The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles

by Bruce H. Lipton

Dr. Harold G. Koenig, Professor of Medicine at Duke University, reviewed over 600 of these research studies and concluded that people who hold more spiritual beliefs fare significantly better in mental health and adapt more quickly to health problems than those who are less spiritual. The benefits to mental health and well-being provided by spirituality have physiological consequences that impact physical health, reduce the risk of disease, and influence the healing outcomes of treatment. Spiritual beliefs have a direct, positive influence on the activity of the immune and endocrine systems that are critical for health maintenance and disease prevention. Spiritual patients exhibit significantly better indicators of immune functions, such as higher white blood cell counts and antibody levels and experience significantly lower infection rates. They also exhibit lower levels of adrenal stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine (secretions that directly repress the activity of the immune system) than nonspiritual patients. (Koenig 2012)