Thursday, April 19, 2012

Soaking hay process to lower sugars in hay

Soaking hay process to lower sugars in hay Tube. Duration : 3.63 Mins.


This is the wheeled ice chest we use to soak a feeding of hay for my Icelandics. Can wheel into the kitchen to add hot water then wheel back outside, plus easy to dump. Reduction of carbohydrates / sugars is helpful for insulin resistant horses to keep their glucose from spiking. Soaking hay can reduce the sugar levels. I also think that wet hay is good for my horses particularly during hot summer months. Soaking hay is usually only done if the hay is not tested for NSC (non-structural carbohydrate). If hay is already known to have low NSC, then soaking is not necessary to help leach sugars. Bermuda grass hay leaches sugars out best with hot water. Soak in hot water for at least an hour, then drain, rinse with hose water, drain, rinse, drain. Research article on Soaking Hay to Remove Excess Soluble Carbohydrate and Potassium: www.safergrass.org Conclusion from research study: "Both sugar and potassium can be leached out of all types of hay in significant amounts by soaking for at least 60 minutes in clean, cold water, or 30 minutes in hot water, and draining. The average reduction in sugar over 15 samples of a variety of hays was 31%. As the amount of sugars dissolved increased over time, this suggests that a longer soaking period may allow more even more sugar to be leached. Horses readily accept wet hay. Caution should be exercised to feed wet hay before it has a chance to mold or heat, which could feasibly degrade protein or other valuable nutrients." With Horse Hay ...

Tags: soaking, hay, NSC, carbohydrates, sugar, starch, carbs, Icelandic, horse, pony, Insulin, resistance, IR, laminitis, founder, horses, laminitic, sore, hooves, hoof, leaching, bermuda

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