From Joe: Can your own stereotypes cause you to misunderstand your weight and fitness issues?
When the causal network of a medical disorder is poorly understood, social stereotypes readily come into action. Recently, for example, some Chicago sports commentators fretted that Bulls star Derrick Rose’s ulcers signaled that he had become too emotionally intense. The ulcers-are-caused-by-stress stereotype had gone into high gear. It took a few days for the relationship between ulcers and bacteria to make its way to the public.
Lifehacker Whitson Gordon reminds us that sleep deprivation – and, by implication, insomnia – can lead to heavier eating: