Horse Nutrition – Carbohydrates (Sugar)

Carbohydrate is a word that describes sugar. Other words include saccharide, monosaccharide, disaccharide, polysaccharide, glycogen, starch, cellulose, soluble fiber, non-soluble fiber, structural carbohydrate and non-structural carbohydrate. All sugar is made up of the same 3 elements: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Glucose and fructose are both C6 H12 O6 but glucose has a ring of 6 carbons and fructose is a ring of 5 carbons. This is incredibly significant in how the body uses these sugars with fructose more efficient in creating body fat and exhausting the cell to the point of death.

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The purpose of feeding carbohydrates are two fold. One is to restore the lost glycogen in the muscles and liver when the stored glucose there is use for movement and for metabolism. This is a continuous process throughout life. The second is to create body fat for the upcoming winter. There is no other reason for consuming carbohydrates.

The uptake of carbohydrates from the food, through the gut wall and the movement of it through the body and into the cell requires the hormone insulin. This hormone not only is essential for all of this but it also prevents the body from using any body fat for fuel. I call it the bully on the playground.

You can read more about carbohydrates in the nutrition course and the “Related Material” tab.

Nutrition In Horses – a HorseTalk™ Webcast (Dec 7, 2015)