Dr. Alia Crum on Huberman Lab: How Beliefs Alter Hormones

In Crum's milkshake study, belief alone tripled the ghrelin drop. She explains how food, stress, and exercise mindsets alter hormones and blood pressure.

Andrew HubermanhostDr. Alia Crumguest

Sep 4, 202534mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: September 4, 2025
Duration: 34m
Channel: Huberman Lab
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, my guest is Dr. Alia Crum, PhD, professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Mind & Body Lab. Dr. Crum explains that our mindsets—for example, what we believe about stress, exercise and the food we eat—shape how we feel, behave and even how our bodies respond. We discuss studies showing simply believing a food is indulgent can shift satiety hormones and that viewing your daily activity as real exercise can improve weight loss and health markers. We also discuss how to reframe stress so it becomes a tool for growth and improved performance. Episode show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/rTtaOnp Huberman Lab Essentials are short episodes focused on essential science and protocol takeaways from past full-length Huberman Lab episodes. Watch the full-length episode: https://youtu.be/dFR_wFN23ZY Watch more Huberman Lab Essentials episodes: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPNW_gerXa4OGNy1yE-W9IX-tPu-tJa7S *Follow Huberman Lab* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X: https://twitter.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter *Timestamps* 00:00:00 Alia Crum 00:00:20 Mindset, Core Beliefs; Examples of Mindset 00:04:56 Mindset Shapes Body’s Response, Placebo Effects, Tool: Mindset for Weight Loss 00:10:18 Different Diets & Mindset 00:11:51 Nocebo Effect 00:12:45 Exercise Mindsets, Weight Loss & Health Benefits 00:15:31 Stress, Tool: Stress is Enhancing Mindset, Mental & Physical Benefits 00:22:43 Mindset, Stress, Motivation & Physiology; Hormones 00:26:09 Mindsets as Portals to Unconscious, Tool: Stress Mindset Awareness 00:27:43 Leverage Stress, Tool: Adopt a Stress is Enhancing Mindset 00:30:47 Mindsets Matter, Athletics 00:32:35 Resources, Toolkits & Acknowledgements Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

SPEAKERS

Andrew Huberman
host
Dr. Alia Crum
guest

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Huberman Lab, featuring Andrew Huberman and Dr. Alia Crum, Dr. Alia Crum on Huberman Lab: How Beliefs Alter Hormones explores harnessing Mindsets: Turning Stress, Food, and Exercise Into Superpowers Dr. Alia Crum explains mindsets as core beliefs about domains like stress, food, exercise, and health that shape expectations, motivation, behavior, and even physiology.

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