Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD
You’re not alone. It’s like the movie Groundhog Day. The same (incorrect) information keeps surfacing again and again.
NSC = nonstructural carbohydrates. As the chart above shows, this includes oligosaccharides and fructans. Oligosaccharides and fructans are NOT digestible in the small intestine and do NOT cause a significant insulin rise, e.g., https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22966077/ . Since over 90% of laminitis cases are caused by high insulin, this is an important point.
A massive load of pure fructan given by stomach tube can cause laminitis by the same mechanism as overeating grain does – acid damage to the hind gut wall and a systemic inflammatory response. However, North American hays don’t even come close to providing enough fructan to be a problem, even adding up a whole day’s intake.
Fructan and complex oligosaccharides cannot be digested in the small intestine. Only the simple mono- and disaccharides as well as starch can be digested and absorbed as sugar to cause an insulin increase. It is now well known that the root cause of most cases of laminitis is high insulin.
Simple sugars plus starch are called hydrolyzable carbohydrates [HC]. By definition, they are the digestible carbs. The best estimation of HC in feeds or hays/pasture is ESC (ethanol soluble carbohydrates) plus starch from the hay analysis.
HC = ESC + Starch
NSC, nonstructural carbohydrates, is a botanical measurement. HC is a nutritional one.
If you apply the 10% ceiling to NSC, which is WSC (water soluble carbohydrates) and starch, you will be skipping over some perfectly acceptable hay, causing yourself a lot of extra money in testing, stress, and likely ending up with hay of poor nutritional quality.
A ceiling of 10% for HC is not only easier to meet but also physiologically correct.
Forget about NSC.
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About ECIR Group Inc. Started in 1999, the ECIR Group is the largest field-trial database for PPID and IR in the world and provides the latest research, diagnosis, and treatment information, in addition to dietary recommendations, for horses with these conditions. Even universities do not and cannot compile and follow long term as many in-depth case histories of PPID/IR horses as the ECIR Group.
In 2013 the Equine Cushing’s and Insulin Resistance Group Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation, was approved as a 501(c)3 public charity. Tax deductible contributions and grants support ongoing research, education, and awareness of Equine Cushing’s Disease/PPID and Insulin Resistance.
THE MISSION of the ECIR Group Inc. is to improve the welfare of equines with metabolic disorders via a unique interface between basic research and real-life clinical experience. Prevention of laminitis is the ultimate goal. The ECIR Group serves the scientific community, practicing clinicians, and owners by focusing on investigations most likely to quickly, immediately, and significantly benefit the welfare of the horse.
Figure 1 The Professional Animal Scientist 30 ( 2014 ):140-149 INVITEd REVIEW: Carbohydrate and fat: Considerations for energy and more M. B. Hall *1 and M. L. Eastridge † * US Dairy Forage Research Center, USDA-ARS, Madison, WI 53706; and † Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210 © 2014
Borer KE, Bailey SR, Menzies-Gow NJ, Harris PA, Elliott J, Effect of feeding glucose, fructose, and inulin on blood glucose and insulin concentrations in normal ponies and those predisposed to laminitis. PMID: 22966077 DOI: 10.2527/jas.2011-4236 2012 Sep;90(9):3003-11.
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