Abstract
Feeding behavior is thought to be one of the most important homeostatic mechanisms. Several studies have indicated that when animals are deprived of a certain amount of nutritional elements, they ingest more to compensate for the loss. In this study, we investigated whether unbalanced fatty acid composition of maintenance diet affects the choice of fatty acids. Rats were divided into two groups and fed a polyunsaturated fatty acid diet (P-rich diet) or a monounsaturated fatty acid diet (M-rich diet). To habituate the animals to the test procedure, a three-bottle-choice test using one bottle of a 2% sucrose solution and two bottles of water was conducted. Rats in the M-rich group tended to ingest more sucrose solution than rats in the P-rich group. In the test using emulsions of three kinds of triacylglycerol, rats of the M-rich group tended to ingest less. The difference in the fatty acid composition of the triacylglycerol used as the test solution didn’t affect the choice. A two-bottle-choice test between oleic acid (OA) and linoleic acid (LA) showed that rats in both groups ingested more LA and rats in the M-rich group preferred LA. A two-bottle-choice test between LA and linolenic acid (LN) did not produce a statistically significant outcome. The results indicate that dietary fat might affect feeding behavior in rats. However, the difference was very small, particularly when the oil used for the choice test was provided as a triacylglycerol.
