Episode 93

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Published on:

23rd Nov 2022

Placebo Effect Success

Placebo Effect Success

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Many people have heard about the placebo effect, but the manner in which it works is still somewhat unknown. In this episode Evan breaks down some of the theories on what is actually taking place when people take a placebo as well as his own opinion. Evan also covers what the nocebo effect is and how it further proves the effectiveness of placebos.

Tune in to learn more about the placebo as well as how you can apply the placebo effect to your everyday life and improve everything from your health, mental health, and relationships.

Do everything with good intentions and connect to your elements.


Disclaimer:

This podcast is for educational purposes only, it is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. Evan Roberts is not a medical professional and this podcast is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. Statements and views expressed on this show are not medical advice, this podcast, including Evan Roberts and any guests on the show, disclaims responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information contained in this episode. If you think you have a medical problem please consult a medical professional.


Reference:

Placebo Explained

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/placebo-effect

Transcript
Evan:

going on, everybody.

Evan:

Welcome back to the elemental.

Evan:

Evan show today's a wellness Wednesday episode.

Evan:

So this is going to be a full length episode.

Evan:

Uh, this one might be a little bit shorter than some of the other ones.

Evan:

Uh, just based on the content, but nonetheless, it's going to be a

Evan:

really excellent episode with some very valuable information that once

Evan:

again, you're going to be able to apply this to your life right away.

Evan:

After listening to this episode, that's what this is all about is providing

Evan:

you with actionable steps to take immediately after these episodes.

Evan:

So you can Uh, you know, make a change in the health of your life

Evan:

and yeah, just be empowered with the information that is, you know,

Evan:

regarding your health and wellness.

Evan:

So anyways, without further ado, let's just go ahead and

Evan:

jump into today's episode.

Evan:

Which is all around the placebo or the placebo effect.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

So to even start this off, like, what is a placebo?

Evan:

Well, a placebo is a medical treatment or procedure designed to deceive.

Evan:

The participant of a clinical experiment.

Evan:

It does not contain any active ingredients, but often still produces

Evan:

a physical effect on the individual.

Evan:

I think most people already know what a placebo.

Evan:

Uh, is, but I just kind of wanted to give the definition of it, I

Evan:

guess, but yeah, essentially it's, you know, what do they call them?

Evan:

Like the sugar pills or whatever, where.

Evan:

If you're doing a trial or a test on a new drug, you typically have a

Evan:

group that only receives the placebo.

Evan:

So they take essentially the pill that they're being told is the drug, but it's

Evan:

actually not, it's just a fake drug.

Evan:

It's just water or placebo or whatever it may be.

Evan:

Uh, sugar.

Evan:

So.

Evan:

Anyways, that is usually what a placebo is.

Evan:

And a lot of the times that placebo group still has a good outcome in a number

Evan:

of the people in that group, because.

Evan:

Well, because of the placebo, we don't really know why there's a theories

Evan:

Um, and I'm going to explain a few of them here and then also explain

Evan:

kind of what my idea or take on the placebo is and what I believe it is.

Evan:

So.

Evan:

Realistically, the placebo is not fully Uh, understood the placebo effect.

Evan:

Uh, has some theories.

Evan:

So of which are the fact that when someone takes a placebo.

Evan:

They might have reduced anxiety.

Evan:

Now, the reason this is important is because anxiety and stress and all of

Evan:

these, you know, different specific type of emotions can create, uh,

Evan:

Kind of a sense in the person of, you know, being stuck in this sympathetic

Evan:

state, like always being in a worried stress state, which is not going to be

Evan:

conducive to your healing process, right?

Evan:

You actually want to get into your parasympathetic state into a rest and

Evan:

relax and digest state where you are not stressed out and your body can simply

Evan:

relax and do the work it needs to do.

Evan:

So.

Evan:

Reducing the anxiety can be really crucial.

Evan:

A lot of the times the stress and anxiety, we build up around

Evan:

something such as an Can be making it worse instead of making it better.

Evan:

So when someone takes something like a placebo, it can trick

Evan:

the mind into thinking that.

Evan:

They are being taken care of, like they're doing something to improve that

Evan:

illness or whatever it may be, uh, may be.

Evan:

And therefore they are lowering their anxiety and stress around that illness.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

Which is going to naturally calm them down and allow them to be more in a

Evan:

relaxed and rest and digest state.

Evan:

Which could ultimately lead to the healing of whatever that illness is.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

You also have another theory that.

Evan:

It could be the brain chemicals.

Evan:

So for example, placebos might trigger the release of the body's own natural

Evan:

pain relievers, such as endorphins.

Evan:

So your body obviously produces a ton of different things all the time.

Evan:

And one of those things are endorphins.

Evan:

And so essentially.

Evan:

What it's stating is by taking the placebo, you could be

Evan:

tricking the mind into releasing.

Evan:

Some endorphins, which are a natural, uh, you know, like painkiller, basically.

Evan:

So if someone has a lot of pain in their body, Uh, by taking a

Evan:

placebo, they might just be naturally releasing endorphins, which could

Evan:

kill some of that pain for them.

Evan:

You also have the altered perception.

Evan:

So after taking a placebo.

Evan:

The belief that you are taking something that is meant to help lead, or that

Evan:

is meant to help may lead you to perceive the same pain you experienced

Evan:

before as less or slightly altered.

Evan:

So for example, it could be like you used to experience a pain that

Evan:

was a shooting pain down your arm.

Evan:

Like just, you know, like knives and daggers all the way down your arm.

Evan:

And now you might just perceive that pain as less.

Evan:

Maybe it's just a tingle sensation going on in your arm.

Evan:

And that could literally just be the perception.

Evan:

You're tricking your mind into thinking, oh, well, I'm taking

Evan:

this pill for this problem.

Evan:

And that pain, you just might perceive it now as not as intense as it was.

Evan:

Uh, so just kind of the power of the brain and the way it

Evan:

perceives a sensation in the body.

Evan:

And then the last one that I'm going to cover, because there are a few

Evan:

more that I didn't put on here.

Evan:

But the last one I have is a change in behavior.

Evan:

So through taking a placebo, people may be in to feel the desire

Evan:

to start taking better care of themselves and to help the process.

Evan:

Uh, oh, sorry to help the process of healing such as getting a better diet

Evan:

or, uh, you know, exercising more, maybe getting more sleep, whatever it may be.

Evan:

Essentially you are moving into a healthier lifestyle because now that

Evan:

you're taking this placebo, you're thinking, okay, like I'm doing

Evan:

this to improve, you know, whatever condition it may be that I have.

Evan:

So you know what, since I'm doing this, like I'm going to really just.

Evan:

Stack on top of it, all these other things that I can do to help make it

Evan:

better, which obviously would help in.

Evan:

Whatever issue it is that you're facing.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

So, uh, it would also be a change in behavior.

Evan:

Those are the ones I'm going to cover.

Evan:

I think there's a lot of validity in all of those.

Evan:

I think they can all play a role.

Evan:

Uh, there might not just be one answer to this, right.

Evan:

But in my personal opinion,

Evan:

I believe that the body has this incredible intelligence, that we

Evan:

pretty much only know a fraction about.

Evan:

Okay, this is the same intelligence that literally creates a human

Evan:

child in a mother's womb.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

Uh, if you think about that, the fact that life.

Evan:

A whole functioning organism is being created.

Evan:

Inside of a person, right?

Evan:

I mean, that is amazing.

Evan:

And we are not consciously doing anything to create that.

Evan:

Obviously you have the act of, you know, in preg, Uh, becoming impregnated.

Evan:

But aside from that, we are not doing anything further to

Evan:

create the life that is forming.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

So we have this innate intelligence inside of us that is constantly working.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

It's the same one that you could, you know, apply to, uh, like an acorn

Evan:

growing into an acorn tree, right?

Evan:

Like an Oak tree.

Evan:

Sorry.

Evan:

Um, Uh, growing into an Oak tree and.

Evan:

You know, that is incredible.

Evan:

How does a tiny little seed that cannot speak cannot, you know, uh, tell you

Evan:

things can't, you know, interact with you in necessarily any way that we

Evan:

can at least perceive in this realm.

Evan:

And reality, right.

Evan:

Is able to grow in to this massive, massive tree and

Evan:

produce more of these acorns.

Evan:

So I believe that this innate intelligence is.

Evan:

You know, really what's at work here when we're talking about the placebo.

Evan:

And I think that we naturally get in our, in the way of this natural

Evan:

intelligence by, you know, no longer supporting it and allowing and

Evan:

allowing it to do its natural job.

Evan:

So I think when we do things like have a bad diet or, uh, you know,

Evan:

don't exercise or just, you know, live life that is, uh, not going to be

Evan:

conducive for this innate intelligence.

Evan:

Uh, that is when things start to go awry.

Evan:

And I believe that if we are able to support this intelligence within

Evan:

us through, you know, a belief essentially right through the

Evan:

placebo, Then we are able to support it and allow it to do its work.

Evan:

So I actually think we just need to get out of the way of the intelligence

Evan:

of our biology and allow it to do its work and just support it through.

Evan:

You know, our belief, our men, our mentality or mindset.

Evan:

Um, our emotions, our stress levels, our food that we eat, our sleep that we get

Evan:

our, um, you know, exercise that we do.

Evan:

All of that I think plays a role in supporting our inner biology.

Evan:

And, uh, when we live out of unison with that, we create these imbalances.

Evan:

And so one of the best one, you know, one of the fastest and most

Evan:

obvious ways of getting in touch with that is the belief, right?

Evan:

The placebo.

Evan:

This is my idea here, right?

Evan:

I mean, and I'm sure many, this is not an original idea.

Evan:

I know other people have this idea But I really do believe that is the belief

Evan:

that, you know, you're taking something.

Evan:

External to fix you or help you internally when truly you have pretty

Evan:

much everything you need inside you.

Evan:

Your body is very well capable of not only creating life, but fixing the.

Evan:

Uh, you know, or the life that already exists within you.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

And, and making sure that it functions properly.

Evan:

So now I'm going to cover what the efficacy of a placebo is.

Evan:

So I just wanted to give full disclosure here.

Evan:

I am simply referencing.

Evan:

One article from medical news today.

Evan:

Okay.

Evan:

This is just one article.

Evan:

I'm not cross-referencing, I'm not, you know, doing other fact checks on this.

Evan:

So this is just from one source.

Evan:

And a lot of the times I tried to get multiple sources

Evan:

when I'm giving you numbers.

Evan:

Or statistics so that I have you.

Evan:

You know, a pretty accurate number.

Evan:

So if you find different numbers online, Uh, or through research, that

Evan:

would be why the numbers are so Uh, but I think this is a pretty good one.

Evan:

Nonetheless.

Evan:

And it basically says that the number I'm

Evan:

The number I found was that placebos are effective in a third of patients.

Evan:

And sometimes up to 60%.

Evan:

It's like a pretty effective.

Evan:

Quote, unquote drug.

Evan:

If I had to say so myself, right?

Evan:

I mean, that is actually like really decent, solid numbers,

Evan:

especially at the 60% level.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

So.

Evan:

It is also to a note that on top of the placebo.

Evan:

There is actually another thing called the no CBO.

Evan:

And this one is really interesting.

Evan:

I think it actually.

Evan:

Kind of backs up the whole placebo idea, right?

Evan:

When it comes to the new CBO.

Evan:

This is where a negative effect occurs.

Evan:

So in terms of placebo, we think of it like, oh, you take this pill to cure.

Evan:

I don't know, like cancer or something like that.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

And all of a sudden, wow, you know, this person cured cancer, but

Evan:

they were only taking a placebo.

Evan:

Well, the no CBO is where a negative effect would occur.

Evan:

So this would be like a doctor telling you that they are giving you a laxative.

Evan:

But let's say they're literally just giving you.

Evan:

You know, water or, you know, whatever, right.

Evan:

Just, yeah.

Evan:

Like water, which actually, um, can help you go to the restroom,

Evan:

but it wouldn't have the same effect as a laxative, obviously.

Evan:

So it would be like the doctor gives you some water and says, here, take this.

Evan:

This is a laxative, you know, blah, blah, blah.

Evan:

Uh, take it at 3:00 PM and you're going to, within an hour, you're

Evan:

going to need to go to the restroom, blah, blah, blah, whatever.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

And then you would actually go ahead, take it and feel the

Evan:

effects of a real laxative.

Evan:

Like you would go to the bathroom and you would have the runs essentially, right?

Evan:

So that would be a no CBO.

Evan:

That is like the negative effect, or even another example would be, if a doctor

Evan:

gave you a pill and said, Hey, um, you know, a pill or a food or whatever,

Evan:

and said, Hey, this causes nausea.

Evan:

So if you eat this, like you can feel nausea afterwards.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

And then if you go ahead and take that, if it's a placebo, right, like just a

Evan:

sugar pill or something, and then all of a sudden, like an hour or so later, you

Evan:

feel extremely nauseous from taking that pill, even though it was just a placebo.

Evan:

So that is the no CBO.

Evan:

No CBO is.

Evan:

Is a negative effect.

Evan:

Which I think is really interesting because it kind of also goes to show

Evan:

Not just with the positives, right?

Evan:

Like the good outcomes, but even with the negatives, like something that's.

Evan:

You shouldn't experience.

Evan:

Uh, you know, diarrhea or nausea after just drinking some water or a sugar pill

Evan:

or whatever it may be, but nonetheless, you can actually have that experience.

Evan:

So very, very interesting.

Evan:

And it kind of also just leads me.

Evan:

You know, more in the direction of.

Evan:

You know, your beliefs really, truly hold power and they can physically

Evan:

express themselves in your lives, which reminds me of the quote by loud

Evan:

Sue, which I hope I'm saying that.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

Um, he was a Chinese Taos philosopher known for writing the Tao teaching.

Evan:

And the quote goes like this.

Evan:

You've probably heard it says, watch your thoughts.

Evan:

They become words.

Evan:

Watch your words.

Evan:

They become actions.

Evan:

Watch your actions.

Evan:

They become habits.

Evan:

Watch your habits.

Evan:

They become your character.

Evan:

So what you think becomes your reality, right?

Evan:

I mean, that's essentially what is being said here.

Evan:

So.

Evan:

I really do think that it starts with.

Evan:

Watching our thoughts, you know, uh, the way we are talking to ourselves

Evan:

constantly, or that background talk that we have is very, very important.

Evan:

You know, it can manifest itself.

Evan:

In a physical element or even in, um, or not an element, right?

Evan:

Like physically doing well.

Evan:

So, uh, really I think watching our thoughts and having good

Evan:

beliefs is very, very important.

Evan:

And in my opinion, it is at the core of the placebo effect.

Evan:

So.

Evan:

I kind of wanted to finish this episode off with how you could use

Evan:

the placebo effect in your life.

Evan:

And so being that placebo is in my opinion, just a belief.

Evan:

This is a belief that something external from you is going to fix you internally.

Evan:

Like I said earlier, When really it's all within us to start with.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

We have this intelligence within us.

Evan:

At all times.

Evan:

And like I said, I think we just get in the way of it.

Evan:

We don't allow it to do its work all the time.

Evan:

And so by simply stepping aside or supporting it is going to help us, you

Evan:

Activate that innate intelligence of our biology to do its work in our body.

Evan:

And personally, I think when you see Mike, these Dr.

Evan:

Joe Dispenza retreats happening, where people go in there who have.

Evan:

You know, state for cancer, um, they are paralyzed or they, uh, you know, like

Evan:

all these crazy, crazy elements that we have no cure for in the modern world.

Evan:

Yeah, they go there and have these like biblical outcomes where all of a

Evan:

sudden, the person who was paralyzed or had a cancer is completely cured

Evan:

after, like, I think he does like a week long retreat or something like Uh, and

Evan:

really all they're doing is different forms of meditation and gratitude and

Evan:

breathing and different things like that.

Evan:

Uh, so just activating that inner intelligence in our body, right.

Evan:

Uh, to me.

Evan:

I, and once again, it's all through belief, right?

Evan:

Like you have to believe, you have to connect your belief with your emotions.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

And create the intelligence within you or not create it, but like

Evan:

create the change and initiate the intelligence to kind of do its work.

Evan:

So.

Evan:

What I'm basically saying is that you can create the placebo

Evan:

effect in your life right now.

Evan:

Right?

Evan:

You just have to create a strong enough belief to actually make it real.

Evan:

So.

Evan:

Personally, instead of believing that life is hard, that, you know,

Evan:

money is scarce, that, uh, the right partner is hard to find, um,

Evan:

you know, fill in the blank, right.

Evan:

Switch that just completely switched that over a, create a

Evan:

new narrative around your life.

Evan:

Create a new belief

Evan:

You know, money is easy to come by.

Evan:

Music money, uh, is, is flowing to me at all times.

Evan:

Uh, money is easy to come by.

Evan:

Uh, you know, like it's attracted to me.

Evan:

Um, You know, the right partner is, is coming to me, the right

Evan:

partner is, uh, you know, we'll be here when the time is right.

Evan:

I am finding the right part, you know, creating these beliefs to.

Evan:

Literally just shape your future is I believe really how you can apply

Evan:

that placebo effect to your life.

Evan:

Obviously, there's other ways of doing it and it's usually more focused on

Evan:

ailments, but I think you can also apply it to your life Uh, even if you

Evan:

do have an ailment, what if you just kind of use the placebo effect right

Evan:

on yourself to try to help heal that?

Evan:

What if you really put your mind to work on

Evan:

Um, obviously I'm not here to say that if you have a serious disease to then

Evan:

just go ahead and start believing.

Evan:

Um, I mean, you can, it's not going to hurt you obviously.

Evan:

Uh, but if you do have a serious element like that, you have to take other

Evan:

courses of action and go forward with it.

Evan:

But I do think it's worth noting that there is a lot of power in the placebo

Evan:

effect or what I would like to say are.

Evan:

Belief system or our innate intelligence.

Evan:

And, you know, like I said, I think we just get in the way of it.

Evan:

So if we are able to support it, create a strong belief system around it.

Evan:

I think we can truly create a lot You know, tangible change in our lives.

Evan:

So, uh, yeah, I just really felt like the placebo effect was such

Evan:

an interesting topic, being that.

Evan:

There's actually like solid results from it.

Evan:

It's not just, uh, you know, out of a hundred people, maybe

Evan:

one person, like it's actually solid results up to 60% even.

Evan:

Right.

Evan:

Which I said earlier is like kind of a decent drug.

Evan:

You know, quote unquote.

Evan:

So yeah, go ahead and, uh, apply the placebo effect your life.

Evan:

It costs you nothing.

Evan:

It would, you know, it's does no harm to change your belief system and just

Evan:

create a better belief about your life and your health and wealth or whatever

Evan:

it is that you're trying to work on.

Evan:

And yeah.

Evan:

See what happens.

Evan:

See if there's, uh, some good outcomes from it, which by the way, I will also

Evan:

be linking a, a link to this show where you can go ahead and do a little bit more

Evan:

research on the placebo effect, because in my opinion, it is a really interesting

Evan:

occurrence and, uh, you know, deserves more, more research and more attention.

Evan:

Cause I don't think it gets enough attention as is.

Evan:

And yeah, that's going to do it for today's episode.

Evan:

So I hope you guys enjoyed, uh, I know this one is a little bit, a little bit

Evan:

more on, based on the belief system, as opposed to the actual, you know, health

Evan:

and wellness in terms of like the physical aspect where we're talking about exercise

Evan:

or nutrition or something like that.

Evan:

But nonetheless,

Evan:

Our beliefs are truly very, very powerful and important, and they are

Evan:

deserving of our time and attention.

Evan:

And obviously if they can, if they are known to cure these.

Evan:

You know, crazy diseases, then I think it's worth our time to spend

Evan:

a little bit of our energy on them.

Evan:

And see what outcomes we can get from it.

Evan:

So,

Evan:

Anyways, that is going to do it for today.

Evan:

Everybody.

Evan:

I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Evan:

I hope you received benefit from this episode.

Evan:

If you did receive some benefit from this episode, please share

Evan:

it with someone, maybe someone who is struggling mentally to create.

Evan:

You know, a better reality for themselves, maybe their belief system

Evan:

or their, their self-talk is really bad.

Evan:

And so maybe you can share this with them and hopefully help them, you

Evan:

know, change their mind and, and find their way to a better belief system

Evan:

around themselves, their health,

Evan:

Their wealth, their, um, you know, prosperity Uh, you know, relationships

Evan:

with people, all of that stuff.

Evan:

Uh, go ahead and share that with anyone who could benefit from this episode.

Evan:

And on top of that, please go ahead and subscribe to whatever.

Evan:

Sorry, subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you're on,

Evan:

whether that's apple podcast, Spotify, Google, any of the others.

Evan:

And, uh, as well as YouTube, I am posting these videos in video format on YouTube.

Evan:

So if you would like to see the video formats, then go

Evan:

ahead and check out YouTube.

Evan:

Subscribe on there.

Evan:

And yeah, that's going to do it everybody.

Evan:

I'm super happy to have you all here.

Evan:

Um, it's always a pleasure to be able to share this knowledge with you.

Evan:

I hope you guys enjoy this and be, uh, be attentive to the coming episodes.

Evan:

I have some really, really good ones coming up.

Evan:

Um, a few that I'm pretty excited about, so, uh, definitely stay tuned.

Evan:

And if you subscribe, you'll obviously be up on top of all of these episodes

Evan:

as And yeah, you guys know the motto of the show is to do everything with good

Evan:

intentions, connect to your elements.

Evan:

And, uh, connect with me, connect with me on Instagram, tell me if,

Evan:

what you're enjoying about this show and, and, uh, yeah, just.

Evan:

I hope that this episode provided you guys with some good knowledge and,

Evan:

uh, you know, allows you to take your health and wellness into your own hands

Evan:

and make the best decision possible.

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About the Podcast

Elemental Evan
Health and Wellness
The Elemental Evan Show, takes an easy and fun approach to health and wellness, making in-depth health topics easy to digest. Focusing on health from an integrative perspective, this show incorporates all areas of health from diets, to relationships, to healthy mentalities. Certified Universal Yoga practitioner and IIN Health Coach, Evan combines holistic health practices with scientific data to bring you fun and interesting episodes. You'll finish each episode feeling empowered to make changes in your life that can both add years to your life and life to your years. Follow along as we cover every health topic you can think of as Evan shows just how connected everything is, both inside your body and in your external environment.

About your host

Profile picture for Evan Roberts

Evan Roberts

Welcome to the Elemental Evan show. My name is Evan Roberts and I'm a certified IIN Health Coach and Yoga Teacher. I love taking a whole approach to health as everything is connected. When you treat one issue in the body, you'll inevitably treat other issues in the body which is why I try to look at things from a big picture perspective. Through this show I'll be bringing you information packed episodes on tangible ways to improve your overall health and wellness. I hope you walk away from each episode feeling empowered and renewed to take on the day and take control of your health!

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen and grow with me.

With Gratitude
-Evan Roberts