Want to look more attractive? Get a good night's sleep. People are perceived as being less attractive and more unhealthy when they're sleep-deprived than when they're well-rested, according to a study published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal. Swedish researchers photographed 23 volunteers on two occasions: Once, after getting eight hours of sleep, and again after being kept awake for 31 hours following five hours of sleep. None of the participants wore makeup, and all were equally clean-shaven. More than 60 untrained observers then rated all of the photos, and participants were judged to be 4 percent less attractive, 6 percent less healthy, and 19 percent more tired when they were sleep-deprived. "We propose that sleep is a cheap and effective beauty treatment, both acutely and in the long-term," lead researcher John Axelsson told MSNBC.com. "Sleep should be seen as the body's natural beauty treatment and a clear alternative or complement to other beauty treatments."
At the beginning, the goal seems innocent, smart even: a vow to eat more whole grains, or more fruits and vegetables. But healthy eating can turn rigid and confining, wiping out whole categories of food one by one—first anything with additives, perhaps, then maybe nonorganic produce, and then another and another. It can become decidedly unhealthy. The focus on quality and purity can deteriorate into orthorexia, a term coined in 1996 by physician Steven Bratman to describe a "fixation on righteous eating." Like anorexia and bulimia, it can wreak serious damage on the health of someone trapped in the obsession, U.S. News reports.
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