Inflammation is your body's repair response. Cut your finger and inflammation rushes healing cells to the site. That's useful. But when inflammation becomes chronic — when your body's alarm system stays switched on permanently — it drives nearly every major disease: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's, depression, and autoimmune conditions.
The latest research says meditation can turn down that alarm.
The 2025 Evidence
A comprehensive meta-analysis published in 2025 examined 45 randomised controlled trials measuring inflammatory biomarkers before and after meditation interventions. The findings were clear:
C-Reactive Protein (CRP): Reduced significantly across studies. CRP is your body's general inflammation alarm — doctors test it to assess cardiovascular risk and autoimmune activity.
Interleukin-6 (IL-6): Consistently lower in meditation groups. IL-6 drives the chronic inflammation associated with aging (sometimes called 'inflammaging').
NF-κB expression: Reduced. NF-κB is the master switch for inflammatory gene expression. Meditation appears to downregulate it at the genetic level — meaning your cells literally produce fewer inflammatory molecules.
TNF-alpha: Showed reductions in studies of 8+ weeks duration. TNF-alpha is the specific inflammatory molecule targeted by expensive biologic drugs for RA and Crohn's disease.
How Meditation Reduces Inflammation
The pathway is increasingly well understood:
Chronic psychological stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers inflammatory cascades. Meditation activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which suppresses those same cascades. Additionally, meditation reduces cortisol (which when chronically elevated becomes pro-inflammatory), increases vagal tone (the vagus nerve is the body's primary anti-inflammatory pathway), and appears to change gene expression in immune cells.
This isn't a subtle effect. Some studies show inflammatory marker reductions comparable to low-dose anti-inflammatory medication.
Who Benefits Most
The anti-inflammatory effects appear strongest in people who need them most — those with elevated baseline inflammation. If your CRP is already low and you're healthy, meditation won't change your inflammation much (because there isn't much to change). But if you're dealing with chronic stress, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular risk factors, or chronic pain, the effects can be substantial.
The Practical Protocol
Based on the research: 15-20 minutes of daily mindfulness meditation for at least 8 weeks. Longer programmes show larger effects. Body scan and loving-kindness meditation have the strongest evidence for anti-inflammatory effects specifically.
Free options: Insight Timer has thousands of free guided meditations. YouTube has high-quality MBSR recordings. You don't need to spend money to get the benefits.
Related: Meditation for Autoimmune Disease and Meditation and the Immune System.
