18. A 12-Hour Window for a Healthy Weight

For years, scientists and mothers have been telling their children and highly suspecting that midnight snacking is inadvisable. Therefore, in a new study, tested with mice, proved that they prevented from eating at all hours to avoid obesity and metabolic problems. Researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego first experimented the eating patterns of mice in the laboratory. Some mice consumed high-fat food at the time they wanted to and others, with the same diet, were controlled by an eight hour gap in between meals. The mice that ate all the time soon got chubby and unhealthy, however, the controlled mice gained little weight and some metabolic problems. In their second experiment, scientists fed groups of adult male’s four different diets: high-fructose, high-fat, high-fat and high-sucrose, and regular kibble. Some mice ate whenever they wanted to and others were controlled in gaps of nine, twelve to fifth-teen hours; the restricted mice were allowed to cheat on weekends and eat whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. By the end of the experiment, the restricted mice remained healthy and sleek while the mice that could eat at any time were metabolically ill and obese. Professor Satchidananda Panda came to the conclusion that, “Time-restricted eating didn’t just prevent but also reversed obesity.”

Gretchen Reynolds article has the purpose to inform the readers and ways to prevent eating in an unhealthy way. She notifies the readers that it is not about only what food you eat, but that the time people eat their food also has a great influence in gaining weight. The author’s language is informal so that all who read will understand. The author adds a little bit of humor to her piece which can also to relate to some readers, in the very beginning of the article Reynolds talk about how mothers are most times telling their children not to eat after midnight.  Good examples and comparisons are used through the experiments on mice that the author provides. Noting the readers about how scientists are developing and improving these tests is a way to keep them up to date with something that might affect their lives. Reynolds does not choose a side between what she thinks is right or wrong. She uses many quotes from scientists and research from the experiments, which are great resources for her piece. In the end her piece of “advice” is to prevent exaggeration in pretty much anything. Her article was well written and had good and accurate resources; and it is also an article that could help some readers improve something’s in their lives.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/a-12-hour-window-for-a-healthy-weight/?_r=0