Alix Spiegel over at NPR has posted an interesting piece about a study by Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer on Hotel Maids and the Placebo Effect.

Essentially, the study takes a look at hotel maids (who are of course very active) and how their perceptions of how much they exercise affect their bodies. The results are enlightening.

The maids were split into two groups. One was educated - shown how much exercise they actually got. The other was a control. All of the maids, before the experiment, counted themselves as not exercising, despite walking large distances and carting around heavy equipment all day.

A month later, the enlightened group was actually measurably healthier.

There are alternative explanations for this, but I’m rather a fan of the idea that a positive outlook on your lifestyle can help you improve your lifestyle. Certainly things like blood pressure can be affected by stress levels, so why shouldn’t they improve when you feel better about yourself?

Definitely an interesting read though - Hotel Maids Challenge the Placebo Effect.