My friends and I have a habit of exchanging morning greetings on mobile phones.
And this message came from a friend: "Ant never has dreams because they never rest. Butterflies don't celebrate a birthday since they live only 47 days. Snails can sleep for up to 3 years.
"So remember, all are special creatures, and let's appreciate the true meaning of the word thankful."
I sat up, with words going through my mind in bold fonts and exclamation marks, and had to find out more.
It is true — certain land snails can enter a state of deep dormancy (aestivation during hot climate or hibernation during winter) for up to three years to survive extreme drought, heat, or cold. During this time, they seal themselves in their shells with mucus to conserve moisture and energy.
Imagine this mechanism.
And during these three years, they are not consuming food.
So how do they survive?
Apparently, snails slow their metabolism dramatically, effectively "shutting down" until favourable conditions return.
More than 195 health conditions are related to obesity.
Metabolism dictates how the body converts food into energy, acting as a key driver in weight management. According to health experts, obesity often results when caloric intake exceeds expenditure, a process worsened by slow metabolic rates, hypothyroidism, or hormonal imbalances like Cushing syndrome. While obesity can lead to metabolic dysfunction (eg, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes), metabolically healthy obesity can exist, though it may change over time.
Obesity is characterised by reduced lipid oxidation and low resting energy expenditure (REE). When the body's metabolic rate is lower, less energy is burned at rest, making weight gain easier.
Now, none of this is impacting the snail when it goes into a resting period to protect itself from a drought.
They stay sealed by producing, apparently, a protective, mucus-based layer called an epiphragm to seal their shell opening, reducing water loss.
Now, maybe that is good for our skin, too.
On closer research, I found out that they are not actually "sleeping," as we know it, and instead, this is actually a specialised survival mechanism.
Oh, but snails do sleep quite a bit — about 13-15 hours if it is an active snail.
This survival ability, they say, is most common in specific land snail species facing harsh environments.
Their motion is known as pedal locomotion, which involves secreting a lubricating mucus to reduce friction, allowing them to traverse diverse surfaces or climb vertically. It is their muscular foot that makes all the difference.
The entire underside acts as a single, muscular foot that ripples to propel the body forward. From tail to head, they move in pedal waves as the muscles contract and relax. As they glide, the snails secrete mucus, creating a smooth surface; thus, they can easily climb and cover uneven terrain.
So butterflies have always been used as metaphors. Now we need to compare the qualities of snails. Slow as a snail, you might have heard, but did we know that snails are methodical, focusing on stability over speed?
I feel better for everyone who is looked down upon as a slow driver.
And now I wanted to check on the ants.
Don't they sleep? Are they sleep-deprived? They seem to be on the move constantly.
This is what I found: 'Ants do rest and sleep, but they use a polyphasic sleep pattern consisting of hundreds of short "power naps" rather than one long sleep period. Worker ants take roughly 250 naps daily, lasting about a minute each, totalling nearly 5 hours of sleep, while queen ants sleep longer, averaging nine hours through 6-minute naps.'
So when that working ant stopped for a while, was he taking a short nap?
Now we need to add an ant nap along with a cat nap.
Scientists explain that ants do not experience typical "loss of muscle tone" or "reduced sensitivity to stimuli" in the same way humans do when sleeping.
It probably has to do with the duration of the sleep.
Does sleep deprivation cause obesity?
Yes, according to experts, chronic sleep deprivation is a significant risk factor for obesity.
Sleeping less than seven hours a night disrupts hormones that regulate hunger (increasing ghrelin, decreasing leptin), causes higher stress levels (cortisol), and reduces physical activity (because we feel tired), all of which promote weight gain and fat accumulation.
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