Hello there! My name is Gracy, and this is my second research article on the impact that music has on the human body. The first one (Doctors Now Prescribing Music Therapy for Heart Ailments, Brain Dysfunction, Learning Disabilities, Depression, PTSD, Alzheimers, Childhood Development and More) was originally published at Didgeproject in collaboration with AJ Block – and it was great success! If you want to rewrite or republish the article, please don’t forget to give us some credits, okay? I guess that the 2 months of hard work deserve at least that. 🙂
Also, share these articles with your friends if you like them! By spreading the world, we increase awareness of the great benefits people can get from just listening to music!
Okay, now without further ado – let’s start right away!
Here’s the thing: people underestimate music.
Nowadays, we perceive it mostly as a source of entertainment, and rarely as something more than that. In fact, most of us can’t even imagine the impact that music has on our bodies! Music can be not only a source of good mood and exciting emotions, but also a powerful ally in your struggle for a healthier life. And actually, that includes weight management too.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how can music help you to lose weight and be in a better physical state in general. And those are not just words – every thesis in this list is backed by pure science, so I’ll provide a link to the respective study in case it catches your attention. Ready? Turn on your favorite track – and let’s get started!
Music reduces the impact of stress on your body
It calms you down, restores inner balance and relieves everyday worries. Several studies have shown that music is highly beneficial for your health in terms of stress relief.
One might ask how does this affect eating patterns and weight management, and that’s an interesting question. Have you ever noticed that we tend to eat a lot of high calorie foods when we feel upset or stressed out? Actually, that’s a wise evolutionary mechanism that was originally meant to provide additional energy for our bodies in stressful conditions, as they usually demand a higher expenditure of inner bodily resources. Besides that, it’s well-known that eating stimulates the synthesis and release of endorphins (“happiness hormones”) that also play a bit of a role in fighting stress.
The point here is that chronic stress can lead to chronically stimulated eating behavior resulting in excess weight, ultimately. The solution? Headphones in, problems out! Listen to some relaxing music and – don’t worry, be happy.
Actually, the “happiness hormones” mentioned above also play a direct role in the process of weight loss – not only in stress relief. For example, serotonin (one of the most important hormones of the abovementioned category) has lipolytic effects – meaning that it directly promotes the processes of fat burning in your body. In other words, feeling happy literally makes you healthier!
Music increases endurance and athletic performance
In order to lose weight for good, just counting calories isn’t effective enough. A proper exercise regime is just as essential as a healthy diet, and this brings us to another beneficial effect of music on your weight loss.
If you regularly visit a gym or jog in the mornings, perhaps you’ve already noticed that listening to some motivational songs during your workout sessions generally helps you to show better results. And, actually, this was scientifically proven some time ago – music really increases motivation and has ergogenic (meaning that it improves performance) effects.
Of course, that also depends on the specific type of music you’re listening to. Usually, energetic and passionate songs have a greater effect than something quiet and slow-paced. When creating your workout playlist, pick enough songs that can be synchronous to the exercises you’re going to do. This way you’ll not only increase your overall performance, but also feel like you’re in a movie of some kind, with a great soundtrack on the back. Rock on – and burn some extra calories with the right music!
Music helps you to keep on track
One of the main problems with long-term weight loss courses is that, at some point, you just feel like you’ve had enough of it. Adherence to the chosen path is very important in order to achieve solid results, but often that’s exactly the weak point. It’s relatively easy to make the first step on your weight loss path – the hardest thing is to keep going, with all those temptations and distractions around.
With music, that will be a whole lot easier. An interesting study by Christopher Capuano, director of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s School of Psychology, affirms that music-listening people are much more adherent to their programs (98% adherent) than those who exercise in silence (only 68% adherent!).
Naturally, that leads to a more significant weight loss. How much “more”, exactly? Twice. Yes, twice. With music, you’re more likely to exercise regularly – and burn a double amount of fat! Check out the link provided above for some additional interesting details.
Music strongly influences your behavior – eating included
We may not always notice this fact, yet it’s true. Slower music tends to soothe us down, while active and fast-paced songs pump us up – even our heart rate may skyrocket! In terms of eating, there’s a clever way you can use these behavior-modifying properties of music to lose some weight in the end.
In the book “The Psychology of Food Choice” author Richard Shepherd states that slower music is associated with a slower rate of eating – that’s some interesting data coming from several marketing researches. Many restaurants actually use this technique intentionally to either increase their turnaround or prolong the stay of current visitors. Clever, isn’t it? And here’s the point: slower eating speed decreases risk of excess weight and obesity. Our body needs some time to “realize” that it is eating – the feeling of fullness always comes a bit late. Sometimes – late enough to give us the chance to overeat.
Therefore, if you listen to slow and calm music, you’ll eat slower, thus giving your body enough time to send you a signal that there’s no need to eat anymore. So, in the end, you’ll eat less – and thus gain less weight. Calorie count is important, after all.