The avoidance of sucrose by thiamine-deficient rats

Rats were fed carbohydrate-free diets without thiamine. Sucrose was offered separately, either before the thiamine was removed, or when it was removed, or at varying periods after it was removed. In the absence of dietary thiamine, sucrose consumption began at a high level, but was then reduced. Thereafter, death due to thiamine deficiency followed at intervals that varied from 4 weeks to 12 months. Survival was shortest in those rats that ate sucrose in largest amounts or at shortest intervals; survival was longest in those rats that avoided sucrose altogether for long periods. Sex or age did not appear to affect survival. The results are interpreted as demonstrating a conflict between the avoidance of sucrose so as to avoid the unpleasant symptoms of thiamine deficiency, and the consumption of sucrose so as to obtain the pleasure of its high palatability.