Pillars Are Interdependent
Statement
Why it matters
Realised's entire architecture rests on this --- you
can't fix sleep while ignoring the system it's embedded in
Why Foundational
Foundational because the systems-coupling has overwhelming evidence — sleep affects glucose tolerance, exercise affects sleep architecture, diet affects mood, mood affects movement, all four affect inflammation and HPA-axis tone. Sleep deprivation alone reduces testosterone, impairs glucose handling, increases inflammation, and degrades emotional regulation — a single deficit propagates across all four pillars. Realised's entire architecture rests on this: you can't fix sleep while ignoring the system it's embedded in.
What would change our mind
• We'd revise it if replicated intervention studies showed that repairing a deficit in one pillar leaves the others unchanged, for example if restoring sleep made no difference to food choices, mood or training capacity. The pillars would then be correlated features of a lifestyle rather than a coupled system.
• We'd narrow it if the coupling held between some pairs of pillars and not others. The principle would then name the links that hold instead of claiming one system across all four.
• What would NOT move us: someone who trains hard on a poor diet and does well for a while, which the principle already expects to work temporarily and fail in the long term; single short studies of one pillar in isolation; or evidence that the strength of the coupling varies between people, since the principle claims the coupling exists and makes no claim that it is equal for everyone.
Sources (5)
- Nedeltcheva AV, et al. (2010), Annals of Internal Medicine. (n=10 crossover) — matched calories, 5.5 vs 8.5 h: fat loss −55%, lean-mass loss +60% on short sleep. (cited in: sleep-for-training-recovery-and-adaptation)↗
- Milewski MD, et al. (2014), J Pediatr Orthop. (n=112) — <8 h sleep ~1.7× injury risk; ≥8 h 68% less likely to be injured. (cited in: sleep-for-training-recovery-and-adaptation)↗
- Baglioni, C., et al. (2011). Insomnia as a predictor of depression: A meta-analytic evaluation of longitudinal epidemiological studies. Journal of Affective Disorders, 135(1–3), 10–19. Pooled OR 2.60 (95% CI 1.98–3.42), 21 longitudinal studies. (Academic/government funded.) (cited in: sleep-mood-connection)↗
- Irwin, M.R., et al. (2021). Prevention of Incident and Recurrent Major Depression in Older Adults With Insomnia: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. n=291; HR 0.51 (95% CI 0.29–0.88); NNT 7.3; sustained-remission adjusted HR 0.17. (Funded by NIH/National Institute on Aging, grant R01 AG026364 — government.) (cited in: sleep-mood-connection)↗
- Noetel M, et al. (2024). "Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials." BMJ. (Independent/academic network meta-analysis — no funding, no competing interests declared.) — 218 studies / 14,170 participants; walking/jogging g = −0.63, yoga −0.55, strength −0.49, mixed aerobic −0.43, tai chi/qigong −0.42; SSRI alone −0.26, exercise + SSRI −0.55; intensity dose-response (vigorous −0.74); only 1/218 low risk of bias; confidence low/very-low (CINeMA). (cited in: exercise-for-mood-dose-response)↗