[Avodah] Self-control fatigue

[Kenneth Miller via Avodah]

On Areivim, SY Scher wrote:

> A now large body of research shows that we can have "self-control
> fatigue". Professor Roy Baumeister and his colleagues have
> demonstrated experimentally that when people have previously had
> to exert self-control, their ability to do so goes down. They
> have also showed physiological correlates -- will-power/self-
> control takes energy, and after exerting a lot of control, our
> blood glucose level is lower. Replenishment of glucose (for
> example, by drinking lemonade sweetened with sugar, but not
> lemonade with artificial sweeteners) raises self-control ability
> back up. 

> We all know that following the halacha often requires a good deal
> of willpower, and I would imagine that for charedi adolescent boys,
> that would be even more strongly so. So, the ability to control
> the yetzer in outside situations may well be reduced. The muscle
> is just too worn out! 

Is there any way fit this in with the idea that many mitzvos - kashrus
in particular and chukim in general - seem designed to train us to *have*
self-control?

Akiva Miller