Can your thoughts and emotions really affect your biology — and even help you lose weight?

Discover the ‘greatest health biohack you will ever learn’ when it comes to your emotions and your weight with metabolism expert Ben Azadi. Plus: how laughter really can help your wellbeing!

Words: Ben Azadi. Images: Pexels.

Our thoughts have a direct influence on our health and longevity. Psychiatrists estimate that the average person has 60,000 thoughts every day. They also determined that 90% of those thoughts are the same thoughts from the day before, and 85% of those thoughts are negative.

Motivational speaker and author Zig Ziglar called this ‘stinkin’ thinkin’’. I believe if your thinkin’ is stinkin’, your health is shrinking! In the book Biology of Belief, cell biologist Dr Bruce Lipton made the case that thoughts are a frequency, and this frequency has the ability to penetrate your cell membrane and communicate with your DNA nucleus.

If the thought is negative, the protein produced by your DNA is inflammatory. This shortens your telomeres and damages your DNA, leading to a shortened lifespan. If the thought is positive, the communication signal sent to your DNA produces anti-inflammatory proteins, which lengthen your telomeres and protect your DNA, extending your lifespan.

If you have 60,000 thoughts per day, then you have 60,000 opportunities to place your entire body in a healing state, every single day. This is the greatest health biohack you will ever learn.

A poor self-image causes weight-loss resistance

Allow me to share an idea that every human being should learn. Dr Maxwell Maltz, author of Psycho-Cybernetics, said in the 1960s that this was the greatest physiological discovery of his generation: Self-image directly influences our success.

Let’s say you have the self-image that you are overweight, and you make the decision to go on a diet and instantly move into action. You start to lose weight because you’re cutting calories and possibly exercising more, but something happens a few weeks in: you find the weight you’ve lost returns.

If you go on a diet without altering your self-image, any weight loss will be temporary. Because self-image is a cybernetic instrument, it measures the deviation from the set goal and immediately corrects course. The autopilot system in an aeroplane is a prime example of how a cybernetic instrument operates.

Imagine a plane taking off from Chicago with the destination set for Paris, France. Once the autopilot is engaged, it continuously monitors and adjusts the plane’s course to ensure it stays on track to reach Paris. The pilot could, in theory, relax with the passengers, knowing the autopilot will correct any deviations from the intended path.

Similarly, when someone has a self-image of being overweight, their internal cybernetic instrument — or subconscious mind — works to keep them aligned with that self-image. Even if they attempt to change their habits, they may find themselves gravitating back to unhealthy foods, like donuts and cookies, as their mind seeks to maintain the status quo of their overweight identity.

Just as the autopilot course-corrects a plane, their self-image steers them back to behaviours that reinforce their existing beliefs about themselves. The weight that was lost is now found. To be successful, that person needs to change their self-image (paradigm) and release the weight.

As Joel Barker says in Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future, ‘To be able to shape your future, you have to be willing and able to change your paradigm.’

How to change a paradigm

America’s greatest prosperity teacher, Bob Proctor, explains that paradigms are a multitude of habits that guide every move you make. They affect the way you eat, the way you walk, even the way you talk.

They govern your communication, your work habits, your successes, and your failures. There are only two ways to change the paradigm: an emotional impact or repetition. Nine times out of ten an emotional impact will be a negative experience.

For example, back in 2008 when I was going through a devastating breakup, feeling depressed and suicidal, it was enough of an emotional impact to change my paradigm. Eventually this resulted in me transforming my health. Another example of an emotional impact is a crisis like cancer or a serious car accident, when people are confronted with their mortality. Often this changes the way they think about themselves and their outlook on life.

Again, it’s usually a negative experience and not the ideal route. Since significant emotional impacts are unpredictable, I strongly recommend using repetition, the second way to change a paradigm. Repetition is exposing yourself to a new idea over and over again. The point of this is not to memorise information, but rather to impress the idea or image into your subconscious or emotional mind enough times that it replaces the old idea or paradigm that resides there.

Affirmations are a great way to reinforce the new self-image. One way is to read the following affirmation each morning and before bed, when the subconscious mind is most impressionable: ‘I am so happy and grateful now that I am at my perfect weight. I am looking good, and I am feeling great. The perfect health I seek is now seeking me. I remove any blockages between us.’

The power of the mind

My client Claire is a powerful example of how mindset can shape our reality. In 2020, she was hospitalised with severe Covid, facing life-threatening complications, as her lungs failed and her oxygen levels plummeted.

She endured several near-death experiences but eventually mustered the strength to pull through. After spending over a month in the hospital, Claire was released with a new lease on life. However, she was still over 40 pounds overweight and dealing with prediabetes, high blood pressure, and lingering long-Covid symptoms that triggered multiple autoimmune conditions.

Claire often referred to herself as a ‘Covid survivor’. I encouraged her to shift her perspective by writing down an affirmation, declaring herself a ‘Covid thriver’ instead of merely a survivor. With this new self-image, she began making significant progress. Though she occasionally struggled with self-sabotage — her internal cybernetic instrument trying to course-correct to her old self-image — she used her affirmation as an anchor to break the cycle.

Over time, Claire reversed her prediabetes and high blood pressure. After years of relying on an oxygen tank nightly and while travelling, she recently received the green light to stop using it, as her lungs had recovered to optimal function.

Her new self-image is one of someone who is thriving, not just surviving, and she continues to work on her health, inspiring her friends and family along the way. This transformation shows how powerful a positive self-image can be when you fully embrace it.

How Laughter Helps your wellbeing

Dr Norman Cousins was renowned for his pioneering work on the healing power of laughter. Diagnosed with a severe and painful condition called ankylosing spondylitis in the 1960s, Cousins was given a grim prognosis with little chance of recovery. However, he developed a unique approach to his treatment, emphasising the therapeutic benefits of laughter and a positive attitude.

Cousins found that watching comedic films like the Marx Brothers’ movies and Candid Camera episodes significantly reduced his pain and improved his overall health. His regimen of ‘laugh therapy’ included regular doses of humour, which he documented in his influential book Anatomy of an Illness.

Cousins’ experiences and subsequent research demonstrated that laughter could trigger the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and reduce stress hormones. This, in turn, enhanced immune function and promoted relaxation. His work has inspired further studies on the impact of humour and laughter on health, highlighting its potential to alleviate pain, improve cardiovascular health, and enhance emotional well-being.

Overall, Norman Cousins’ contributions have significantly shaped our understanding of the mind-body connection and the role of positive emotions in healing, making laughter an essential component of holistic health practices. Incorporating laughter into daily routines may offer surprising benefits for metabolic health.

Research has shown that participating in a structured laughter programme can lead to measurable improvements in body composition, including reductions in body weight, BMI, and abdominal circumference. These effects are likely due to laughter’s ability to reduce stress, a known contributor to metabolic dysfunction.

Laughter has also been found to mimic the physiological benefits of moderate exercise by improving heart rate and muscle relaxation, further enhancing its potential to support metabolic health. Regular bouts of laughter can decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is often elevated in individuals with metabolic syndrome.

By reducing cortisol and other stress-related biomarkers, laughter not only promotes a positive mental state but also contributes to a healthier metabolic profile. These findings suggest that incorporating more humour and laughter into your life could be a simple yet effective strategy to support metabolic health and overall well-being.

Ben Azadi, aka ‘ The Health Detective’, is a best-selling author, keynote speaker and podcast host helping people get metabolically healthy

Metabolic Freedom: A 30-Day Guide to Restore Your Metabolism, Heal Hormones & Burn Fat, by Ben Azadi (Hay House, £24.99) is out now.