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The Influence of Dietary Fat on Lactation Performance in Rats

Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Paired-feeding studies, involving equalized calorie intakes, are reported in which lactation performance was measured by the growth of standardized litters and by their composition. In one experiment a diet of natural foods containing approximately 4.5% fat was compared with a similar diet containing approximately 9% fat. The young from the mothers on the high-fat diet made better growth and contained more dry matter and fat in thirteen out of fifteen paired comparisons. Similar results were obtained for protein and calorie content. In a second experiment in which purified diets containing 0.3% and 18% fat were compared the data for the high-fat diet indicated a superiority in growth and in dry matter content in ten out of twelve comparisons, in fat and calorie content in all cases, and in protein in six out of nine cases. A statistical analysis indicated a high degree of significance for the results of both experiments. With the limited feeding practiced, the better lactation performance on the high-fat diet occurred in part, at least, at the expense of the mothers' reserves.