Palatable liquid diets for the administration of ethanol (EtOH) to animals have proven to be a major advance for the study of the effects of EtOH consumption under conditions of isocaloric nutrition of the control animals. Using a liquid diet, the original aim of the reported studies was to examine the effect of maternal EtOH consumption during pregnancy on the lipoprotein (Lp) profiles of the adult offspring measured by means of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. However, initial data suggested that compared to a maternal chow diet, the basal maternal liquid diet (without EtOH) had a significant effect on specific serum Lp of the adult offspring. The adult offspring of mothers who had consumed a basal liquid diet without EtOH exhibited significant increases in their plasma triglycerides (TG) and cholesterol content compared to adult offspring whose mothers consumed a chow diet. Further, there were significant increases in the offspring's VLDL and low density Lp (LDL) subfractions' particle number, regardless of whether the maternal liquid diet was ad libitum-fed, pair-fed, or EtOH-containing. The increase in offspring plasma TG was due to increases in specific VLDL subfraction particle numbers and not to increased TG content per particle. Similarly, the increase in plasma cholesterol was the result of elevated level of the very small LDL particles but not to an increased amount of cholesterol per LDL particle. These findings should be further examined in light of the widespread use of liquid diets in research to administer EtOH, especially for studies of fetal alcohol syndrome.