Explaining Why Meditators May Live LongerBy Maia Szalavitz @maiaszDec. 23, 20100Read LaterJuzant via Getty ImagesEmail PrintShare Comment Follow @TIMEHealth(Updated) The image of the ancient but youthful-looking sage meditating on a mountaintop might be closer to reality than you think, according to a newstudy that found that after a three-month stay at a meditation retreat, people showed higher levels of an enzyme associated with longevity.The study is preliminary and didnt show that meditation actually extends life, but the findings suggest a possible means by which it could.Researchers led by Tonya Jacobs of the University of California-Davis compared 30 participants at a meditation retreat held at the Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado with matched controls on a waiting list for the retreat. Participants meditated six hours per day for three months. Their meditation centered on mindfulness for instance, focusing solely on breathing, in the moment and on lovingkindness and enhancing compassion towards others. (More on Time.com: Empathy Beats Bullies)After the three-month intervention, researchers found that the meditators had on average about 30% more activity of the enzyme telomerase than the controls did. Telomerase is responsible for repairing telomeres, the structures located on the ends chromosomes, which, like the plastic aglets at the tips of shoelaces, prevent the chromosome from unraveling. Each time a cell reproduces, its telomeres become shorter and less effective at protecting the chromosome this, researchers believe, is a cause of aging. As the chromosome becomes more and more vulnerable, cell copying becomes sloppier and eventually stops when the telomeres disintegrate completely. Telomerase can mitigate and possibly stop cell aging.Something about being on a retreat for three months changed the [amount of] telomerase in the retreat group, says Elizabeth Blackburn, a study author who has won a Nobel Prize for her previous work on telomerase. We didnt prove that it was meditation [that caused the change]. A lot of things happened during the retreat. But the interesting thing was that the changes we saw tracked quantifiably with the change in peoples psychological well-being and outlook. (More on Time.com: Can Meditation Ease Pain?)In other words, people with higher levels of telomerase also showed more increases in psychological improvement. In retreat participants who showed no psychological change, telomerase levels were not any higher than in controls. (Researchers were unable to compare telomerase levels in the groups both before and after the retreat for logistical reasons.)Its a very good study with interesting results in terms of health implications, says Alan Marlatt, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington who has studied meditation for decades but was not associated with this research.Of course, the relationship between health and telomerase is complex. In a recent study in mice by Harvard researchers, they found that boosting levels of telomerase reversed signs of aging, restoring graying fur and fertility, increasing brain size and sharpening scent perception. Too much telomerase activity can also be a problem, however. A cell that reproduces endlessly sounds like a good thing at first that cell would be immortal. But this is exactly what happens with cancer cells infinite replication. If telomerase levels