No More Late Night Snacking

On September 3, 2009 researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois published findings that could be heading many late-night snackers off at the pass. The group of scientist at Northwestern conducted tests to determine if the specific time of day a person ate in any way effect weight gain. Although the studies right now are limited to the effects on mice, not humans, the findings are still very eye opening and strongly suggests putting those midnight snacks to rest for good.

IN the Northwestern University study, the researchers experimented with feeding groups of mice during their “wrong” eating time. This is the time of day when normally these mice would be sleeping. The other groups of mice were fed during their normal awake hours, when the would normally eat. The findings of this study, which were published in the International Journal of Obesity, showed that even though both groups of mice were fed identical amounts of food and exercised the exact same amount, the mice that were fed during their “wrong” time weighed 7.8 percent more that the mice who were fed during their normal feeding times.

These findings could have a dramatic impact not only on how we understand the body, but how we understand the causes of obesity. The findings went on to comment that “Simply modifying the time of feeding alone can greatly affect body weight.” With more research sure to come, finding the best and worst times for a person to eat could become a powerful tool in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.