It’s one of the most popular hymns in the Christian songbook – but apparently the benefits of Amazing Grace are not purely spiritual.
For scientists have discovered that belting out the much-loved tune for ten minutes could reverse the effects of heart disease.
If your tastes are a little more poppy, then The Beatles’ classic Hey Jude also helps – but to a lesser extent.
US researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin studied the impact of singing a variety of different songs on the blood vessels of older people with heart disease.
The results showed those who regularly had a go at Amazing Grace, written by clergyman and poet John Newton in 1772, saw the biggest improvements in endothelial function – a measure of how healthy blood vessels around the heart are.
Hey Jude, which was released in 1968, triggered smaller improvements as did Dolly Parton’s 1976 smash hit Jolene.
However the US folk favourite This Land Is Your Land – recorded in 1940 by Woody Guthrie – made little difference.
Numerous studies have found singing is good for both physical and mental health.
But the Wisconsin team wanted to see if it had a measurable effect on those with heart disease.
They recruited 65 men and women – mostly in their 60s – who were being treated for heart troubles, or had previously suffered a heart attack.
They got them to sing each of the four songs – under the guidance of a singing coach – and measured changes in their blood flow as they did.
The rate at which blood circulates round the body can give vital clues to the health of the major blood vessels supplying the heart with oxygen-rich blood.
The results, published in the online medical journal medRxiv, showed 22 per cent of volunteers saw an improvement in blood flow when they sang Amazing Grace.
But only 10 per cent improved when they performed This Land is Your Land.
In a report on their findings scientists said the physical and emotional effort involved in singing the long-loved hymn might explain the benefits, compared to other less rousing tunes.
‘The physiological demands of singing are comparable with walking at a moderately brisk pace and we found that Amazing Grace had the largest effect size,’ they added.