How Do Different Diets Affect Glycemic Response in Horses?

The purpose of this experiment was to determine glycemic response in horses fed six different feeds (sweet feed, whole oats, cracked corn, high fiber mix, sweet feed plus oil, alfalfa forage) at three different levels of intake (1.65, 3.31, or 5.51 lb).

Area under the curve indicated differences in glycemic response between low (1.65 lb) and high (5.51 lb) intake levels of all diets combined. Sweet feed and whole oats demonstrated the greatest glycemic response, while alfalfa and sweet feed plus corn oil provided the lowest response. Plotting the glycemic index by feed and level of intake revealed an appreciable drop in the index for whole oats fed at 5.51 lb compared to that at 1.65 lb and relative to glycemic indexes generated for other feeds. Mean glucose was highest for sweet feed, whole oats, and the low starch/high fiber mix and lowest for the alfalfa diet. Peak glucose was similar for all diets except alfalfa forage. Time to peak glucose was greatly increased in the sweet feed plus corn oil diet, while the remaining diets demonstrated similar responses. Increasing level of intake from 1.65 lb to 3.31 lb per feeding increased time to peak glucose by 45 ± 14.1 minutes.

Source:Equinews