title: Loving-kindness meditation's effects on nitric oxide and perceived well-being: a pilot study in experienced and inexperienced meditators.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Meditation is associated with lower blood pressure, but little is known about how loving-kindness meditation affects nitric oxide (NO) metabolism, a key mediator of cardiovascular physiology associated with vasodilation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied seven inexperienced and five experienced healthy meditators at one study visit, after they refrained from eating nitrate-rich foods for at least 12h. Participants completed questionnaires on demographics and meditation practices. We measured nitrite and nitrate and self-reported stress at baseline, after a neutral reading period (prior to meditation), immediately after, and 10 min following a standardized 20-min loving-kindness meditation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 12 subjects had a mean age of 51 years, and two were male. Stress was significantly lower at baseline in the experienced group (15 vs. 49 on 100 point scale, P < .05) as was heart rate (HR) [68.1 ± 0.5 beats per minute (bpm) vs. 73.4 ± 0.7 bpm, P < .05]. Stress levels fell significantly with meditation (52 vs. 11, P < .05), while relaxation increased (55 vs. 89, P < .05) in the inexperienced group. Plasma nitrite levels were not significantly higher, but nitrate levels were more than twice as high (P < .05) for experienced vs. inexperienced meditators before and after loving-kindness meditation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Loving-kindness meditation is associated with stress reduction in inexperienced meditators. Experienced meditators had higher nitrate levels, trended toward having higher nitrite levels, and had significantly lower stress levels than inexperienced meditators. Nitric oxide metabolism may be involved in the cardiovascular effects of persistent meditation practice. Larger longitudinal studies would be fruitful to better understand the mechanisms involved.
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrative Health and Wellness, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 1581 Dodd Dr. 503 McCampbell Hall, Columbus, OH 43210; Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Electronic address: Kathi.kemper@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Kathi J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kemper
authors.affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC; Translational Science Center, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Christine Carlisle
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Helms
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC; Translational Science Center, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC.
authors.forename: Daniel B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Kim-Shapiro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008149:Love; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009566:Nitrates / Q000097:blood; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000097:blood*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012063:Relaxation; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D014664:Vasodilation
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D009569:Nitric Oxide
keywords: Compassion; cardiovascular; meditation; nitric oxide; relaxation