Abstract
This study was conducted to clarify whether preferential fat intake by adult rats could be linked to fat-feeding of rats during the growth period using high-fat diet-1 (HFD-1) and high-fat diet-2 (HFD-2) with added cellulose to maintain the same energy concentration as a low-fat diet (LFD). Three groups of 4-week-old male Fischer 344 rats were fed either LFD (LFD group), HFD-1 (HFD-1 group) or HFD-2 (HFD-2 group). After 8 weeks, the LFD group was further divided into two groups. One of the LFD groups and the HFD-1 group were placed on a self-selection regimen of LFD and HFD-1 (pair I), and the other LFD group and the HFD-2 group were placed on a self-selection regimen of LFD and HFD-2 (pair I) for 4 weeks. No significant difference in calorie intake or body weight was observed among the groups throughout the experimental period. When rats were placed on a self-selection regimen, the ratio of HFD-1 dietary intake for rats fed LFD and HFD-1 in pair I was 80% and 55%, respectively, and that of HFD-2 intake for rats fed LFD and HFD-2 in pair I was 20% and 27%, respectively. These findings indicate that (1) HFD-1 has food properties preferable to those of HFD-2, (2) in HFD-1, fat-feeding during the growth period affects the food choice of adult rats, (3) HFD-2 guards against fat overfeeding.
