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Why We Sleep: An Underappreciated Mechanism

Why we sleep

Why we Sleep: The Most Dangerous Game of Civilization

It is important to understand why we sleep. We often get caught up trying to optimize our lives by making small changes to our lifestyle. We adopt an exercise routine to improve our physiology and change our diet plan to maximize health benefits. However, together, these changes only make up two or three hours of the day. While these are important changes, they are not the most important lifestyle tweaks that you can make. So what change can make even more benefits to your health than these two titans? The answer is sleep. 

Let’s think about this logically. If we follow our biological rhythms, we spend one third of our lives sleeping. This behavior would not have evolved if it was unnecessary; in a predator-filled evolutionary environment, shutting down the body for a large portion of time makes no sense unless it was essential. That being said, what is the most neglected biological behavior in human civilization? Sleep.

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Fasting: The Ideal Diet

intermittent fasting

What is Fasting?

When discussing eating habits, it is important to stick to the science. In this post, we will observe the effects of fasting on human health from an evolutionary standpoint. The evidence present regarding this topic clearly shows how the act of withholding of food is completely essential to maximize not only fat loss, but longevity itself.

Insulin, Energy, and Evolution

From our discussion on human evolution, we know that evolution of large fat stores is what allows our brains to maintain energy during times of famine. After learning this, we discussed the role of insulin in signalling to the body whether fat should be stored or broken down. These two points highlight how our bodies use the energy that they collect in order to stay alive. 

However, this system was not designed to function in a state of energy abundance. In fact, the system was designed for optimal survival in environments prone to famine. What this means is that our bodies are used to famine and bursts of eating, not the lifelong all-you-can-eat buffet that was created by the era of human food production. This makes sense, since humans spent the vast majority of their evolutionary history in prolonged famine conditions.

Homeostasis vs. Resistance

In order for homeostasis to function, it is important that our bodies do not grow resistant to signals. This is accomplished by sending signals in short bursts instead of over a long period of time. In the case of insulin, the constant intake of food results in the body growing a resistance to the hormone, making it less effective. Just like all other hormones, insulin is designed to be released in short bursts for it to accomplish its job. The only way for these bursts to occur is for food to come in in similar short bursts. This is obviously not what happens in the current culture of snacking and many meals a day.

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