Novel food preferences in thiamine-deficient rats.

Abstract
Thiamine-deficient rats choosing between a novel diet and a familiar diet invariably showed a marked preference for the novel diet. If the novel diet contained thiamine, this preference was maintained over a 10-day period. If the novel diet was deficient in thiamine, and thiamine was added to the familiar diet, subjects switched from an initial novel diet preference to a familiar diet preference after 3-4 days. Control rats showed no preferences for either diet. The exclusive initial ingestlon of a novel diet may facilitate the development of a sustained, learned preference.

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