Still Another Take on Energy Drinks
by docjerry · Filed Under: Brain Function · Health & Wellness · Non-toxic living
“Energy drinks don’t really help with anything, but if you strongly believe in your mind that something you are doing will improve your results, it really CAN help your results. This is the placebo effect at its best!” Mike Geary
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” (Mark 9:23; NLT)
Last week, I shared an article written by our colleague Mike Geary as he pointed out the folly of energy drinks. As you will recall, Mike is a Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Nutrition Specialist. He’s also the best-selling author of a great and inexpensive resource, The Truth About Six Pack Abs. Don’t let the title deceive you, this resource is as much about what you eat as it is about how you exercise. (Please note that we are affiliates of Mike’s for this resource, and if you choose to make a purchase we do get a small reward for directing you to it.)
Mike wrote the following as a follow-up to his earlier article and as you know, I find the power of the human mind to be incredibly amazing:
Can “Energy Drinks” Actually Improve Your Strength, Endurance, and Energy Levels…Or is it All in Your Mind?
You may have noticed from a lot of my ezine issues that I speak a lot about the power of your mind and how this controls the results you get in your body.
This is yet another example of the power of the placebo effect, and probably the only reason anybody gets any results whatsoever from typical supplements (I’m talking more about bogus “miracle” diet pill supplements rather than legitimate whole food or herbal supplements).
I recently read about an interesting study regarding energy drinks and whether they actually give any results (sorry, I don’t have the exact citation or the exact numbers involved), but here was the general details of the study…
The researchers split the group into 2 large groups of people. The first group they gave one of these typical “energy drinks” that you see everywhere (which I’ve mentioned before are a complete waste).
Now here’s the important part… the researchers specifically told this 1st group of people that the energy drink they were receiving would increase their strength and endurance levels and increase their energy output.
The 2nd group received the exact same “energy drink” but was not told what the drink was, so nothing was said about it improving anything. For all these people knew, they were just being given a drink because they were thirsty. They were not told that this drink was an “energy drink”.
The very interesting results:
The 1st group, which was told that the energy drink would improve their strength and endurance, actually DID increase their strength outputs and endurance tests.
However, the 2nd group, which received the EXACT SAME “energy drink” was NOT TOLD that it would help anything, and therefore, they showed no measurable signs of improvement on any of the tests!
Wow… yet another powerful example of how it’s ALL IN YOUR MIND!
Energy drinks don’t really help with anything, but if you strongly believe in your mind that something you are doing will improve your results, it really CAN help your results. This is the placebo effect at its best!
One way that this phenomenon can be applied to your nutrition and workouts:
1. When you’re performing certain exercises, you need to really strongly BELIEVE IN YOUR MIND that those exercises are transforming your body… in return, that strong belief will improve your results in the gym MUCH more than just mindlessly going through the exercises.
2. When you are eating healthy food, you need to really strongly believe and think about how much that food is making you leaner, stronger, and giving you more energy. If you believe strongly how much that food is helping you, it WILL help you much more than if you didn’t think positively about what you were eating.
This is very powerful stuff! Your brain really CAN control your fitness results or lack of results.
Prayer Power
Father, you have given us such incredible power in our minds which we all too often ignore, largely because we are simply unaware of it. It is so exciting to see results like this receiving publicity and hopefully awakening us to the power that You designed us to have.
Link of the Day
The Truth About Six-Pack Abs
Photo by stephcarter










“Ironically, the answer to many of society’s problems may be to slow down and spend more time in a state of semi-awareness. It will help our children learn better, be more creative, and be less psychologically disorganized.” Dr. Russell Blaylock
“Worrying is praying for what you don’t want.”
“Do something every day to improve your mind — learn a new word, do an anagram puzzle, sudoku your mind, read a book, read a stimulating blog post, anything that will help your mind just a little. Just a little turns into something huge.” Steven Aitchison
“Yes, eating dark chocolate has been shown to be beneficial for releasing an important brain chemical called dopamine. Dopamine aids in learning and memory.” Steven Aitchison (Sorry, I couldn’t resist using that quote.)