Weird Science.
Why does homemade soup make you feel so much better? Is it the warmth, the nutrients, the placebo effect, or all the above? Many studies have discovered the key element not found in any recipe.
What these studies reveal sounds like something from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter movies. It’s not. It is more like what Arthur C. Clarke said,
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Sweet Intentions.
A study involving eating chocolate? Yes, please! How do we get in on a study like that?
This tasty “double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled experiment investigated whether chocolate exposed to ‘good intentions’ would enhance mood more than unexposed chocolate.”1
They used chocolate because it is a known mood enhancement that may be further elevated through the use of intention. (That, and everybody loves chocolate).
Researchers created four groups of 15 volunteers. Then gave, chocolate exposed to good intentions to three test groups and unexposed chocolate to the control group.
They exposed chocolate to good intentions differently for each test group. The methods were: (1) a pair of experienced meditators, (2) an electronic device imprinted by six experienced meditators, and (3) a ritual performed by a Mongolian shaman.2
The good intention used: An individual who consumes this chocolate will manifest optimal health and functioning at physical, emotional, and mental levels, and in particular will enjoy an increased sense of energy, vigor, and well-being.¹
Researchers gave all groups various tests, including personality and mood tests using the Profile of Mood States (POMS Brief Form, MHS Inc, Toronto, Canada) before, during, and after the testing period.
All the groups were given six half-ounce pieces of chocolate. They were to eat one piece of chocolate twice a day at specific times for three days of the trial period. They filled out a mood state report at the end of each day.
Results: On the third day of eating chocolate, their mood had improved significantly more in the intention conditions than in the control condition.3
Conclusion: The mood-elevating properties of chocolate can be enhanced with intention.4
This is the short version of a fascinating study. See the references if you want to read the study.5 It was a fascinating read.
Tea Time.
Other experiments support this chocolate study, like one involving oolong tea. It was a long intensive study like the chocolate study. If you want more details, I cited the tea study below. I will just list the results for you.
Under randomized, double-blind conditions, adult volunteers who drank intentionally enhanced tea experienced improved mood and well-being as compared to people who drank untreated tea from the same source. This outcome supported the results of an earlier study that used chocolate as the target of intentional enhancement.6
Not in the mood?
The two experiments above showed that consuming intentionally treated chocolate and tea influenced a person’s mood.
Researchers wanted to build on the experiments above but also wanted results they could measure in a lab. They decided to study whether seeds watered with intentionally treated vs. untreated water would grow differently.7
Researchers choose Arabidopsis thaliana seeds, a small flowering weed in the mustard family with the popular name “mouse-ear cress.”
Arabidopsis is one of the most-studied plants and had its genome completely sequenced in 2000. After sequencing, it was discovered that most of the genes that play a role in human disease were related to genes in the Arabidopsis.
This discovery made it perfect for studying the genetics of both plant and human health.8
Arabidopsis grows fast in the lab and contains a “photosensitive flavoprotein called cryptochrome (CRY).9 (Don’t worry about what CRY is, what it does is the exciting part).
Shiah10 proposed that CRY might be a possible “transducer” of intention because it is present in all living systems and is suspected to have quantum biological properties.11, 12
Among other things, these quantum effects are thought to account for the exquisite sensitivity to magnetic fields in living organisms, as observed for example, in bird “magnetonavigation.”13, 14 (A bird’s GPS).
In light of experiments indicating a relationship between consciousness and the behavior of photons in double-slit optical systems,15, 16 the potential quantum biological properties of Arabidopsis made it an interesting system for exploring the effects of intention.³ Wow!
A Side Note for You.
If you haven’t seen a YouTube video on the double-slit experiment, you must!
Once the double-slit experiment video blows your mind, then read what Shiah17 said about CRY above again. (Quantum biological properties? Another exciting thing added to my never-ending learn-more-about-this list) 
Now, back to the seeds study.
But unlike the others, this experiment was much larger and involved 1,000s of test samples.
Three Buddhist monks focused their intention on store-bought bottled water with the goal of improving the growth of seeds; bottled water from the same source served as an untreated control.18
It was a fascinating and lengthy experiment. I am going to spare you the details. If you want to geek out and need more details, including charts and graphs, the study info is listed below.19 I will make a very long story short.
I am sure the results are what you expect by now. They proved that intentionally treated water does cause seeds to “manifest optimal growth”20 big time. Also, these outcomes conformed to the monk’s intentions.
What Does This Have To Do With You?
The experiments listed above show you that people can affect food in a positive way with intention. Effects that can improve mood and the physical body. But can you do it?
This Time is Different.
This last experiment21 I am sharing with you also used an experienced healer like in the other experiments, but they also used a non-healer.
This non-healer claimed no healing ability and only copied what the experienced healer did.
To enhance the seeds, the experienced healer held their hands about one foot from the jar with their palms facing the jar for about five minutes with healthy intentions.
Researchers used four jars in each of the five test runs. Each jar had 100 lettuce seeds. One jar for the healer to work with, one for the non-healer to copy what the healer did, and two jars not exposed to intention for the control groups.
They did all the usual stuff; double-blind, randomized, etc., etc. Again, the experiment proved that the seeds exposed to the healer’s intention produced healthier lettuce and 10% more crop (by weight) than the other groups.
That is huge and old news to you by now. But the researchers missed something exciting.
You would expect the non-healer to get the same results as the two control groups not exposed to intention, right? That is not what happened.
HX: Experienced healer. C1, C2: Control groups. NH: Non-healer. 22
The results in the 5th trial are what you would expect across the board. With the non-healer doing the same as the control groups, right? But, in the 3rd trial, the non-healer did way better than the control groups. And in the 4th trial, the non-healer did better than the experienced healer!
If you think winning two out of five sucks, remember the non-healer did not believe they were a healer. The fact there was any difference at all is significant. Using intention is like any other mental muscle. The more you use it, the stronger you get.
More experiments involving regular people and intention are needed. I Look forward to them. If scientists can prove intention works without knowing what it is, you can use intention without knowing what it is too.
Now you know why homemade chicken soup is so good for the soul; it’s the “magic” mom adds without knowing. You do not have to be an experienced healer, Mongolian shaman, or Harry Potter. You can just be you, bless your food and drink with gratitude and clear intention. Enjoy.
Don’t forget to bless your fur babies and their food too. 🐶🐱
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