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Mice Exposed to Night Light Get Heavy

You’ve tried everything to lose weight: portion control, fasting, liquid diets, even eating meals on a treadmill. Now, a new study suggests that maybe you should try turning out the lights. Because, at least in mice, exposure to light at night leads to weight gain. The work appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Laura Fonken et al., "Light at Night Increases Body Mass by Shifting the Time of Food Intake"]

为了减肥，人们真是用尽千方百计：控制摄入量、禁食、食用流质食物，更有甚者边在跑步机上运动边吃饭……不过，日前一项新研究表明，也许你可以试着把灯关了以助你减肥。至少老鼠在晚上要是暴露在灯光底下活动的话体重会增加。该研究报告发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上。

Obesity is an epidemic. Maybe it’s because we eat too much and spend too much time in our seats. But another factor could be that these days we’re never really in the dark. Streetlamps and indoor light sources now brighten our nights. And that light pollution could be messing with our circadian rhythms, which control not only sleep, but metabolism. In fact, mutant mice that have no circadian clocks tend to be chunky.

肥胖现象相当普遍，有可能是因为人们吃得太多，又常坐在椅子上不起来活动，但还有可能是因为人们很少真正置身漆黑的夜晚。其实街灯、室内灯在为人们照亮黑夜的同时，也会导致人们生理节奏紊乱。而生理节奏不仅控制着人们的睡眠，还控制着人们的新陈代谢。比如无生物钟的变种小鼠身形就趋于矮胖。

To test the connection between photons and fat, scientists took mice and lit up their cages. And they found that mice that were exposed to even dim light at night were chubbier than mice who spent their evenings in the dark. Though they all ate the same amount, the fat mice snacked more when they were less active, perhaps failing to burn off those calories.

为证明光和脂肪之间的联系，科学家在小鼠身上做了个实验。他们将小鼠的笼子照亮，经观察后发现，即使是暴露在昏暗灯光下的小鼠也要比在黑暗中活动的小鼠身形圆润。虽然它们的进食量总量相等，但肥鼠懒起来的时候吃的就多了，可能就没办法燃烧这些热量了。

So maybe skip the night light. Especially the one that lights up when you open up the fridge.

所以晚上还是把灯关掉吧，最好是把冰箱灯给卸了，省得你在夜里偷吃O(∩_∩)O哈哈~

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