Re: Corn Oil

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• Next message: Blankenship, Ann: "American River"
• Previous message: Dawn Packard: "ridecamp-d Digest V97 #684 -Reply"

To start, a VERY small biochem lesson on cholesterol (not
all-inclusive):

Cholesterol is required to form cell membranes, hormones, etc. in the
body... just can't live without it, so one of the liver's duties in life
is to produce it. And that it does in enough quantities to sustain the
body. Also of note, cholesterol can be obtained through animal sources
of food only, not plant.

Lipoproteins carry cholesterol and triglycerides through the
bloodstream, and are also produced by the liver. Low density
lipoproteins (LDL) carry the majority of cholesterol in the body for use
by cells. Some returns to the liver, but if there's too much LDL
cholesterol floating around, then the cholersterol may be deposited and
form plaques on arterial walls. Heart disease and high blood pressure
can occur when enough plaques accummulate in arterial walls, partially
blocking the passage of blood.

High density lipoproteins are different; they pick up triglyceride
fragments of cholersterol, proteins, and fats and send them back to the
liver for use or excretion. Some researchers also believe that extra
cholesterol on the cellular and arterial level can also be picked up and
taken away as well (not well documented, yet). High levels of HDL are
considered good indicators for preventing the formation of heart
disease.

Now, back to corn/veg oil supplementation for horses! An increase of
HDL was reported by Kurcz et al (1991) and Potter et al (1992). Other
research indicates a decrease in LDL after six weeks of exercise where
20% of the caloric intake was corn oil (Week 6: 20 minutes trotting, 10
minutes loping, and warm-up, 3 days per week; walking two days per week)
(Kurcz, 1993). Otherwise, research is pretty scant, as far as I could
dig up.

I'm sure a animal-fat diet supplementation would yield different
results, yet is not as palatable to horses as corn oil. So, I'd say not
to worry about heart disease for horses on corn oil, and it sure beats
the risk for cecal digestion of too much grain (resulting in acute
laminitis, colic, etc.) for energy.

References:

Kurcz EV, Schurg WA, Marchello JA, et al: Dietary fat supplementation
changes in lipoprotein composition in horses. Proc Equine Nutr & Physio
Soc Symp, pp 253-256 (1991)

Kurcz EV, Schurg WA, Marchello JA, Cuneo SP: The effect of exercise on
plasma lipoprotein componenets in horses fed a high fat diet. Proc
Equine Nutr & Physio Soc Symp, pp 173-178 (1993)

Potter GD, Hughes SL, Julen TR, et al: A review of research on
digestion and utilization of fat by the equine. Proc European Conf on
Nutr for the Horse, p 119 (1992)

Kim (who loves a good steak, and Lee, the unsupplemented pasture
muncher)

• Next message: Blankenship, Ann: "American River"
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