A fresh study has linked a high-starch diet in horses to greater ulceration in the lower acid-producing region of the stomach. It was also shown to cause inflammation further down the gastrointestinal tract, in the jejunum and pelvic flexure, a section of the horse's large colon.
Dr. Elena Colombino from the University of Turin in Italy led a study that compared the gut health of horses fed high-starch and high-fiber diets. Nine horses were fed a high-starch diet and 10 were fed a high-fiber diet. The average age of the 19 horses in the study was 14.3 months.
All horses used in the study were based in Italy on a large meat-production farm. Each was fed first-cut meadow hay during the 72-day study. The group fed a high-starch diet was given 17.6 pounds of a starch rich feed while the high-fiber diet horses were given 7.7 pounds of high-starch feed.
The stomach and parts of the intestinal tracts were removed from microscopic evaluation. The researchers found that the horses fed the high-starch diet had more severe lesions in the glandular part of the stomach and greater inflammation elsewhere in their intestinal tract than the horses fed the high-fiber diet.
The team reported that results of this study are in line with others that have concluded that a high-starch diet is an important risk factor for ulcers in the squamous cell region. High-starch diets require the horse to chew less, so less saliva is produced; saliva buffers the stomach against gastric acids.
Read more at HorseTalk.
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