Meal size and starch content affect gastric emptying in horses.
Authors: Métayer N, Lhôte M, Bahr A, Cohen N D, Kim I, Roussel A J, Julliand V
Journal: Equine veterinary journal
Summary
# Editorial Summary Feeding management practices have long been implicated in colic development, yet the underlying physiological mechanisms remain incompletely understood; this 2004 investigation explored whether meal size and starch content influence the rate at which food moves through the stomach, potentially explaining the connection between feeding practices and gastrointestinal disease. Using radiolabelled meals and nuclear scintigraphy, researchers tracked solid-phase gastric emptying in five horses across three dietary conditions: small low-starch, small high-starch, and large high-starch meals, employing advanced statistical modelling to compare emptying patterns. Results revealed a paradoxical relationship: when expressed as a percentage of meal retention, high-starch meals emptied more slowly than low-starch meals, and larger meals emptied more slowly than smaller ones; conversely, when measured by absolute emptying rate (grams or kilocalories per minute), the large high-starch meal actually moved through the stomach faster than the small high-starch meal. For practitioners, these findings underscore that both meal composition and portion size materially affect gastric function—information critical for designing feeding protocols aimed at minimising colic risk, particularly in horses prone to gastric ulceration where meal characteristics may influence acid-mucosa interactions. Whilst this work established clear dose-response relationships, subsequent research linking these gastric dynamics directly to colic and ulcer incidence remains essential before evidence-based feeding recommendations can be definitively refined.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Feeding larger meals may paradoxically increase absolute gastric emptying rate, but smaller, lower-starch meals empty proportionally faster—consider meal composition alongside size when designing feeding strategies to reduce colic risk
- •High-starch meals delay proportional gastric emptying compared to low-starch alternatives; feeding practices emphasizing smaller, more frequent, lower-starch meals may help mitigate gastric dysfunction and associated colic
- •Individual meal composition (starch content) has measurable effects on gastric function; practitioners should consider this when advising on feeding management for colic-prone horses
Key Findings
- •Small high-starch meals emptied significantly faster than large high-starch meals on a percentage basis
- •Small low-starch meals emptied significantly faster than small high-starch meals
- •Large high-starch meals emptied faster than small high-starch meals when measured by absolute rate (g/min and Kcal/min)
- •Both meal size and starch content independently affect solid phase gastric emptying in horses