The placebo effect is so powerful it works even when the patient knows they're getting a placebo. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/dec/22/placebo-effec

The placebo effect is so powerful it works even when the patient knows they're getting a placebo. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/dec/22/placebo-effect-patients-sham-drug https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/dec/22/placebo-effe... The things you mentioned have been studied scientifically and have been found wanting. The most likely scenario here is the placebo effect. This is why doctors don't complain too much when their patients take on the more relatively harmless fake medicine. If it makes you subjectively better, isn't causing real harm, you aren't avoiding real medical treatment (like the chemo you might need), and isn't bankrupting you... then go for it.