[Recovery after fasting in the rat placed either on spontaneous diet choice or on imposed diet conditions]

During recovery from a five days' fasting, rats fed with separately presented glucids, proteins and lipids, show a 22 days' increase of the total caloric intake, and thus the fasting caloric lack is exactly compensated. On the contrary, rats fed with choice between proteins or glucids-lipids mixture (with various ratios) do not show such an increase, and thus do not compensate. The conclusion is, that the alimentary conditions are determinant in these kinds of experimentations.