A claim you hear on longevity podcasts

Can 5 to 10 minutes of meditation a day reduce stress?

The claim checked: A daily 5 or 10 minute practice, such as meditation, can massively help reduce stress Hear it at 22:06

What do the studies say?

Leaning for

Four trials found meditation cut stress; six found smaller or narrower effects, and one pooled analysis found the effect nearly vanished after adjusting for unpublished studies.

Computed from 10 studies that test this point, each judged by two readers, in full. 6 more studies are waiting for a full read and do not count yet.

What was said on the podcast?

“can you think of a practice for maybe 5 or 10 minutes a day that will massively help you reduce your stress? I guess there are a couple of things I do each day that really help me stay on top of stress as I get older. Number one is I meditate every morning as soon as I wake up.”
Rangan Chatterjee · This Is How You Slowly Stop Being Yourself · 22:06 on YouTube
Comes up in 8 episodes of the show.
The point checked Leaning for

Everyone needs a daily stress-management practice; even 5-10 minutes a day can help a lot

Agree 4

controlled trial · 2025

“The perceived stress level in the mindfulness breathing meditation group reduced significantly at the post-intervention ( M diff = 9.00, SE = 1.72, p <.001) but not in the active control group ( M diff = 1.72, SE = 1.68, p =.31).”

Effects of mindfulness breathing meditation on stress and cognitive functions: a heart rate variability and eye-tracking study. Sci Rep
Who: Malaysian adults aged 18-34 (mostly university students, mostly meditation-naive) randomized to breathing meditation or active control (music)
PMID 41136540

controlled trial · 2025

“In this randomized clinical trial, a digital mindfulness meditation intervention reduced perceptions of stress, job strain, and burnout and improved work engagement, mindfulness, and general well-being among employees at a large academic medical center.”

Digital Meditation to Target Employee Stress: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open
Who: employees of the UCSF health system aged 18+ with at least mild-to-moderate perceived stress (PSS >=15) and no regular meditation practice
PMID 39808431

controlled trial · 2025

“Overall, we observed significant reductions for the Headspace group in subjective stress and perseverative cognitions by week 2 that persisted through the end of the intervention, significant increases in perceived coping by week 5 that persisted, but no changes in appraisals of stress events.”

App-based mindfulness meditation reduces stress in novice meditators: a randomized controlled trial of headspace using ecological momentary assessment. Ann Behav Med
Who: non-faculty staff employees of the University of California, Merced, aged 21-65, novice meditators
PMID 40257119

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controlled trial · 2022

“Results showed that the intervention was effective in decreasing perceived stress and enhancing self‐regulation, both with large effect sizes.”

App-based mindfulness meditation reduces perceived stress and improves self-regulation in working university students: A randomised controlled trial. Appl Psychol Health Well Being
Who: German part-time working university students (>=20 h/week work), mean age 24.75, 64.1% female, no daily mindfulness practice in prior 6 months
PMID 34962055

Partly agree 6

controlled trial · 2025

“Both long and short form of Yoga Nidra effectively reduced stress, anxiety, and depression, albeit with small effect sizes.”

The Effects of an Online Yoga Nidra Meditation on Subjective Well-Being and Diurnal Salivary Cortisol: A Randomised Controlled Trial. Stress Health
Who: 362 German-speaking adults recruited online (80.7% women, mean age 40.4, highly educated), baseline stress above a representative German sample
PMID 40373021

other primary study · 2026

“However, note that there was only weak inferential evidence for these estimated effects (i.e., 95% credible intervals all included zero).”

Evaluation of two easy-to-implement digital breathing interventions in the context of daily stress levels in a series of N-of-1 trials: results from the Anti-Stress Intervention Among Physicians (ASIP) study. NPJ Digit Med
Who: 76 physicians in residency in Germany (mean age ~35, 80% women), high baseline chronic stress, no regular meditation or breathing practice
PMID 41519953

pooled analysis · 2014 · landmark

“Clinicians should be aware that meditation programs can result in small to moderate reductions in multiple negative dimensions of psychological stress.”

Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Intern Med
Who: Adults with a clinical condition (psychiatric, medical or stressed populations) in RCTs with active controls
PMID 24395196

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pooled analysis · 2018

“However, when accounting for publication bias, the overall effect size of brief mindfulness training programs on negative affectivity was significantly reduced (g=.04).”

Brief mindfulness training for negative affectivity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Consult Clin Psychol
Who: Adults predominantly without meditation experience (64.64% female, mean age 24.62), mostly nonclinical students and community samples
PMID 29939051

controlled trial · 2015

“Results indicated an overall beneficial effect consisting of reduced stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and improved psychological well-being and sleep quality.”

Physical activity, mindfulness meditation, or heart rate variability biofeedback for stress reduction: a randomized controlled trial. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback
Who: 75 Dutch adults aged 18-40 with stress complaints (PSS >=17), mostly female and well-educated
PMID 26111942

controlled trial · 2016

“However, the effects of training are specific, with improvements limited to faster overall RT and reduced somatic symptoms.”

Attentional and affective consequences of technology supported mindfulness training: a randomised, active control, efficacy trial. BMC Psychol
Who: healthy community-dwelling adults in Toronto self-identifying as under moderate to high stress, no prior meditation experience (mean age ~33)
PMID 27894358

Disagree 0

None.

What else was said but not tested?

  • He meditates every morning and it helps him stay calm; meditation is his example, and it does not suit everyone
  • Journaling and an hour of no work before bed also help him

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