Altered acceptability of and preference for sugar solutions by diabetic rats is normalized by high-fat diet.

Two experiments examined the ingestive responses of streptozotocin-diabetic rats fed low-fat or high-fat diets to glucose, fructose, sucrose and maltose solutions in brief (30 min) intake tests. In Experiment 1, one-bottle acceptability tests were used whereas two-bottle preference tests were used in Experiment 2. Three main findings resulted from these studies. Firstly, diabetic rats fed the low-fat diet displayed a reduced acceptance of and preference for all concentrated sugar solutions. Secondly, glucose consumption patterns of diabetic rats fed the low-fat diet were distinctly different from their responses to the other sugars. Thirdly feeding high-fat diets, either high or low in carbohydrate, normalized the responses of diabetic rats to the sugar solutions. The results suggest that feeding high-fat diets to diabetic rats normalizes their responses to sugar solutions because of reductions in hunger and thirst associated with the provision of a utilizable source of calories and an improvement in body fluid balance.