Anthropometric and Biochemical Parameters of Rats Treated with a Low-carbohydrate Diet

Abstract

The aim of this study was to induce obesity in rats and then feed them a carbohydrate-restricted diet and assess its effects on anthropometric and biochemical parameters. Forty-eight weanling male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: Control (n = 18); Experimental 1 (n = 15) and Experimental 2 (n = 15). The experiment was divided into two phases of 60 days each. For the first 60 days, the Control Group received a control diet and Experimental Groups 1 and 2 received an obesity-inducing diet containing 17% lipid, 0.5% cholic acid and 1% cholesterol. Diet and water were offered ad libitum and the animals were weighed three times a week. Over the final 60 days, Experimental Group 1 started to receive the control diet and Experimental Group 2 started to receive a carbohydrate-restricted diet containing 40% protein and 50% lipid. During phase I, the animals of the Experimental Groups showed greater weight gain, hepatic steatosis, increased retroperitoneal and perigonadal tissue and increased total cholesterol and LDL. During phase II, Experimental Group 2 showed a higher weight gain, hepatic steatosis, and higher total and LDL cholesterol values compared to Control and to Experimental Group 1. We conclude that the goal of first phase, which was to induce the rats to obesity through fat diet containing cholesterol and cholic acid was hit because was a increasing body weight, retroperitoneal and perigonadal fat and hepatic steatosis. The carbohydrate-restricted diet was not effective in terms of weight loss, with the presence of hepatic steatosis and increased retroperitoneal and perigonadal tissue Keywords Fatty Liver, Weight Gain, Dr. Atkins' Diet 1. Introduction The world Health Organization (WHO) defines overweight and obesity as excessive fat accumulation that may impair health ¹. The Brazilian Ministry of Health complements this definition by stating that the immediate determinant