Placebo Weight Loss (and a Long Life)!
Placebo Weight Loss (and a Long Life)!
It seems you can actually think yourself thin, as well as keep yourself alive...
Haven’t posted lately since I’m working on my FLCCC presentation and it’s taking way longer than I expected. But during my research I came across this amazing study that blew my mind. Already posted to Twitter, but many here don’t follow me there, so am reposting to Substack with some minor edits.
When hotel room attendants were simply told how much exercise they do on a daily basis they lost half a pound a week, lowered their SBP by 10 pts, and reduced their waist to hip ratio - all without changing anything in their daily activities, diet, etc.
They perceived themselves as exercising more after being told their activities met the definition of exercise and they were already exercising as much or more than is recommended by the Surgeon General.
This study by Crum and Langer (2007) from Harvard shows that there is likely a powerful nocebo effect present in most people that prevents them from experiencing the full benefits of the regular physical activity they are already doing, that they don't perceive as beneficial "exercise".
I've myself told people (my wife) they should start "exercising" because day to day activities like housework aren't enough exercise.
Not to say additional exercise isn't beneficial, but the way it's presented shouldn't minimize the benefits of existing activities.
Rather what we already do should be fully appreciated in order to get its full benefits.
Same likely applies to other areas of lifestyle like diet, "meditation", sleep, etc.
Our perception trumps reality. Biology bows to belief.
A study by Kaplan and Camacho (1983) showed that perceived health was a better predictor of mortality than actual health.
This reminds me of all the patients I have who are just like this one:
Another study by Idler and Kasl (1991) showed that elderly people who perceived their health as poor were 6X more likely to die than those who perceived their health as excellent, regardless of their actual health status.
What does this knowledge imply for recovery from chronic illnesses like Long Haul & Vax injury?
Let me know what you think below.
"perceived health was a better predictor of mortality than actual health. "
I find this statement nonsensical. Perceived health is closer to the reality of one's health than whatever process was used to determine "actual health". If you feel vital, energetic, lucid, and fully alive you perceive yourself as healthy, and you can't be in failing health (except for rare instances like an aneurysm about to burst). I can only presume "actual health" in the above statement must be determined by test results, like blood panel, BMI, etc. If your test results indicate health but you feel like crap, the tests are, obviously, missing something crucial.
The whole thing reminds me of several years ago when we got a call from a local clinic trying to schedule my wife and I for physicals. We're vigilant about our health, but avoid the system like the plague it is. So, I declined and told her we're healthy and don't need their services. She replied "you're not healthy unless the doctor checks you out and says you are". I think she was so stupid she actually believed that. What are the chances she's a Biden voter and jab pusher? - 100%. This seems to be the mindset of many in the medical system.
Mind over matter. Some call it creative visualization. There is a great little book by Shakti Gawain about it.