How inflammatory is your horses diet?
Michael Ball DVM says more animals (and probably people) die from an inflammatory disease than all other disease processes combined, yet without an adequate inflammatory response by the body’s cells, the living organism could not survive for long. The inflammatory response is necessary for fighting infection and the normal healing of damaged tissue. Diet has been identified as one of the most important contribitors to inflammation. Certain food will create an inflammatory response, foods that are highly processed, high in sugar, oils & fats that have little or no omega 3 can trigger inflammation in your horses body.
Low-grade chronic inflammation has been seen to by implicated in a HUGE range of conditions, including but certainly not limited to:
Insulin resistance, PPID, laminitis and
- Arthritis
- Asthma- COPD
- Allergies
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Depression
- Cancer
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Autoimmune disease
Stress, medication and body weight contribute to levels of inflammation. However what we eat and drink plays a huge role in perpetuating the inflammatory response. And it can help mitigate it, so our defense force only acts when it is really needed, like in injury or infection. We need inflammation Now don’t get us wrong – inflammatory reactions in the body are NORMAL, and needed (as mentioned). Our bodies are designed to contend with some inflammation – we just don’t want to be inflamed all the time, with nothing to counter the response.
Various foods have been shown to either encourage or discourage inflammatory activity.
Foods that can cause inflammation- (avoid feeding)
Vegetable & seed oils.
Cereals-, wheat, corn, soy.
Sugar from certain grasses and products like molasses and corn syrup.
Highly processed feed.
Food to fight inflammation include-(feed daily)
Omegas 3’s like chia & flax
Sprouted seeds
Native grasses
Herbs including turmeric
keep it real R.Kelly
sources- thehorse.com and thatsugarfilm.com
