Body Weight and Adiposity Changes of Obese Gilts Provided Ad Libitum Ground Beef Versus High Carbohydrate Diets

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of providing a red meat (GB; cooked ground beef; 63% lean) or high-carbohydrate diet (CON) on growth performance and body composition of obese gilts as a biomedical model for humans. Treatment differences were observed for total intake (kg consumed/d; P = 0.05), average caloric intake (calculated kcals/d; P = 0.003), BW change (P = 0.012), and a treatment by harvest day interaction (P = 0.001) for pancreas weight. Subcutaneous backfat measured adjacent the 10th thoracic vertebra expressed as a percentage change from d0 tended (P = 0.09) to be less in GB gilts. There was no evidence of cardiac ventricular inflammation across treatments (P > 0.21). Despite consuming more total feed and more calories, the GB gilts gained less BW and deposited less subcutaneous fat over 84 days. More research is needed to further understand the physiological effect of food on human nutrition and health.