> Although the findings are deeply fascinating the researchers do indicate they need to be interpreted with caution. The cohort of subjects is incredibly small, and while the researchers did try to match the control group as closely as possible to the monks the findings cannot directly conclude the microbiome differences detected are solely caused by meditation.
And monks rely on donated, seasonal food, which they consume slowly and with great care. For many monks, this means a diet that primarily consists of beans, lentils, vegetables and the occasional fruit or meat.
Their lifestyles are so different compared to most people living in cities, that it's not surprising that they would exhibit physical differences compared to non-monks.
Next thing we’ll be told is eating less reduces weight gain. This kind of research only dazzles because it takes something obvious and reduces it to biobabble. Do we really need research to tell us that very low stress lifestyles that are low in processed foods affect our physiology/gut?
There are two kinds of things you can read: signal and noise. This is pure noise
Don't monks typically share the same diet inside the monestary? Could that be the actual cause?
Seems like they would want to test someone who meditates all day then eats a big cheeseburger. Something tells me that may have a bigger impact on gut biome than the meditation itself.
I’m going to have to raise my skeptic’s eyebrow here.
This is an extraordinary claim and therefore requires extraordinary evidence. I’d want to dig into the control groups before I made the leap that’s it’s meditation based.
Microbiome is largely a function of place + diet. There’s no known mechanism whereby meditation would influence it. If they’re proposing such a thing they better damn well eliminate all the known causes.
