A study found that about 40% of Americans pray for health improvements, and experimental research has explored how religious thoughts might affect health behaviors. One experiment found that priming thoughts of God increased perceived divine control and healing expectations — but the research showing this then leads to worse dietary choices comes from a single experimental study and hasn't been widely replicated. The basic finding about prayer's prevalence in American health practices is solid. However, the specific causal chain — that religious belief reduces motivation for practical health behaviors like eating well — is based on limited evidence. Before concluding that faith-based healing expectations actually cause people to make worse food choices, researchers would need to confirm these results in larger, more diverse populations with different study designs.