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A MATTER OF THE HEART A NEW STUDY SHOWS BLACK AMERICANS WHO PRAY HAVE HEALTHIER HEARTS.
BY D. SHENELL REED
58 ONYX MAGAZINE
hristmas. ‘Tis the season when more believers flock to church and pray for miracles. But a new study shows the practices of prayer and church going should span beyond the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic discovered that Black Americans who have a steady pattern of spiritual and religious activities are more likely to have healthier hearts. The “Journal of the American Heart Association” published the results in August 2022. With analyzed data from nearly 3,000 participants, the study found that those who claim to have regular religious or spiritual habits were more likely to score higher on the American Heart Association Life’s Simple 7 metric. Life’s Simple 7 shows a quick view of someone’s overall heart health using determinants like blood pressure, cholesterol level, body mass index, cigarette smoking, diet, exercise, and fasting plasma glucose, which measures blood sugar and can help diagnose diabetes. The metric showed that Black Americans who participate in church and like activities had “intermediate or ideal” levels of heart health. The “religious” scale researchers used considers the frequency of church atten-
