Restricted feeding and incidence of activity-stress ulcers in the rat

Rats housed in running-wheel activity cages and fed 1 h daily exhibited excessive running and subsequently died revealing large stomach ulcers. However, prior experience with a 1-h feeding schedule for 15 days before exposure to the activity-stress procedure did significantly extend survival time. A second study illustrated that feeding schedules of.5, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 h daily did not yield differences in terms of stomach ulcers or survival time, but a 3-h daily feeding did significantly reduce ulcer incidence and increase survival time.