekly, in meditation during the 10 weeks the study lasted. They also agreed to practice daily for 20 minutes at home. To evaluate the phagocytosis, the production of hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide by the monocytes(a type of white blood cell) was measured. Corticotrophin and cortisol, hormones released under stress, were also measured.

The measurements were done at the beginning of the study, halfway through, and at the end. The participants who meditated for more than 980 minutes showed an increase in phagocytosis. Their monocytes, a type of white blood cell, produced higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide. The level of corticotrophin hormone also went down.

By just using your mind, you can improve your body's ability to fight disease.

Fernandes CA¹, Nóbrega YK, Tosta CE. Pranic meditation affects phagocyte functions and hormonal levels of recent practitioners. J Altern Complement Med. 2012 Aug;18(8):761-8. doi: 10.1089/acm.2010.0718. Epub 2012 Jul 9.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.