The Effect of an ‘Atherogenic’ Diet Containing Starch or Sucrose upon Carcass Composition and Plasma Lipids in the Rat

Abstract

(1) Male rats of the Lister strain were fed from weaning, or from 20 weeks of age, with ‘atherogenic’ diets containing hydrogenated coconut oil, cholesterol and cholic acid, with either starch or sucrose as the carbohydrate component. (2) These diets produced high levels of plasma cholesterol, phospholipids and triglycerides, and of liver fat. (3) The different carbohydrates produced no difference in growth rates, but sucrose produced a higher level of plasma cholesterol and triglycerides, and of liver fat, than did starch.