There is no scientific evidence to prove that chanting the ‘Vitthal, Vitthal’ mantra can prevent heart attacks - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 29, 2023
A post shared on social media claims that chanting the ‘Vitthala, Vitthala’ mantra can help prevent heart attacks. The post shared a video that mentioned a research study that confirmed a connection between the ‘Vitthala, Vitthala’ mantra and heart diseases. The video stated that the one-year research study confirmed that chanting the ‘Vitthala, Vitthala’ mantra for 9 minutes every day could prevent people from suffering from several heart diseases. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Chanting the ‘Vitthala, Vitthala’ mantra for 9-10 minutes every day can help prevent heart attacks.
Fact: According to a study conducted on 30 individuals by the ‘Asian Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine,’ chanting the ‘Vitthal, Vitthal’ mantra for 9 minutes daily over 10 days showed improvements in various health indicators, including blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate compared to baseline measurements. However, the research did not state that chanting the ‘Vitthal, Vitthal’ mantra can help prevent heart attacks. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
Upon searching for the details of the claims made in the post, we found a research study published by the ‘Asian Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine’ in 2014, regarding the effect of chanting the ‘Vitthal’ mantra on the heart.  The research study was conducted by various medical research institutes based in Pune. The clinical study was conducted on 30 healthy individuals over a period of 10 days. These 30 people were made to chant the ‘Vitthal, Vitthal’ mantra daily for 9 minutes.
Following a 10-day clinical observation, the research study indicated that the health metrics, including blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate, of the thirty individuals had shown improvement compared to their initial readings.
But this study nowhere stated that chanting the ‘Vitthal, Vitthal’ can help prevent heart attacks in people. Also, the research study provided a disclaimer in the conclusion stating- “The present exploratory study throws light on the relationship between chanting Vitthal and physiologic and energy profile of Heart. A large-scale clinical trial can be conducted in the future to explore the role of chanting Vitthal not only in Healthy Volunteers as well as cardiac patients.”
However, a few research studies stated that chanting the word ‘Om’ and a few other mantras can help to reduce stress and improve mental health. Some other studies say that meditation and music can improve heart health to some extent.
While there is no conclusive evidence that solely engaging in mantra chanting and meditation can entirely prevent heart diseases, the control of heart-related conditions can be partially achieved through practices such as consuming nutritious food, engaging in regular exercise, ensuring proper sleep, and avoiding stress and harmful addictions.
To sum it up, there is no conclusive scientific evidence to prove that chanting the ‘Vitthal, Vitthal’ mantra can help prevent heart attacks.