Healthy Living DIY

Since diet and exercise didn't seem to account for the differences, the researchers supposed that lack of sleep might change a person's metabolism. And the slower metabolism would account for the weight gain. Either that, or perhaps well-rested people fidget more, burning extra calories. No kidding.

I wonder if they considered stress? I didn't see the original research, but nothing I saw in the printed story implied that lack of sleep actually causes fatness. Rather, they occur together. This is a perception trick we have to watch out for in life -- the perception that things that occur together cause one another. It may be true, of course, but also perhaps not.

What if some other factor (like a high-stress lifestyle) contributes both to lack of sleep and fatness? What if stress is the cause of both?

It is possible. After all, we know that stress causes all kinds of hormonal changes, which presumably affect our metabolism as well as other things. (Think cortisol, a stress hormone associated with fatness.)

And isn't it also true that under stress, most of us don't sleep as well?

Yep, I thought so.

So anyway, it's just a theory. But considering all the other stuff stress reeks havoc with, why not bust some now? If you haven't gotten your hands on my f*r*e*e download "Transform Stress Into Power," yet, go to http://www.wordcures.com and pick it up. Yours for the asking!

Signing off to get some shut-eye ;-).

Elizabeth