Vacuuming Boosts Health

The placebo effect strikes again. A new studyThis question is going to become very relevant in
shows the power of believing that your everydaya few short years. Genotyping studies, which I
routines can help your health.have discussed in the past, will soon allow people
Copyright (c) 2007 The Brain Code LLCto get all their genes analyzed and determine
If you have a career that requires some physicalwhat diseases they are at risk for so that they
labor, realize that you are getting some exercisecan take measure to minimize the chances of
and feel good about that. A new study showsdeveloping them.
that understanding the exercise benefits of yourIn fact, just this week, such a genotyping study
daily routine makes them even better.identified four new genes that put women at
Housework is Exerciseincreased risk for breast cancer. These types of
Researchers did a little experiment with somestudies are growing at an accelerated pace with
hotel housekeepers. They told somethe advent of recent technologies.
housekeepers about the exercise benefits of theirSome people will look at increased odds of
job and gave them specific examples. After all,developing a disease very stressfully, and with the
changing sheets, vacuuming, cleaning floors, etc.negative placebo effect, actually increase their
can be quite a workout. A second group of hotelchances of getting sick. Others will interpret the
housekeepers were not informed about theirinformation as gaining control and use the positive
professions physical activity benefits.placebo effect to increase their odds of health.
After about 10 weeks, the researchers evaluatedWe must understand that our attitudes have a
the physical health of the study participants.big impact on our outcomes. I'm talking about
Those that were informed about exercisehealth and the placebo effect in this context but
benefits had small but real improvements in bodyyou can apply that truth to many areas of your
weight, BMI and blood pressure. This is differentlife.
spin on the placebo effect — believing thatFocus on the Positive
something his helping actually makes it help more.The take away point is to focus on your health
The Power of the Placebo Effectsuccesses and the good you are doing. Focus on
Many studies before have demonstrated thehow much you do eat and sleep well and get
power, positive and negative, of the placebosome good physical activity and use the placebo
effect. For example, subjects exposed to fakeeffect to your advantage. Try to minimize the
poison ivy develop real rashes (negative effect)small setbacks but don't stress about them too
and subjects given fake knee surgeries reportmuch and allow the negative placebo effect work
improvements in pain and have less swellingagainst you.
(positive effect). Data suggests that somewhereThe other important point is to find health habits
between 60-90% of all drug therapies rely, atthat you enjoy so that you can boost the
least partly, on the placebo effect.positive effects even more. Don't try and stick to
I know that some of you are thinking, ‘Whya health routine that you dislike. Enroll in a Yoga or
not just believe that watching TV while eatingTai Chi Class if you can't stand the typical gym
cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes are good forstyle work out. Experiment with different foods
your health?' Well, lying to yourself is not the pointuntil you find some healthy choices you enjoy.
but if you can truly convince yourself of that,Don't force yourself to eat broccoli if you really
maybe you'll minimize the damage.don't like it.
It all boils down to the power of your own beliefsThe more you work on finding an enjoyable
to control your biology. Are you a ‘glass halfhealthy lifestyle the more positive emotions you
empty' or a ‘glass half full' person?create around that lifestyle and the better the
Reacting to Informationbenefit.