Vacuuming Boosts Health ? If you Believe It

Vacuuming Boosts Health ? If you Believe It
If you have a career that requires some physical labor,
realize that you are getting some exercise and feel good
about that. A new study shows that understanding the
exercise benefits of your daily routine makes them even
better.

Housework is Exercise

Researchers did a little experiment with some hotel
housekeepers. They told some housekeepers about the
exercise benefits of their job and gave them specific
examples. After all, changing sheets, vacuuming, cleaning
floors, etc. can be quite a workout. A second group of
hotel housekeepers were not informed about their
professions physical activity benefits.

After about 10 weeks, the researchers evaluated the
physical health of the study participants. Those that were
informed about exercise benefits had small but real
improvements in body weight, BMI and blood pressure. This
is different spin on the placebo effect ? believing that
something his helping actually makes it help more.

The Power of the Placebo Effect

Many studies before have demonstrated the power, positive
and negative, of the placebo effect. For example, subjects
exposed to fake poison ivy develop real rashes (negative
effect) and subjects given fake knee surgeries report
improvements in pain and have less swelling (positive
effect). Data suggests that somewhere between 60-90% of all
drug therapies rely, at least partly, on the placebo effect.

I know that some of you are thinking, ?Why not just believe
that watching TV while eating cheeseburgers and chocolate
shakes are good for your health?' Well, lying to yourself
is not the point but if you can truly convince yourself of
that, maybe you'll minimize the damage.

It all boils down to the power of your own beliefs to
control your biology. Are you a ?glass half empty' or a
?glass half full' person?

Reacting to Information

This question is going to become very relevant in a few
short years. Genotyping studies, which I have discussed in
the past, will soon allow people to get all their genes
analyzed and determine what diseases they are at risk for
so that they can take measure to minimize the chances of
developing them.

In fact, just this week, such a genotyping study identified
four new genes that put women at increased risk for breast
cancer. These types of studies are growing at an
accelerated pace with the advent of recent technologies.

Some people will look at increased odds of developing a
disease very stressfully, and with the negative placebo
effect, actually increase their chances of getting sick.
Others will interpret the information as gaining control
and use the positive placebo effect to increase their odds
of health.

We must understand that our attitudes have a big impact on
our outcomes. I'm talking about health and the placebo
effect in this context but you can apply that truth to many
areas of your life.

Focus on the Positive

The take away point is to focus on your health successes
and the good you are doing. Focus on how much you do eat
and sleep well and get some good physical activity and use
the placebo effect to your advantage. Try to minimize the
small setbacks but don't stress about them too much and
allow the negative placebo effect work against you.

The other important point is to find health habits that you
enjoy so that you can boost the positive effects even more.
Don't try and stick to a health routine that you dislike.
Enroll in a Yoga or Tai Chi Class if you can't stand the
typical gym style work out. Experiment with different foods
until you find some healthy choices you enjoy. Don't force
yourself to eat broccoli if you really don't like it.

The more you work on finding an enjoyable healthy lifestyle
the more positive emotions you create around that lifestyle
and the better the benefit.

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