AbstractWe investigated the effect of rice and salty rice diets on the physical growth and on theconsti‐tution of urinary steroids in Swiss/ICR mice. The following three kinds of diets were employed in the feeding experiment: 1) standard diet; 2) rice diet; and 3) salty rice diet. Long‐term maintenance of mice on both rice and salty rice diets led to a relative increase of tetrahydrocortisol associated with a concomitant decrease of androgen, progestin, and cholesterol in urine. Evidence was presented to indicate that the activity of endogenous hydrocortisone in mice could be augmented by an increased intake of sodium chloride alone; there was also evidence that the glandular stomach of a young mouse drinking physiological saline is highly sensitive to a sup‐pressive action of hydrocortisone. We concluded that the two experimental diets produced a state of catabolic glucocorticoid excess combined with a deficiency of anabolic androgen and progestin. Mineralocorticoid status was not examined. In the salty rice diet, a markedly lower weight gain was observed, whereas in the rice diet, in general, no significant weight changes were observed.