Sudarshan Kriya practitioners exhibit better antioxidant status and lower blood lactate levels
Introduction
Oxygen is both essential and harmful to life. During biological oxidation 4–5% percent of oxygen consumed in respiration is not reduced to water but instead forms free radicals (Halliwell, 1991). Though oxygen is the most critical nutrient of life, it is also the source of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as hydroxyl ions, superoxide anions and hydrogen peroxide. Oxidative stress is an internal damage caused by ROS. The human body is constantly under the attack of ROS either generated during the normal metabolic process in the cells or by external agents such as radiation, ultraviolet light, cigarette smoke, environmental pollutants like asbestos, pesticides, etc. (Halliwell, 1991, Raij et al., 2001).
An antioxidant is a substance that scavenges ROS. The body is equipped with antioxidant defence in the form of glutathione and antioxidant enzymes i.e. superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase. The problem arises when the level of ROS increases so much that the body antioxidant defence mechanism is not able to counteract the ROS. ROS/ free radicals can damage cellular functions and cause peroxidation of lipids in the cellular membrane (Murin et al., 2001, Fujita, 2002, Logani and Davies, 1980). Free radicals are chemical species that possess one or more unpaired electrons, are thus highly unstable and to attain stability, try to gain electrons from other adjoining molecules, and in turn convert them to unstable free radicals. This starts a cascade/chain reaction, leading to more production of free radicals causing more damage to lipids, proteins and DNA in the cells.
There is increasing body of evidence (Scarpellini et al., 1994, Adachi et al., 1993) that chronic psychosocial stress may increase oxidative stress. The hypotheses that free radical mediated oxidation (i.e. oxidative stress) may contribute to the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease (CHD), other chronic diseases (e.g. cancer and rheumatoid arthritis) (Sorescu et al., 2002, Penckofer et al., 2002, Cavalca et al., 2001) and the aging process have gained increased acceptance (Wickens, 2001). Thus, psychosocial stress may contribute to the etiology of CHD, other chronic diseases and aging through free radical mechanisms (Schneider et al., 1998, Bland, 1998).
Previous studies report decline in blood lactate during transcendental meditation (TM) possibly due to increased cardiac output and redistribution of circulation resulting in increased muscle perfusion (Jevning et al., 1992, Jevning et al., 1978). Other postulated mechanisms suggest decrease in blood lactate due to changes in erythrocyte metabolism. Rapid decrease of whole blood and red cell glycolytic rate has been reported during TM, with slight increase accompanying rest. Since the red cell contributes a major proportion of total blood lactate content in men, it was concluded in these reports that decreased red cell glycolysis probably accounts for TM induced decreased blood lactate (Jevning et al., 1983, Jevning et al., 1985).
Sudarshan Kriya (SK) is a breathing technique introduced by Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji and involves breathing in three different rhythms. It is preceded by Ujjayi Pranayam (long and deep breaths with constriction at the base of throat) and Bhastrika (fast and forceful breaths through nose along with arm movements) (Fig. 1) (Janakiramaiah et al., 2000).
There are reports to suggest that stress reduction with the TM program reduces psychosocial stress (Alexander et al., 1994). However, to date, the effects of stress reduction with such stress management techniques on oxidative stress has not been extensively investigated. Therefore, we conducted an initial exploratory study to evaluate antioxidant levels and blood lactate in practitioners of SK as compared to non-practitioners of SK.
Section snippets
Study group
The 24 subjects were normal healthy males from Police Training College (PTC), Delhi, India. PTC recruits were chosen for this study because they were residing in similar living conditions and also because of the similarity in their anthropometric measurements, demographic and life style characteristics and ate a similar diet. Twenty-four individuals from this college were randomly taken for the study after obtaining the voluntary consent. Out of these 24, 10 were taken for the experimental
Long term effects of SK on blood lactate, glutathione, catalase and SOD
The basal levels of glutathione were found to be significantly higher (t=6.968, P=2.038e−06) in practitioners (285.3±35.99 nmoles/mg protein) of SK as compared to non-practitioners (68.2±6.7 nmoles/mg protein) (Fig. 2). Similar findings were obtained for the antioxidant enzymes i.e. catalase and SOD. The basal level of catalase was found to be 1.729±0.178 units/mg protein/min in practitioners whereas it was lower (t=3.651, P=0.0016) in non-practitioners (1.14±0.05 units/mg protein/min) (Fig. 3
Discussion
There is growing evidence to suggest that oxidative stress or free radicals/ROS induce DNA damage and contribute to the patho-physiology of atherosclerosis, CHD and other chronic diseases associated with aging such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis and cataract (Schneider et al., 1998). Many factors can contribute to the levels of oxidative DNA damage in cells (Adachi et al., 1993). Each individual is exposed to oxidants; with interindividual variation in antioxidant defenses, and DNA repair
Acknowledgements
This work was inspired by Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji and was carried out in collaboration with Ved Vignan Mahavidyapeeth, Bangalore, India. This work was funded by Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) and we are grateful to the Art of Living, Delhi Chapter who helped in the organization of the study, and the Delhi Police Training College volunteers for providing their blood samples.
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