Dietary self-selection in insulin-injected hamsters

Dietary self-selection in chronically insulin-treated golden hamsters.

“…Nor can the failure of insulin-treated hamsters to selectively increase their carbohydrate intake be attributed merely to unpalatability of the pure carbohydrate source, that is, the sugar cubes. Hamsters maintained on a regimen of high-protein chow and sugar cubes, without Crisco available, consumed an average of 2.2 g/day of sugar, thus deriving more than one-third of their total caloric intake from sugar cubes and almost half from carbohydrates in general (DiBattista, unpublished observations, 1985). Hamsters in this experiment, however, consumed a scant 0.30 g/day of sugar under normal conditions, increased their sugar intake to only 0.59 g/day while hyperphagic, and thus derived only 11% of their total caloric intake from carbohydrate during the period of insulin-induced hyperphagia.…”

“…This pattern of carbohydrate preference is, of course, entirely consistent both with the glucostatic theory (Mayer, 1955) and with Richter's concept of adaptive dietary choice (Richter, 1942/43), because, of the three principal dietary sources of energy (carbohydrate, fat, and protein), carbohydrate would most efficiently and rapidly counteract the insulin-induced hypoglycemia. It is interesting then that hamsters maintained on a self-selection diet do not demonstrate a selective hunger for carbohydrate in response to the acute administration of regular insulin, although they do increase their total caloric consumption under these circumstances (DiBattista & Helm, 1985). However, the glucoprivic effects of regular insulin last only for a period of hours, and adaptive changes in food selection patterns can occur rather gradually in response to prolonged alterations in carbohydrate metabolism (Bartness & Rowland, 1983; Kanarek & Ho, 1984; Richter & Schmidt, 1941; Richter, Schmidt, & Malone, 1945).…”