The Placebo Effect Isn’t All in Your Head
When it comes to diets, pills, and potions, are the “benefits” all in your head or is it the real deal? As Christian Thoma points out, even if it is in your head, that may not be such a bad thing.
I often joke that dietary supplements worked so much better before I actually understood much about evaluating scientific evidence and started reading the actual research rather than someone’s interpretation/spin on it. You could say I now miss out on the placebo effect much of the time, but it wasn’t always this way.
Back when I was a student (the first time around), I spent what I could on the latest supplements. They did their job, at least enough to satisfy a skinny kid. Most of them are no longer on the market or at least they don’t top the charts or have the scientific credibility of, say, creatine. Maybe they had a small effect or maybe they didn’t. What matters is they provide a nice segue into a slightly broader understanding of the placebo effect.
The PLACEBO Effect
The placebo effect isn’t necessarily one single effect. You could be forgiven for thinking it’s all about the power of suggestion (i.e., believe and you will receive/self-deceive). It certainly wasn’t like that for me. I bought the supplements with what little cash I had and I was not going to let it go to waste. I used that as a motivator to train harder, eat better, and rest more. Had I known then what I know now, I would have saved that money and just eaten more while training a little less, and studying a lot harder, but that’s another story.
My point is that when you believe you are getting something out of it or are doing one good thing, it can also be a motivator, intended or not, for you to be more proactive in achieving your fitness or health goals by other means. It can make you more confident to try what you wouldn’t otherwise.
If it’s a drug, you may simply be less anxious and reap the benefits of that extra relaxation to lower your blood pressure. If it’s a supplement, maybe you’re now willing to accept that you can eat ‘that little’ and not suffer for it. Or you may be like I was and want to do everything right to make the most of what you’ve invested in. The placebo effects are many. It may not so much be in your head as in the actions or inactions surrounding your use of a drug, supplement, diet, or training program.
The NOCEBO Effect
Just as the placebo effect isn’t necessarily a case of positive thinking, it doesn’t necessarily have a positive outcome. In the research world, we also take note of the nocebo effect, which involves people expecting negative side-effects and getting them even when they were literally given an inactive placebo.
In fact, in some clinical drug trials volunteers are now being asked whether they think they’re on a placebo or the test drug to see if including a placebo is actually doing its job. It seems that side-effects, or lack thereof in the placebo group, can be a giveaway. This has even led to calls for placebos to contain substances that mimic the known side effects of the test drug. That’s a bit of an aside though, but the important thing to consider is that the placebo and nocebo effects probably go a long way to explaining why results from well-conducted studies where people genuinely don’t know and cannot reliably guess what they are receiving and a stack of even legitimate testimonials starkly disagree.
Take Home Message
Keeping the complexity of the placebo effect in mind will be to your advantage when evaluating a study claiming the use of a placebo control. And it will give you more objectivity when experimenting on yourself. The moral of the story is to always look a little deeper, especially when trying to figure out what worked, what didn’t, and why. The other moral is that it pays to do something you actually believe in, not because that will make it work, but it will make it more likely that you’ll pursue your chosen course with the dedication required to achieve the results you want.
Yours in health,
Christian Thoma BSc, MSc, ACSM-CES, PhD candidate
2 Responses to "The Placebo Effect Isn’t All in Your Head"
I notice that when I take the green tea supplement for fat loss, (abs) I always lose weight and my mid section looks much better. I do believe that there is some placebo effect going on here as I tend to eat less calories and focus on ab exercises during this time. In other words, I believe the product is working therefore I “act” like it is working, and so the product “works.”
Thank you for a good example Christallin. The green tea may or may not help a little. The change in diet almost certainly does, and the exercise focus probably supports the fat reduction. Whatever each action is contributing, you got the desired outcome. Well done putting in the all important effort.
Leave your response