Why cold helps mice eat acorns
Cold temperature improves tannin tolerance in a granivorous rodent.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Mice that got cold could process toxic acorns better than mice that stayed warm, because their livers worked better.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
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Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Mice that got cold could process toxic acorns better than mice that stayed warm, because their livers worked better.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 59 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
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Claims (4)
The faster a mouse’s liver can process a sedative drug, the better it can digest protein from tannin-rich acorns — meaning liver speed tells us how well the mouse can handle its food.
Plants produce a diverse array of secondary metabolites as evolutionary adaptations to deter herbivory, many of which are bioactive and toxic to mammalian physiology.
When it's cold, these mice can handle eating acorns with lots of tannins better because their livers work more efficiently; in warmer weather, their livers struggle more with the same food.
These mice eat more acorns in winter because cold weather helps them digest the bitter, toxic tannins better — so temperature helps them survive when other food is scarce.