Huberman Lab Essentials: Science of Mindsets for Health & Performance | Dr. Alia Crum
Date: September 4, 2025
Host: Andrew Huberman, Ph.D.
Guest: Dr. Alia Crum
Overview
This Essentials episode of the Huberman Lab podcast features guest Dr. Alia Crum, Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Mind & Body Lab. Dr. Crum is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking research on mindset—the core beliefs that shape our expectations, explanations, and motivation across domains such as stress, health, and performance. Throughout the episode, Dr. Crum and Dr. Huberman unpack the science behind how mindsets influence not only psychological behavior but also physical health, and discuss practical ways to leverage our beliefs to enhance well-being.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Defining Mindsets and Their Impact
Timestamps: 00:25–04:56
- Definition: Mindsets are described as "core beliefs or assumptions that we have about a domain... that orient us to a particular set of expectations, explanations and goals." (Dr. Crum, 00:35)
- Examples: Mindsets shape how we view stress (enhancing vs. debilitating), healthy eating (indulgent vs. depriving), exercise (sufficient vs. insufficient), illness (manageable vs. catastrophic), and symptoms (signs of harm vs. treatment efficacy).
- Function: Simplify our complex reality, drive motivation, influence physiological responses.
“Those mindsets, those core beliefs… change what we expect will happen, how we explain the occurrences… and change our motivation for what we engage in when we're stressed.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [00:35]
2. Mindset and Physiology: The Milkshake Study
Timestamps: 04:56–10:19
- Study Design: Participants drank identical milkshakes on two occasions. On one occasion, they believed it was indulgent (high-calorie). On the other, sensible (low-calorie).
- Finding: Merely believing a shake was indulgent caused a greater drop in ghrelin (“hunger hormone”), signaling more satiety, despite identical nutritional content.
- Implications: Beliefs about what we consume directly influence physiological reactions—suggesting that mindset can shape metabolism and hunger.
“When people thought they were consuming the high fat, high calorie milkshake, their ghrelin levels dropped at a threefold rate… even though it was the exact same shake at both timepoints.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [08:34]
“If you’re in the interest of maintaining or losing weight… the best mindset… is that you’re eating indulgently, that you’re getting enough.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [09:42]
3. Social Context, Diets & The Nocebo Effect
Timestamps: 11:58–13:59
- Social beliefs around diet—plant-based, keto, etc.—interact with personal mindsets to produce measurable effects.
- Nocebo Effect: Negative expectations, such as anticipating side effects, increase the likelihood of experiencing them.
“The total effect of anything is a combined product of what you’re doing and what you think about what you’re doing.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [14:36]
4. The Hotel Workers Exercise Mindset Study
Timestamps: 14:26–17:11
- Context: Hotel housekeepers engage in high levels of physical activity but often fail to recognize it as “exercise.”
- Intervention: One group informed their work met/exceeded exercise guidelines; the control received no such info.
- Result: Informed group showed improved physiological metrics (weight, blood pressure) without changing behavior—only the perception changed.
“We found… these women… lost weight, they decreased their systolic blood pressure by about 10 points on average… even though they hadn’t changed anything in their behavior.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [16:29]
5. Stress Mindsets: Harnessing vs. Avoiding
Timestamps: 17:11–26:17
- Cultural Messaging: Stress is routinely depicted as harmful, but the literature is nuanced—stress can sharpen focus, increase growth hormones, promote learning.
- Study in Finance Workers: Viewing brief “stress is enhancing” videos shifted employee mindsets, decreased physical symptoms of stress (e.g., backaches, insomnia), and improved self-reported performance compared to “stress is debilitating” or no intervention.
- Clarification: “Stress-is-enhancing” mindset doesn’t glorify adversity but emphasizes the potential for growth and positive adaptation.
“People get this wrong sometimes… a ‘stress is enhancing’ mindset doesn’t mean the stressor is a good thing… but the experience… can lead to enhancing outcomes.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [23:53]
6. Mechanisms: How Mindset Affects Biology
Timestamps: 29:20–32:27
- Huberman’s Observation: Adrenaline (epinephrine) and anabolic hormones (like testosterone) can increase in response to acute stress; these pathways are biochemically linked.
- Crum’s Explanation: Mindsets serve as default programs—habits of association that operate at both conscious and unconscious levels to shape biological responses.
“Mindsets are kind of a portal between conscious and subconscious processes. They operate as a default setting of the mind.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [30:52]
7. Practical Takeaways: Leveraging Mindsets
Timestamps: 32:27–35:16
- New Approach to Stress: The focus shouldn’t be on managing or coping with stress (as in fighting it), but on leveraging it.
- Three-Step Method:
- Acknowledge your stress.
- Welcome it (realize it reflects caring about a meaningful goal).
- Utilize the stress response to advance toward your goal, not to expend energy resisting the stress itself.
“The first and most important thing is to clarify our definition of stress… The first step is to acknowledge that you’re stressed. The second step is to welcome it… [and] the third step is to utilize the stress response.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [32:37]
8. Personal Reflections & Broader Impact
Timestamps: 35:30–38:49
- Dr. Crum’s Mindsets: Her athletic and family background instilled in her the importance of beliefs. She advocates for a scientific approach: observe your mindsets, test them, and choose the most empowering ones.
- Societal Potential: Dr. Crum encourages listeners to use and share mindset-based tools—they represent a largely untapped “human resource” for physical and psychological health.
“Take the placebo effect… We know a lot about what it is. We’ve done almost nothing to leverage that in medicine consciously and deliberately.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [36:58]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------|-------| | 00:35 | Dr. Alia Crum | “Mindsets are an assumption that you make about a domain... Those mindsets, those core beliefs, orient our thinking.” | | 08:34 | Dr. Alia Crum | “When people thought they were consuming the high fat, high calorie milkshake, their ghrelin levels dropped at a threefold rate…” | | 14:36 | Dr. Alia Crum | “The total effect of anything is a combined product of what you’re doing and what you think about what you’re doing.” | | 16:29 | Dr. Alia Crum | “…these women lost weight, they decreased their systolic blood pressure by about 10 points… even though they hadn’t changed anything in their behavior.” | | 23:53 | Dr. Alia Crum | “A ‘stress is enhancing’ mindset doesn’t mean the stressor is a good thing… but the experience… can lead to enhancing outcomes.” | | 30:52 | Dr. Alia Crum | “Mindsets are kind of a portal between conscious and subconscious processes. They operate as a default setting of the mind.” | | 32:37 | Dr. Alia Crum | “Acknowledge… welcome… and utilize your stress. Not spend your time… trying to get rid of the stress.” | | 36:58 | Dr. Alia Crum | “Take the placebo effect… We know a lot about what it is. We’ve done almost nothing to leverage that in medicine…” | | 37:18 | Andrew Huberman | “I… am going to definitely think about what is the effect of my mindset about blank in every category of life.” |
Important Timestamps (Quick Reference)
- Definition of Mindsets: 00:25–02:02
- Milkshake Study: 04:56–10:19
- Diet Mindsets & Nocebo: 11:58–13:59
- Hotel Worker Study: 14:26–17:11
- Stress Mindsets & Interventions: 17:11–26:17
- Mechanistic Explanation: 29:20–32:27
- Practical Toolkit for Stress Mindset: 32:27–35:16
- Personal Reflections & Resources: 35:30–38:49
Resources Mentioned
- Stanford Mind & Body Lab: mbl.stanford.edu
- SPARQ (Social Psychological Answers to Real-world Questions): sparq.stanford.edu — includes toolkits for stress mindset interventions.
Summary & Final Thoughts
Dr. Alia Crum’s research highlights the powerful, science-backed role that our mindsets play—not only filtering our perceptions but also wiring into our biological health. Concrete studies show that believing differently about stress, exercise, or food can translate into measurable changes in blood pressure, hunger hormones, and even work performance. The actionable insight is clear: By recognizing, evaluating, and (if necessary) consciously revising our mindsets, we can unlock new trajectories for physical and psychological thriving.
“Find more useful, adaptive and empowering mindset and live by those.”
— Dr. Alia Crum, [35:16]