PREFEEDING OF HIGH FAT DIET AND RESISTANCE OF RATS TO INTENSE COLD

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Abstract
Three groups of 16 albino rats were fed for 45 days, group I, a normal diet of pellets containing 3.5% fat; group II, a diet containing 17% fat in the form of oil; and group III, a diet containing 17% fat in the form of lard. On exposure to cold, the drop of rectal temperature in group I was faster and more pronounced than in group II or group III. It was shown that the larger amount of fat accumulated in the animals fed a high fat diet could not explain, either as a source of energy reserves or as an insulator, the superiority of these diets in maintaining the rectal temperatures at higher levels in the cold. It is postulated that prefeeding of a high fat diet induces changes in the organism which permit higher sustained rates of heat production in the cold.

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