To identify the physiological link between fat and ethanol, rats trained chronically to drink 9% ethanol or drink only water were given a 1-h meal test with 25 kcal of the HFD or LFD. Measurements of ethanol or water intake were taken 2 h after the end of the meal and, in rats that consumed at least 16 kcal of their respective diet, trunk blood was collected for measurements of circulating TG levels. Focusing on the effect of the meal independent of what the rats were drinking, the HFD meal produced a significant increase in TG compared to the LFD meal in both ethanol- and water-drinking rats (+142%; F(1,16) = 61.89, p < 0.0001) (Fig. 2). Focusing on the effect of ethanol vs. water independent of what the rats had as a meal, the ethanol also produced a significant increase in TG (+30%; F(1, 16) = 4.66, p < 0.05). An interaction effect [F(1,16) = 4.66, p < 0.05] revealed a synergy between ethanol and fat in raising TG. This was evident in the considerably larger increase in TG levels
