Why Rats Don't Have Beer Bellies
Why Rats Don't Have Beer Bellies
Feb. 4, 2005 - Call it the Super Bowl diet: When the humble lab rat drinks a brewsky or two, he (or she) stays trim by cutting other sources of calories, a new study shows.
The new rat research sheds light on the internal "stop" signals that rats obey - but we all-too-human people don't.
More than 50 years ago, scientists noticed that Americans tend to consider alcoholic beverages as a drug, not as a source of nutrition and calories. Since then, researchers have studied humans and animals, finding that rats instinctively manage their weight by not eating as much when they get calories from alcohol. Humans seem to ignore those internal stop signs.
Of course, things aren't quite so simple for humans, notes lead researcher Neil Rowland, PhD, in a news release. His report appears in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior.
There's the whole sobriety issue, he notes. If you cut back on food, the brewskies have a dangerous effect on driving. Also, humans fall prey to the psychological bombardment of social expectations and cute advertising campaigns.
"Behavior in humans is complicated ... it's difficult to say no," he notes. But those brewskies - plus party food -- factor into the human waistline. We know that's not getting any smaller, says Rowland, who is a professor of psychology at the University of Florida at Gainesville.
In their lab experiments, Rowland and his colleagues monitored the food, fluid, and alcohol intake of six male and five female rats over several days in three separate experiments. Researchers made the alcohol more palatable by adding it to decarbonated, non-alcoholic beer. In a separate test, they mixed alcohol with a sweet gelatin.
Both male and female rats cut back on their calories from food. They kept their overall calorie intake the same during the experiments even though they had access to plenty of food, fresh water, and good-tasting alcohol, Rowland reports.
"It tells people to watch what they are eating," Rowland says. "Outside factors are overriding the natural signals that we've eaten enough or have had too much to drink. That's not a novel concept, but it is a good description of what's happening."
Some folks stand by the buffet table, putting down plenty of chips and booze, but they need to get a grip, he says. "The rats can count these calories very well. People [need] to think about these internal signs ... eat one less sandwich and have one less drink."
Why Rats Don't Have Beer Bellies
Rats Know What to Do: We Should, Too
Feb. 4, 2005 - Call it the Super Bowl diet: When the humble lab rat drinks a brewsky or two, he (or she) stays trim by cutting other sources of calories, a new study shows.
The new rat research sheds light on the internal "stop" signals that rats obey - but we all-too-human people don't.
More than 50 years ago, scientists noticed that Americans tend to consider alcoholic beverages as a drug, not as a source of nutrition and calories. Since then, researchers have studied humans and animals, finding that rats instinctively manage their weight by not eating as much when they get calories from alcohol. Humans seem to ignore those internal stop signs.
Of course, things aren't quite so simple for humans, notes lead researcher Neil Rowland, PhD, in a news release. His report appears in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior.
There's the whole sobriety issue, he notes. If you cut back on food, the brewskies have a dangerous effect on driving. Also, humans fall prey to the psychological bombardment of social expectations and cute advertising campaigns.
"Behavior in humans is complicated ... it's difficult to say no," he notes. But those brewskies - plus party food -- factor into the human waistline. We know that's not getting any smaller, says Rowland, who is a professor of psychology at the University of Florida at Gainesville.
Rats Eschew the Brew After a Few
In their lab experiments, Rowland and his colleagues monitored the food, fluid, and alcohol intake of six male and five female rats over several days in three separate experiments. Researchers made the alcohol more palatable by adding it to decarbonated, non-alcoholic beer. In a separate test, they mixed alcohol with a sweet gelatin.
Both male and female rats cut back on their calories from food. They kept their overall calorie intake the same during the experiments even though they had access to plenty of food, fresh water, and good-tasting alcohol, Rowland reports.
"It tells people to watch what they are eating," Rowland says. "Outside factors are overriding the natural signals that we've eaten enough or have had too much to drink. That's not a novel concept, but it is a good description of what's happening."
Some folks stand by the buffet table, putting down plenty of chips and booze, but they need to get a grip, he says. "The rats can count these calories very well. People [need] to think about these internal signs ... eat one less sandwich and have one less drink."
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