Those who eat at regularly scheduled times may have an easier time keeping off weight than those whose eating schedules are random, a study published in the May 16 online edition of Cell Metabolism said.
The study tested two groups of mice: one group's eating patterns were not restricted, leading to a low amplitude of metabolic and circadian rhythms; while the other group's were restricted, leading to a high amplitude of metabolic and circadian rhythms.
The reduction in metabolic amplitude led to a series of differences between the two groups. Both groups were fed the same high-fat diet.
The freely munching mice demonstrated higher levels of adiposity, glucose intolerance, leptin resistance (leptin is a protein which helps regulate fat), liver pathology and inflammation, while demonstrating lower levels of motor coordination. They also gained more weight than the restricted mice.
"Every organ has a clock . . . "When we eat randomly, those genes aren't on completely or off completely," lead author Satchidananda Panda, of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., said in a journal news release.
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