Health & Fitness

The increased use of contraception in many countries is not because more women at any moment want to delay pregnancy or have no further children. Instead, it is because contraception is helping more women achieve their childbearing goals, according to a new study.

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Most research on immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 vaccine development has focused on antibody responses to the spike protein and other viral surface proteins. But antibodies that recognize the virus's internal proteins could also be important for immunity and disease outcomes, according to a new study.

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Researchers examined how heat impacts the behavior and physiology of Zebra finches. They discovered that heat altered the activity of hundreds of genes in the testis, but fewer in the brain, suggesting that the brain may be less responsive to extreme temperatures. The study also provided some hopeful insights for birds and their ability to handle the threat of climate change.

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By Dr. Mercola

If you think your birth control pill is the best pregnancy prevention tool there is, you may be surprised by new research looking into its failure rates.

Compared to other forms of protection, the Pill failed miserably, which only adds to the myriad of reasons why you should heavily question its use.

The Pill Fails 20 Times More Often

About 99 percent of sexually active women use at least one method of birth control, the most common of which is the birth control pill (oral contraceptives). The Pill was used by nearly 11 million U.S. women from 2006-2008.ⁱ

Meanwhile, nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended.ⁱⁱ Certainly not all of these are due to a birth control failure, but some of them -- estimates suggest about half -- undoubtedly are. Which brings me to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.ⁱⁱⁱ Out of the 7,500 women in the study, who used various forms of birth control including an intrauterine device (IUD), implant, birth control pills, patch, ring and contraceptive injection, 334 became pregnant, 156 of which were due to birth control failure.

The contraceptive failure rate among pills, patch or ring was 4.55 percent, compared to 0.27 percent among participants using reversible contraception such as intrauterine devices. The effectiveness—or non-effectiveness—was no different in adolescents or young women. The implications—that birth control pills are 20 times more likely to fail than IUDs—should give some women a pause to think about the method of contraception they want to use.

As for the varying degrees of effectiveness, the Pill must be taken daily, preferably around the same time for it to work its best. Study author Dr. Jeffrey Peipert, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, noted:^iv

"This study is the best evidence we have that long-acting reversible methods are far superior to the birth control pill, patch and ring. IUDs and implants are more effective because women can forget about them after clinicians put the devices in place ... If there were a drug for cancer, heart disease or diabetes that was 20 times more effective, we would recommend it first."

Hormone-Based Contraceptives Have Steep Risks

Unintended pregnancy is clearly a big one, but artificially manipulating your hormones using oral contraceptives, the patch or ring, or an injection like Depo-Provera is also a very risky proposition. Most birth control pills are a combination of the derivatives of the hormones estrogen and a synthetic progesterone(progestin). They work by disrupting the hormones in your body, essentially fooling your intricate hormonal reproductive system into producing the following effects:

• Preventing your ovaries from releasing eggs
• Thickening your cervical mucus to help block sperm from fertilizing an egg
• Thinning the lining of your uterus, which would make it difficult for an egg to implant, should it become fertilized

However, it is naive to believe that these are the only impacts the synthetic hormones are having. Your reproductive system does not exist in a bubble ... it is connected to all of your other bodily systems as well. The Pill, too, does not only influence your reproductive status; it's capable of altering much more.

Ten years ago, in 2002, one of the largest and best-designed federal studies of hormone replacement therapy was halted because women taking these synthetic hormones had a such a higher risk of breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and blood clots that continuing forward with the study would have been unethical. The news made headlines because millions of women were already taking these synthetic hormones, but fortunately it prompted many of them to quit. And what do you think happened a year after millions of women quit taking hormone replacement therapy? Incidents of breast cancer fell dramatically -- by 7 percent!

What does this have to do with the Pill? Birth control pills contain the SAME type of synthetic hormones -- estrogen and progestin -- that were used in the ill-fated study!

That's just one risk. Oral contraceptives have been linked to more than two dozen conditions, including heart disease, liver cancer, deep vein thrombosis and inflammatory bowel disease.^v Research suggests they are not only carcinogenic (cancer-causing) but also cardiotoxic (toxic to your heart) and endocrine disrupting.

Why I Advise Most Women to Stop Hormonal Contraceptives

Birth control pills are rarely, if ever, necessary or beneficial. In exchange for the convenience of preventing pregnancy (which you can do naturally perhaps even more effectively, and I'll explain how below), you are putting yourself at risk of a myriad of health issues.

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that several types of hormone-based birth control methods increased women's risk of heart attack and stroke.^vi The link was found between oral contraceptives as well as contraceptive patches and the vaginal ring. Women using the ring were found to have a 2.5 times greater risk of stroke compared to those not using hormonal contraceptives, whereas the other methods increased the risk to varying degrees.

Other known health risks of hormone-based birth control include:

Cancer: Women who take birth control pills increase their risk of cervical and breast cancers, and possibly liver cancer as well.	Fatal blood clots: All birth control pills increase your risk of blood clots and subsequent stroke.	Thinner bones: Women who take birth control pills have lower bone mineral density (BMD) than women who have never used oral contraceptives.	Impaired muscle gains: A study found that oral contraceptive use impairs muscle gains from resistance exercise training in women.vii
Long-term sexual dysfunction: The Pill may limit the availability and/or action of testosterone, leading to long-term sexual dysfunction, including decreased desire and arousal.	Heart disease: Long-term use of birth control pills may increase the buildup of arterial plaque, which may raise your risk of heart disease and cardiac mortality.viii	Migraines and nausea	Weight gain and mood changes
Irregular bleeding or spotting	Breast tenderness	Yeast overgrowth	Yeast infection

The other hormonal-based options are not much better. Birth control patches (Ortho Evra) have resulted in an avalanche of lawsuits over the past several years due to the overwhelming health problems women have experienced from using them. One of the reasons the patch is so risky is that you absorb up to 60 percent more synthetic estrogen than if you were taking an oral contraceptive. Side effects of the patch include:

Raised risk of heart attack and stroke	Irregular bleeding	Problems wearing contact lenses	Fluid retention or raised blood pressure
Nausea	Headache	Breast tenderness	Mood changes
Menstrual cramps	Abdominal pain	Skin irritation or rashes at site of patch

As far as injections like Depo-Provera, or depo medroxyprogesterone (DMPA), go, this synthetic analogue of natural progesterone known as a progestin interferes with hormone signaling to prevent your ovaries from releasing eggs. Progestins carry with them a vast array of negative side effects, including:

Side Effects of Depo-Provera
Weight gain Headaches Breast swelling and tenderness Decreased sexual desire Depression Bloating Swelling of the hands and feet Nervousness Abdominal cramps Dizziness Weakness of fatigue Leg cramps Nausea Vaginal discharge or irritation	Backache Insomnia Acne Pelvic pain Lack of hair growth or excessive hair loss Rashes Hot flashes Joint pain Convulsions Jaundice Urinary tract infections Allergic reactions Fainting Paralysis Osteoporosis	Lack of return to fertility Deep vein thrombosis Pulmonary embolus Breast and cervical cancers Abnormal menstrual bleeding Increased risk for STDs Unexpected breast milk production Changes in speech, coordination, or vision Swelling of face, ankles or feet Mood changes Unusual fatigue

Is an IUD a Better Option?

Intrauterine devices are small, plastic, T-shaped sticks with a string attached to the end. The IUD is placed inside the uterus and prevents pregnancy by rendering the sperm unable to fertilize an egg, and by changing the lining of the uterus so that it is less supportive for an embryo. It also works by releasing hormones into your body, specifically a progestin hormone called levonorgestrel, which is often used in birth control pills.

One of its major advantages, and what contributes to its increased effectiveness rate, is that it essentially eliminates the compliance failure issue as all you do is insert it once. There is no daily task to remember to do. However, it, too, carries significant risks, including some that are unique to a foreign body being placed inside your uterus. Among them:

• Pelvic infection: IUDs may lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, a serious infection
• The device may attach to or go through the wall of the uterus
• Pregnancy while using an IUD can be life threatening, and may result in loss of the pregnancy or fertility
• Ovarian cysts may occur
• Bleeding and spotting

Take Charge of Your Body Using Natural Birth Control Methods

You may not be aware that there are many effective and safe methods for preventing pregnancy. Some of the more common, barrier methods are:

• Male condoms: Condoms have a 98 percent effectiveness rate when used correctly. A water-based lubricant will increase the effectiveness; do not use an oil-based lubricant, however, as they break the latex and usually are petrochemical in origin.
• Female condoms: These thin, soft polyurethane pouches fitted inside the vagina before sex are 95 percent effective. Female condoms are less likely to tear than male condoms.
• Diaphragm: Diaphragms, which must be fitted by a doctor, act as a barrier to sperm. When used correctly with spermicidal jellies, they are 92 to 98 percent effective.
• Cervical cap: This heavy rubber cap fits tightly against the cervix and can be left in place for 48 hours. Like the diaphragm, a doctor must fit the cap. Proper fitting enhances the effectiveness above 91 percent.
• Cervical sponges: The sponge, made of polyurethane foam, is moistened with water and inserted into the vagina prior to sex. It works as a barrier between sperm and the cervix, both trapping and absorbing sperm and releasing a spermicide to kill them. It can be left in for up to 24 hours at a time. When used correctly, the sponge is about 89-91 percent effective.

Many people are familiar with these barrier methods, and less familiar with natural family planning (NFP) tools, which a woman uses to track when she is ovulating, and then avoid sex during that time (or does so only using a back-up barrier method). Many women feel empowered by NFP because it allows them to get in touch with their fertility cycle.

Some of the most popular methods include:

• Calendar Method: Abstention from sex during the week the woman is ovulating. This technique works best when a woman's menstrual cycle is very regular. The calendar method doesn't work very well for couples who use it by itself (about a 75 percent success rate), but it can be effective when combined with the temperature and mucus methods described below.
• The Temperature Method: This is a way to pinpoint the day of ovulation so that sex can be avoided for a few days before and after. It involves taking your basal body temperature (your temperature upon first waking) each morning with an accurate "basal" thermometer, and noting the rise in temperature that occurs after ovulation.
  
  Illness or lack of sleep can change your body temperature and make this method unreliable by itself, but when it is combined with the mucus method, it can be an accurate way of assessing fertility. The two methods combined can have a success rate as high as 98 percent.
• The Mucus Method: This involves tracking changes in the amount and texture of vaginal discharge, which reflect rising levels of estrogen in your body. For the first few days after your period, there is often no discharge, but there will be a cloudy, tacky mucus as estrogen starts to rise. When the discharge starts to increase in volume and becomes clear and stringy, ovulation is near. A return to the tacky, cloudy mucus or no discharge means that ovulation has passed.

I encourage you to become actively involved in fertility awareness, and embrace natural family planning or barrier methods that will not interfere with your hormones and health. Some excellent reading to get you started on this path include:

1. The Ovulation Method: Natural Family Planning, by John J. Billings
2. Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health, by Toni Weschler
3. Honoring Our Cycles: A Natural Family Planning Workbook, by Katie Singer

References:

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• ⁱ See All References

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The historic overturning of the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling by the United States Supreme Court has caused global upset, and has brought those who are pro-choice versus pro-life to a philosophical head. There could be practical implications closer to home for Australians, too. Here's how... 

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Research funded by the British Heart Foundation and presented to the British Cardiovascular Society showed how beets may reduce harmful inflammation in people who have coronary heart disease.¹

There's a lot to be said for this humble red root. Archaeological evidence shows that beets were a part of the diet dating back to the Third Dynasty and Greek records show beets were cultivated around 300 BC.² Originally, it was the beet greens that were prized as food and not the fibrous roots.³

Ancient Romans, Greeks and Italians believed that beats were an aphrodisiac.⁴ The roots were occasionally used for medicine but not consumed regularly until 1542. The plant is easy to grow and whether it's juiced, cooked, pickled or fermented, beets have a wide range of health benefits.

Although packed with nutrients, up to 8% of each beetroot is simple sugar,⁵ so people who struggle with insulin resistance should partake carefully. In 1747, a chemist discovered how to extract the sucrose from beets, leading to the development of the beet sugar industry, which uses fewer resources than sugarcane.⁶

Beetroot Juice May Protect Heart Health

Research presented at the British Cardiovascular Society conference in Manchester showed just one glass of beetroot juice each day could help reduce the harmful inflammation found in people who have coronary heart disease.⁷

According to the CDC,⁸ heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. and coronary heart disease is the most common type, killing 360,900 people in 2019. Nearly 20% of deaths from coronary artery disease occur in adults who are younger than 65 years.

The team engaged 114 healthy participants to test the theory that beetroot juice could help reduce inflammation in the endothelium and speed healing.⁹ They split the group in two. One group of 78 participants received a typhoid vaccine. This temporarily increased blood vessel inflammation. The researchers triggered a localized inflammatory response on the skin in the last 36 participants.

Half of each group drank 140 milliliters (approximately 5 ounces) of beetroot juice each morning that was high in nitrate while the other half drank the same amount of beetroot juice without nitrates. The researchers tested blood, urine and saliva for biomarkers of nitric oxide and found those who drank the nitrate-rich beetroot juice had higher levels.

In the group that received the typhoid vaccine, the researchers noted the endothelium function was restored, which is lost in the inflammatory response. They also found that those with blisters healed more quickly than those who drank beet juice without nitrates. The Guardian reported:¹⁰

“The researchers believe the increased levels of nitric oxide helped to speed up how quickly the volunteers were able to recover from inflammation by switching key immune cells from a state that promotes inflammation to a more anti-inflammatory state.”

Researchers from the Queen Mary University of London led the study. Dr. Asad Shabbir, clinical research fellow at the University, spoke with a reporter from The Guardian about the results.¹¹

“Inflammation is vital to protect the body from injury and infection. However, in people with coronary heart disease persistent inflammation can exacerbate the furring of the arteries, making their condition worse and increasing their risk of a heart attack. Our research suggests that a daily glass of beetroot juice could be one way to get inorganic nitrate into our diet to help to interrupt harmful inflammation.”

Watermelon is another summer delicacy that can raise nitric oxide production. However, watermelon is also high in net carbs and regularly consuming large amounts can likely worsen insulin resistance and increase your risk of heart disease.

One study¹² followed men in their mid-40s to mid-50s for more than 12 years and found the carotenoid antioxidant that gives watermelon^13,14 its pink color — lycopene — reduced the risk of stroke in the group Watermelon has a varied concentration of l-citrulline,¹⁵ which is a precursor of L-arginine and a substrate for a nitric oxide synthase in the production of nitric oxide.¹⁶

Another study¹⁷ showed that taking 2 grams of fresh garlic could increase plasma concentrations of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide has long been known as a potent vasodilator^18,19,20 that promotes healthy blood flow for efficient oxygenation of your tissues and organs. It also helps remove waste products and carbon dioxide.

By relaxing and dilating your blood vessels, nitric oxide improves blood flow and lowers blood pressure. In conventional medicine, nitrates are used to treat angina and congestive heart failure.²¹ Research shows a daily glass of beetroot juice could lower blood pressure.^22,23

Additionally, it improves your brain neuroplasticity by participating in the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and is required to activate BDNF receptors.²⁴ Beet juice increased tissue oxygenation, blood flow and brain neuroplasticity in a study²⁵ published in The Journals of Gerontology in a group of 26 middle-aged men and women diagnosed with high blood pressure.

Beets Improve Lung Efficiency and Athletic Performance

In this short video,²⁶ Dr. Michael Greger discusses the top 10 widely available natural sources of nitrates. He compares the number of milligrams (mg) of nitrates per 100 grams (g) of food and found beets barely made the top 10 having 110 mg per 100 g of beets. However, concentrated raw beet juice has 279 mg of nitrates. This puts it in the No. 3 position behind rhubarb with 281 and arugula with a whopping 480 milligrams of nitrates.

Past studies²⁷ have shown that nitrates can help improve muscle function, potentially by optimizing the way the muscle uses calcium. One animal study²⁸ split mice into two groups. The mice were 24 months old, which is equivalent to roughly 70 years in humans.

One group was given drinking water with sodium nitrate for 14 days and the other group was given plain water. At the end of 14 days, the researchers measured the isometric force and peak power of the diaphragm muscles and found that both measures were significantly increased in the mice that drank nitrates. This increase in force and power translates to improved contraction of the diaphragm muscle, which can improve lung function and breathing.

This may help the elderly clear their lungs more effectively, which in turn could reduce the risk of developing infections. Nitrates have also shown to help improve oxygen uptake by dilating the blood vessels. This improves the delivery of oxygen to muscles and other cells.

Improved oxygen delivery may be one factor in how nitrates can improve athletic performance. One literature review²⁹ looked at the effects that beetroot juice supplementation has on cardiorespiratory endurance in athletes. They selected 23 studies for analysis and found the results suggested beetroot juice improved cardiorespiratory endurance by increasing efficiency, and time to exhaustion at a submaximal intensity and may improve performance at the anaerobic threshold.

The researchers hypothesize that beet juice could moderate the exercise impairment "of hypoxia on cardiorespiratory endurance in athletes" and "it is possible that the effects of supplementation with beetroot juice can be undermined by interaction with other supplements such as caffeine."³⁰

Beetroot Packs a Powerful Nutrition Punch

In addition to nitrates, 100 g of beets has a mere 43 calories. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture,³¹ other nutrient values found in beets include:

Fiber 2.8 grams	Calcium 16 mg
Magnesium 23 mg	Potassium 325 mg
Folate 109 µg	Choline 6 mg
Vitamin A 33 IU

Beats also contain a phytonutrient called betalains. This compound gives them the reddish-purple cuddle color and helps reduce inflammation and fight cell damage in the body. According to one study,³² the antioxidant capacity of red beetroot is correlated with the betalain content.

Betalains³³ also have anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antihepatitis properties, and have demonstrated the ability to improve cognitive impairment. The phytonutrient has exhibited antimalarial and antimicrobial effects and studies have confirmed the phytonutrient can reduce glycemia without weight loss or liver impairment.

The phytonutrient responsible for the beet’s color can also add a red tinge to your bowel movements and urine.³⁴ Holistic nutritionist Joy McCarthy³⁵ suggests using it as a simple way to get a sense of how long it takes food to pass through your gastrointestinal system since the beets add a red hue to your bowel movements.

Beets are also high in oxalic acid. An overconsumption of foods high in oxalic acid can lead to the development of calcium oxalate kidney stones.³⁶ If you are predisposed to kidney stones or have calcium oxalate stones already, your doctor may recommend avoiding foods rich in oxalates.

These include dark green vegetables (especially spinach and Swiss chard), bran, rhubarb, beets and beet greens, chocolate, nuts (especially almonds, cashews and peanuts) and nut butters.^37,38 Increasing calcium in your diet may seem counterintuitive, seeing how calcium is the largest component of these stones.

However, the answer to this paradox is that high dietary calcium actually blocks a chemical action that causes the formation of the stones. Cleveland Clinic explains:³⁹

"Low amounts of calcium in your diet will increase your chances of forming calcium oxalate kidney stones ... [C]alcium binds oxalate in the intestines. A diet rich in calcium helps reduce the amount of oxalate being absorbed by your body, so stones are less likely to form."

More Foods With Cardioprotective Properties

Cruciferous vegetables also influence your heart health. These vegetables are widely recognized for their anticancer benefits, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussel sprouts. One study⁴⁰ examined the effects vegetable intake has on carotid artery measures, which are indicative of arterial health.

They found those who consumed the most cruciferous vegetables had healthier carotid arteries than those who consumed the fewest. Narrow hard arteries restrict blood flow and can lead to a heart attack and stroke. The researchers found that on average, those who had at least three servings of cruciferous vegetables each day had thinner (healthier) carotid arterial walls than those who ate two servings or less each day.

The fiber⁴¹ and healthy bacteria found in traditionally fermented and cultured foods can also benefit your heart. Probiotic-rich sauerkraut has been shown⁴² to reduce inflammation, promote good health, improve high blood pressure, reduce triglyceride levels and maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Each of these factors benefits your cardiovascular and heart health.

Magnesium is also profoundly important for heart health and many people are deficient. More than 300 enzymes rely on the magnesium for proper function, and it is needed for a host of biochemical processes.⁴³ The best way to get a healthy amount of magnesium is to ensure you're eating plenty of dark green leafy vegetables. Foods that are highest in magnesium include:⁴⁴

Spinach	Swiss Chard
Lima Beans	Acorn Squash
Artichokes	Kale
Green Peas	Okra

Finally, consider including onions in your nutrition plan. They are packed with quercetin⁴⁵ that helps combat inflammation and boost immune function.⁴⁶ One 2016 meta-analysis⁴⁷ found quercetin effectively lowered blood pressure at a dose of roughly 500 mg per day. Other studies have shown it helps reduce your risk of atherosclerosis.⁴⁸

The best way to maximize your health benefits is to eat a wide variety of vegetables daily. Make sure to include nitrate-rich leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, onions and some homemade sauerkraut.

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This article was previously published January 4, 2018, and has been updated with new information.

I believe meditation practice can be an important part of health and well-being. Meditation not only is a powerful means of relaxing, but also useful for addressing anxiety, managing pain, preventing disease and relieving stress.

Meditation Reduces Your Risk of Heart Disease and More

There is growing evidence demonstrating your mind and body are intricately connected, and wide acceptance that whatever is going on in your mind has some bearing on your physical health. Brain imaging has shown meditation alters your brain in beneficial ways, and scientists have identified thousands of genes that appear to be directly influenced by your subjective mental state. The mind-body connection is real, and what you think does affect your health.

In fact, research¹ suggests a persistent negative state of mind is a risk factor for heart disease. Conversely, happiness, optimism, life satisfaction and other positive psychological states are associated with a lower risk of heart disease.

The study authors said:² “[The] findings suggest that positive psychological well-being protects consistently against cardiovascular disease, independently of traditional risk factors and ill-being. Specifically, optimism is most robustly associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular events.”

While some people appear to be born with a sunnier disposition than others, meditation has been shown to boost optimism and help regulate mood. Meditative practices have also been shown to help optimize your LDL cholesterol and lower your:³

• Blood pressure
• Cortisol
• Heart rate

Such findings are consistent with a downregulation of your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system, both of which are overactivated by stress. Stress is also a well-known risk factor for heart disease, making meditation all the more important. In addition to promoting heart health, meditation:⁴

Boosts emotional health and well-being	Encourages self-awareness
Helps fight addictions	Improves sleep
Increases feelings of compassion and kindness	Lengthens attention span
Lessens anxiety and depression	Manages pain
Promotes concentration and memory	Reduces stress

Your Brain Benefits From Meditation

Meditation can be considered a form of “mental exercise” for your brain. The goal is to continually draw your attention to your breath to the exclusion of everything else. Whenever your mind wanders, you seek to gently bring it back to your breath. According to Forbes.com, meditation helps us connect with and leverage our minds:⁵

“Through meditation, we get better acquainted with the behavior of our minds, and we enhance our ability to regulate our experience of our environment, rather than letting our environment dictate how we experience life.

With recent neuroscientific findings, meditation as a practice has been shown to literally rewire brain circuits that boost both mind and body health. These benefits of meditation have surfaced alongside the revelation that the brain can be deeply transformed through experience — a quality known as ‘neuroplasticity.’”

Indeed, neuroplasticity allows the nerve cells in your brain to adjust to new situations and changes in their environment. The short-term effects of meditation include enhancing attention, inhibiting inflammation, lowering blood pressure and reducing stress.

Long-term meditation benefits, reaped over time with consistent practice, include enhanced empathy and kindness, greater emotional resilience and increased gray matter in brain regions related to memory and emotional processing. As noted in one of the largest studies⁶ to date on meditation and the human brain, different types of meditation produce different changes to your brain.

Neuroscience researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences conducted a meditation program through which 300 participants were examined with respect to three different types of meditation, for three months each.

Brain scans performed after each three-month program showed more gray matter in regions of the brain involved in each type of meditation, as compared to scans from the control group. The focal point for each type of meditation and the brain changes elicited were as follows:^7,8

Type of Meditation	Meditation Focused On	Brain Region Showing Increased Gray Matter
ATTENTION (MINDFULNESS)	Mindful attention to breath and body	Prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes, both of which are linked to attention control
COMPASSION	Emotional connections established through loving-kindness meditations and partner-based problem-sharing sessions	Limbic system, which processes emotions, and anterior insula, which assists in bringing emotions into conscious awareness
COGNITIVE SKILLS	Thinking about issues from different perspectives through both partner activities and individual meditation	Regions involved in theory of mind, which helps attribute thoughts, desires and intentions to others as a means of predicting or explaining their actions

The study authors suggested additional research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of meditation training for individuals suffering from social cognition deficits, such as those related to autism or psychopathy. Other areas of potential future work include meditation-related training to increase cooperation and well-being in corporate settings and social intelligence in children. About the current outcomes, the study authors stated:⁹

“[O]ur findings of structural plasticity in healthy adults in faculties relevant to social intelligence and social interactions suggest that the type of mental training matters.

Depending on whether participants’ daily [meditation] practice focused on cultivating socio-emotional capacities (compassion and prosocial motivation) or socio-cognitive skills (putting oneself into the shoes of another person), gray matter increased selectively in areas supporting these functions. Our findings suggest a potential biological basis for how mindfulness and different aspects of social intelligence could be nurtured.”

Reduce and Manage Stress With Meditation

Stress is one of the biggest challenges facing U.S. adults, with many reporting the negative impact stress has on their mental and physical health. The American Psychological Association’s 2015 Stress in America survey revealed a sizable portion of adults did not feel they were doing enough to manage their stress.¹⁰ Nearly half of Americans said they engage in stress management activities just a few times a month or less, while 18% said they never do.

Nearly 40% reported overeating or eating unhealthy foods as a result of stress, while 46% said they lie awake at night due to high stress levels. In October 2021, the APA reported new findings after more than two years under the pandemic. In that report:¹¹

• 32% said sometimes they are so stressed about the coronavirus pandemic that they struggle to make even basic decisions, such as what to wear or eat
• 48% of millennials said they were particularly affected in this way
• 63% of all respondents said that uncertainty about what the next few months will be like causes them stress
• 49% said the pandemic makes planning for their future feel impossible
• 45% of Gen Z adults and 50% of millennials said they do not know how to manage the stress they feel due to the pandemic

Given the extent of stress and its far-reaching effects, meditation is a simple technique you can practice anytime, anywhere to alleviate stress. If you are not sure where to begin, gratitude can be a great focal point for lower stress.

Simply reflecting on things for which you can be thankful (versus what is irritating or lacking) can do wonders to energize your mood and ratchet down your stress levels. One type of meditation easily applied to virtually any activity is called "mindfulness,” which involves paying attention to the moment you're in right now.

Rather than letting your mind wander, you actively choose to live in the current moment, while letting distracting thoughts pass through your mind without getting caught up in them.

You can incorporate mindfulness into virtually any aspect of your day — eating, doing household chores, driving or working — simply by reining in your mind and paying attention to the sensations you are experiencing in the present moment. In a 2017 study,¹² 70 adults with generalized anxiety disorder who completed a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) class fared better when facing stressful situations than those who were trained in stress-management techniques alone.

In the MBSR class, participants learned elements of mindfulness meditation, including paying attention to the present moment, as well as gentle yoga and body scan meditation. The MBSR group reported meditation helps reduce stress. Notably, their physical measures of stress were also lower, including the stress hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) and proinflammatory cytokines, which are markers of inflammation.

Essential Oils Are a Wonderful Accompaniment to Meditation

Essential oils can enhance your meditation experience by promoting relaxation, peacefulness and mental clarity. If you have trouble calming your mind when meditating, try incorporating essential oils, which have even been shown to help attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). You can use essential oils during meditation by:

• Diffusing oils into the air — When essential oils are diffused into the air through an essential oil diffuser, they help stimulate your senses and promote relaxation during meditation.
• Applying oils directly to your skin — Apply essential oils to pulse points and the bottoms of your feet, or your wrists for self-directed inhalation as you meditate. You can also apply a drop or two of essential oil to any bodily area that becomes a distraction during meditation.

When you inhale the fragrance of an essential oil, the aroma penetrates your bloodstream via your lungs. This is thought to be one of the mechanisms by which aromatherapy exerts its physiological effects. The fragrance affects your brain’s limbic system, which controls both memories and emotions.

While it would be difficult to state all of their benefits for meditation, essential oils have shown particular promise in alleviating stress, boosting your energy, enhancing your sleep, improving your memory, reducing nausea and pain and stabilizing your mood.

Many essential oils have antibacterial, antifungal and/or antiviral qualities and, unlike antibiotics, they do not promote resistance.¹³ Essential oils are a great way to enhance your meditation experience,¹⁴ and you will receive maximum benefits if you use 100% pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils derived from the highest quality ingredients. 

Bergamot, lavender, lemon, peppermint, pine, vetiver and ylang ylang have been shown to be effective in reducing stress, while clary sage, lavender, orange, Roman chamomile and sandalwood are a few of the oils used to soothe anxiety.¹⁵

Seven Tips for Leveraging Your Mind-Body Connection

According to The Chopra Center, those who practice mind-body medicine recognize the interconnection of all things — your mind, body and surrounding environment. As such, every breath puts you in harmony, or sets you at odds, with whatever is going on in and around you. That said, health is best defined as a state of optimal well-being, wholeness and vitality, not simply the absence of disease. About the mind-body connection, the editors at Chopra.com suggest:¹⁶

“Since the body and mind are inextricably connected, every time [you] have a thought, [you] set off a cascade of cellular reactions in [y]our nervous system that influence all the molecules in [y]our body.

[Yo]ur cells are constantly observing [y]our thoughts and being changed by them … [You] have amazing potential to heal and transform [yourself] through [y]our thoughts, perceptions, and choices. The body is a magnificent network of intelligence, capable of far more than current medical science can explain.”

The following tips will help you maintain a healthy balance of dialogue between your mind and your body. When your thoughts and physical nature are in harmony, you are more likely to listen to your body, treat it well and make choices that support your well-being. To cultivate your personal mind-body connection, each day you may want to:¹⁷

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