Pular para o conteúdo

Nir Eyal “Why These £39 Placebo Pills Actually Work”

20 de abril de 2026 · 30 min

Notas do episódio

There's a pill on Amazon called Fukitol.

It contains nothing. And yet people buy it, swear by it, and give it five stars.

Today, Nir Eyal explains the remarkable science behind why placebos work.

---

Listen to the bonus episode: https://nudge.kit.com/40414a1b44

Nir’s book Beyond Belief: geni.us/beyondbelief

Nir’s free belief change guide: nirandfar.com/belief-change

Join 11,934 readers of the Nudge Newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list

Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/

---

Today’s sources:

Ariel, G., & Saville, W. (1972). Anabolic steroids: The physiological effects of placebos. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 4(2), 124–126.

Branthwaite, A., & Cooper, P. (1981). Analgesic effects of branding in treatment of headaches. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.), 282(6276), 1576–1578.

Dawkins, L., Shahzad, F. Z., Ahmed, S. S., & Edmonds, C. J. (2011). Expectation of having consumed caffeine can improve performance and mood. Appetite, 57(3), 597–600.

Draganich, C., & Erdal, K. (2014). Placebo sleep affects cognitive functioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(3), 857–864.

Kaptchuk, T. J. (2018). Open-label placebo: Reflections on a research agenda. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 61(3), 311–334.

Lee, C., Linkenauger, S. A., Bakdash, J. Z., Joy-Gaba, J. A., & Profitt, D. R. (2011). Putting like a pro: The role of positive contagion in golf performance and perception. PLoS One, 6(10), e26016.

Plassmann, H., O'Doherty, J., Shiv, B., & Rangel, A. (2008). Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(3), 1050–1054.

Richter, C. P. (1957). On the phenomenon of sudden death in animals and man. Psychosomatic Medicine, 19(3), 191–198.

Rozenkrantz, L., Mayo, A. E., Ilan, T., Hart, Y., Noy, L., & Alon, U. (2017). Placebo can enhance creativity. PLoS One, 12, e0182466.

Wager, T. D., Rilling, J. K., Smith, E. E., Sokolik, A., Casey, K. L., Davidson, R. J., et al. (2004). Placebo-induced changes in fMRI in the anticipation and experience of pain. Science, 303(5661), 1162–1167.

Todos os episódios de Nudge

Configurações

Exibição

Idioma

Define quais estações você vê primeiro na página inicial.

Histórico

As rádios e episódios ouvidos recentemente e suas últimas buscas ficam só neste navegador.

Avisos

Um aviso rápido quando um podcast que você segue tem um episódio novo. Desative podcasts individuais pelo sino na página deles.

Conta

Salve favoritos – no app e no site.

Atalhos de teclado

/
Abrir busca
Espaço
Reproduzir ou pausar
← →
No player: voltar 15 s, avançar 30 s (episódios) · na fileira: próximo bloco
↑ ↓
Na fileira: alvo dentro do bloco
Home / End
Na fileira: primeiro ou último bloco
Esc
Fechar janela ou menu
?
Esta visão geral
Tocando agora

Ir para a estação

A seguir

    Adicione episódios com “A seguir” – eles tocam depois do episódio atual.