Self Selection of Diet

Abstract

Of 4 carbohydrates tested in an experiment where rats were allowed to choose the components of a diet, lactose was avoided, but sucrose, starch, and dextrin were accepted to various degrees. The appetites for various carbohydrates were concluded to be largely independent of appetite for casein, inversely proportional to the intake of fat, independent (except that for lactose) of nutritional significance, dependent on the method of offering the choice, and independent of each other. Rats appeared to relish a change in the carbohydrate portion of their ration.