This Huberman Lab Podcast episode features Dr. Alia Crum, a Stanford psychology professor, discussing the science of mindsets and their impact on health and performance. The conversation explores how beliefs about stress, food, exercise, and medication influence physiological responses and overall well-being. The episode aims to provide actionable insights for listeners to improve their lives by adopting more adaptive mindsets.
Mindsets are core beliefs about a domain: These beliefs shape expectations, explanations, and goals, influencing thinking and actions. Examples include mindsets about stress (enhancing vs. debilitating), intelligence (growth vs. fixed), and food (indulgent vs. depriving).
Mindsets impact physiology: Beliefs about food, for example, demonstrably affect metabolic responses. The "milkshake study" showed that believing a milkshake was high-calorie led to a greater ghrelin decrease (hunger suppression) than believing it was low-calorie, even though both were identical.
Stress mindset matters: A "stress-is-enhancing" mindset is linked to better health outcomes and performance compared to a "stress-is-debilitating" mindset. Studies on Navy SEALs and financial crisis employees showed this positive impact.
Leveraging stress: A three-step approach to a stress-enhancing mindset involves acknowledging, welcoming, and utilizing stress as an opportunity to connect with values and achieve goals.
Influence of media and influencers: The content and language used in media and by influencers significantly shape mindsets, particularly concerning food. Unhealthy foods are often portrayed positively, while healthy foods are often presented negatively.
In the hotel housekeeper study, physiological metrics measured included weight, body fat, and systolic blood pressure. The group informed that their work constituted good exercise experienced a decrease in systolic blood pressure by about 10 points on average and lost weight. The transcript does not specify changes in body fat percentage.
In the milkshake study, the gut peptide hormone ghrelin was measured. The ghrelin levels dropped at a three-fold stronger rate when participants believed they were consuming a high-fat, high-calorie milkshake compared to when they believed it was a low-fat, low-calorie milkshake.
The transcript doesn't provide the exact wording of the questions used in Dr. Crum's stress mindset measure, only examples of statements participants agreed or disagreed with, such as "Stress enhances my performance and productivity" and "Stress heightens my vitality and growth."
Brad Turnwald's studies revealed that 70-90% of the top-grossing movies in the last 20 years, and the Instagram posts of influential figures, would fail UK advertising standards for nutritional content. These movies and influencers primarily showcased unhealthy food options. He also found that unhealthy foods are typically described using language that connotes excitement, fun, sexiness, danger, and indulgence, while healthy foods are often described with language suggesting deprivation, blandness, and a lack of tastiness.
The transcript mentions several studies and concepts related to health mindsets. Here's a list, categorized for clarity:
Studies Directly Mentioned:
Concepts and Related Research Mentioned:
The transcript primarily focuses on the findings and implications of these studies and concepts, rather than providing specific citations. To access the full details of each study, it would be necessary to search for them using the information provided (e.g., search for "Dr. Alia Crum milkshake study").
Based solely on the provided transcript, here's a summary of Dr. Alia Crum's claims and assertions during the podcast:
Mindsets are fundamental beliefs that simplify complex realities: They are core assumptions about a domain (stress, food, intelligence, etc.) that shape our expectations, explanations, and goals, thus influencing our thoughts and actions.
Mindsets significantly impact physiological responses: Our beliefs about what we eat directly affect our bodies' metabolic responses. This is exemplified by the milkshake study, showing that believing a milkshake was high-calorie led to a greater ghrelin decrease (hunger suppression) than believing it was low-calorie, even though both milkshakes were identical.
Mindsets about stress dramatically influence outcomes: Believing that stress is enhancing is linked to better health, well-being, and performance than believing stress is debilitating. This was supported by research with various groups, including Navy SEALs and financial industry employees.
Stress is a paradox: The stress response itself is not inherently good or bad; its effects depend on how we perceive and utilize it. Dr. Crum promotes a "rethink stress" approach that involves acknowledging, welcoming, and utilizing the stress response to achieve goals.
Media and influencers heavily shape mindsets, especially around food: The way healthy and unhealthy foods are portrayed (language, imagery) in movies, social media, and by influencers profoundly influences our beliefs and desires related to food, generally portraying unhealthy foods more positively and healthy foods more negatively.
Consciously changing mindsets is possible: Dr. Crum highlights the importance of becoming aware of our mindsets, evaluating their helpfulness or harmfulness, and then actively working to adopt more adaptive and empowering mindsets. She advocates for a more nuanced and less judgmental approach to self-evaluation and change.
Mindsets are a portal between conscious and subconscious processes: Our beliefs operate as default settings, influencing subconscious physiological responses. They are, however, accessible through conscious awareness and can be actively reprogrammed.
The potential of integrating mindsets into medical treatments is significant: Dr. Crum asserts the importance of considering mindsets when designing and delivering medical treatments, arguing that a more mindful approach can significantly improve patient outcomes and experiences. This is exemplified by her work on allergy treatments and the potential applications to cancer treatment and vaccine responses.
It's crucial to remember that these are Dr. Crum's claims as presented in this specific interview. Further research and investigation are always recommended to form a comprehensive understanding of these topics.
