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The timing of meals could be a key factor
in making jet-lag more bearable.
While the study looked at hungry rats, and not weary people, researchers
say their findings on how the body clock ticks could be applied to long-distance
travelers and shift-workers who have their sleep patterns disturbed.
While the main body clock
is located in the brain and keeps time based on daylight and
darkness, there are also secondary clocks in the body's organs. In experiments
with rats, the investigators found that putting the animals on a strict
feeding schedule altered the "clocks"
in their livers. This shift in the liver clock occurred without any change
in the brain's master clock, the report indicates.
Research has long shown differences in how food
restriction affects the body clocks
of animals and humans. The time that food is available, rather
than the light-dark cycle, can dominate in animals. Humans' biological
rhythms, however, are more stable.
The researchers believe it is important to maintain
the same number of hours between meals, regardless of work
hours. And, he said, no matter what time workers rise, they should treat
it as breakfast.
Science January 19, 2001;291:490-493
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