Mindfulness practice and metabolic syndrome

Abstract

The practice of mindfulness is defined by a state of consciousness in full attention, intentionally and without judgment, and has been used to reduce, prevent and treat various pathologies such as: reducing stress, anxiety, controlling appetite and improving do it. The association between mindfulness and metabolic syndrome has been a growing research topic. The search for research and articles correlating mindfulness and metabolic syndrome is a major challenge, as there are few publications on the subject and what has been published often does not follow specific research methodologies, making it difficult to assess its real impact on metabolic health. To create this summary, a survey was carried out using the descriptors “mindfulness” and “metabolic syndrome”, including articles regardless of publication data and excluding those that did not address “mindfulness” in the title or any other parameter related to metabolic syndrome. The articles selected were 3, 2 of which were randomized clinical cases and 1 was a systematic review. The mindfulness practice was based on three studies, however the intervention time, audience, adherence and frequency of practice were different. In two articles studied, a small reduction in blood pressure was found in individuals who adhered to the practice of mindfulness, but the research authors reported that there were no significant results that indicated beneficial biological effects on biomarkers of metabolic syndrome. One article addressed reduction in abdominal diseases, reductions in total cholesterol (10%) and especially LDL (15%) when compared to the control group, which is extremely positive as a meta-analysis reports that a 10% reduction in cholesterol total results in a 10 to 11% decrease in the risk of all-cause mortality and a 13 to 15% decrease in cardiovascular disease-related mortality (Gould, Rossouw, Santanello, Heyse, and Furberg, Cited 1998). Another review article addressed the reduction in glycated hemoglobin between 0.57-1.1 points that was not reported in the other two articles. Therefore, due to the fact that the same metabolic markers are not addressed in the three articles, as well as there is no consensus regarding intervention techniques, adherence and logistical aspects in implementing the action, we can still infer that there is no promissory evidence enough to associate real benefits with the practice of mindfulness and metabolic syndrome. Therefore, more research is possible to fully understand how its practice can improve metabolic syndrome and the mechanisms underlying these effects. Therefore, more research is needed with a more standardized/uniform methodology both in the intervention program and in measuring the metabolic effects of the intervention.