Diets high in fat can throw off the body's internal clock, a new study by researchers at Northwestern University has found.

    The study, published in Cell Metabolism, found that mice fed a fatty diet for two weeks showed significant behavioural changes. Their sleep/wake cycle lengthened suggesting the brain mechanism that controls the timing of activity and rest had been affected.

    When kept in 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness the mice – which are nocturnal – began consuming more food when the lights were on as early as the first week.

    They also displayed altered activity in key genes that control the roughly 24-hour circadian rhythm.

    美國西北大學(Northwestern University)研究員的一項新研究發現，攝取高脂肪食物可能會擾亂人體內部生物鐘。

    該項研究發表在《細胞代謝》(Cell Metabolism)上。研究發現，攝入兩周高脂肪食物的老鼠表現出明顯的行為變化。它們的作息周期變長，表明控制作息時間的大腦機能受到影響。

    研究人員將老鼠放在光照下12小時，黑暗中12小時。在有光照的情況下，老鼠（喜歡在夜間活動）開始攝入更多的食物，這種現象早在第一周就表現出來了。

    它們控制著大致24小時生理節奏的關鍵基因活動也表現出變化。