Researchers divided 200 adults with heart disease into two groups: One group was taught to meditate for 20 minutes twice a day; the other group was encouraged to spend a similar amount of time exercising and preparing healthy meals. After nearly a decade, researchers found that those who had meditated for the recommended time had reduced their risk of heart attack and stroke by 66 percent compared with those who hadn’t. The risk for those who meditated only eight times per week dropped by nearly 50 percent. The meditators also reduced their blood pressure and reported feeling better able to control their anger. “What this is saying is that mind-body interventions can have an effect as big as conventional medications,” study author Robert Schneider, director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, tells WebMD.com. Indeed, previous studies have shown that “meditation can do a whole host of positive things: reduce anger and stress, encourage happiness,” says cardiologist Michael Shapiro. But, he adds, researchers still “don’t know how it works.”
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