When it comes to eating, when we consume our calories may turn out to be a pivotal determinant of health and body weight. Mounting science now supports the idea that eating over a longer period during the 24 hour day, particularly into the later evening hours, is decidedly more fattening and metabolically disruptive than restricting food intake to an 8 to 12 hour period (which was typical for our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestors). Researchers from the Salk Institute had previously published research that found that mice fed a high-fat diet, but restricted to consuming their food for only eight hours a day were healthier and leaner than mice who otherwise consumed the same food and the exact same number of calories, but with unlimited access to the food over the entire day. Curious to learn more, the Salk researchers conducted a whole series of new experiments that confirmed their previous findings while offering some fascinating new insights. For the new experiments, the scientists were interested to find out if time restricted eating was beneficial regardless of the type of diet consumed and if it benefited both obese and normal weight mice. Click here for the provacative highlights of this compelling series of experiments.  (Cell Metabolism, December 2014