Comparison of “Meal Eating” and “Nibbling” on Severity of Alloxan Diabetes.

Summary The food intake and urinary excretion of glucose and NPN were measured daily in alloxan diabetic rats under the conditions of free access to food. The animals were then adapted to force feeding and fed in this manner twice daily the same quantity of diet they had consumed ad libitum. Insulin dosage was kept constant throughout. Under conditions of forced feeding, glycosuria increased by 215% and NPN excretion by 23%. These findings were reproducible when animals were recycled 2 or 3 times, demonstrating that eating patterns, not ebb and flow of severity of diabetes, were responsible for the findings.