"When you've got ultra-processed food mostly made from commodity crops - wheat, corn, soya, turned into food-like products that bear little resemblance to any evolutionary diet, these addictive, nutrient-depleted foods not only make the body sick but drive cravings for more and more more food-like substances, as the body desperately looks for the missing nutrients."

Dr Mark Hyman

Dr Hyman was speaking about the human food industry - but he could just as easily have been describing the equine feed industry.

These “food-like” products drive cravings while leaving the body nutritionally starved and unwell. The species may differ, but the biology - and the damage - is the same.

Why this matters (a lot)

No diet can support health if it’s fundamentally nutrient-poor. Adding supplements to a feedbowl full of junk is like giving a child a multivitamin alongside a burger and fizzy drink. And yet misinformation, marketing spin, and industry-funded “science” continue to muddy the waters.

Over the years, we’ve seen:

• feed companies funding studies that support their own products
• endorsements bought rather than earned
• misleading claims dressed up as evidence

A classic example? “Molasses-free” beet pulp that can still contain up to 7% sugar and high levels of pectins, yet is marketed as suitable for laminitics.

So how do we protect ourselves - and our horses?

A quick guide to evaluating feed claims

When you see bold claims or “scientific backing”, ask:

• Follow the money – who funded the research?
• Check independence – some “institutes” are industry fronts
• Know the study type – RCTs carry far more weight than observational studies
• Look for replication – one study proves nothing on its own

At the end of the day, the principle remains simple - horses need species-appropriate nutrition, and a grass-fibre forage carrier is all that’s required for supplements.

Shiny feedbags promise far more than they deliver — and many are packed with bulk fillers, sugars, and gut irritants that quietly undermine health, particularly in metabolic or sensitive horses.

Pro-inflammatory feeds: what they really do

Feeds that disrupt the gut microbiome fuel:

• dysbiosis
• leaky gut
• systemic inflammation
• behavioural and metabolic issues

It’s not just about what to feed — it’s about knowing what not to feed. So let’s lift the lid.

The main offenders

“Anything that’s going on in the digestive tract is influenced by what you put in the digestive tract. Put the wrong petrol in a Ferrari, and we know what’s going to happen.”

Dr Tom O’Brien

Below are the most common bulk fillers and problem ingredients, listed alphabetically. ⚠️ If you see several of these in one feed, that’s rarely accidental.

• Apple pectin / pomace - A by-product of the juice industry. High in fructose and pectins, which stimulate lactic-acid bacteria in the hindgut, increasing the risk of acidosis, dysbiosis (SIBO), leaky gut, laminitis and colic. Beneficial for humans - not for horses.
• Beet pulp (including “molasses-free”) - A sugar-industry waste product. Residual sugars (up to 25%, even 7% in “molasses-free”) plus pectins disrupt the hindgut and trigger insulin release. Encourages weight gain, cravings, IR and EMS. Sweet taste + “low sugar” labelling = metabolic confusion, not a free pass.
• Calcium carbonate (chalk) - Poorly absorbed, especially in ulcer-prone horses. UK forage is already calcium-heavy; excess calcium antagonises magnesium and can contribute to tension and excitability.
• Chaff / chop - Not inherently bad - but often, lightly sprayed with oil (unnecessary), and based on alfalfa (a legume, not grass). Horses evolved to digest grass forage, not legume forage.
• Corn (anything corn-based) - Highly sprayed, high starch, blood-sugar destabilising.
• Expelled linseed - A heavily processed by-product of oil extraction. Preserved, treated, and nutritionally inferior to micronised whole linseed, which is a far better option.
• GMO (Genetically modified ingredients) - High glyphosate residues disrupt gut microbiota, killing beneficial bacteria while promoting inflammatory strains.
• Iron & manganese - Already excessively high in UK forage. Added iron cannot be excreted and accumulates in the liver, acting as a toxic antagonist to key minerals. (We do not add iron to EquiVita or VitaComplete.)
• Mashes - Short-term use only. Dust-like structure means little digestion or absorption — passes straight through. Not appropriate for weight gain or long-term feeding.
• Molasses - Pure sugar. Fuels pathogenic gut bacteria and increases dysbiosis risk. Often used to bind pellets.
• Nutritionally Improved Straw (NIS) - Straw treated with caustic soda to soften it. Enough said.
• Oatfeed / wheatfeed - Industrial milling by-products — chemically treated, nutritionally empty, often contaminated with residues and mycotoxins.
• Pea protein / soya protein isolates - Highly processed, heat-damaged, inflammatory, and potentially allergenic. Not a whole-food protein source.
• Pellets - Unless mechanically pressed, pellets are typically bound with molasses.
• Prebiotics (FOS / MOS) & yeasts - Current science suggests that a proper forage-based diet supplies all required prebiotics naturally. Added yeasts may disrupt rather than support the hindgut.
• Rice bran - 30% starch, chemically preserved, imported long-distance. Not suitable for EMS horses and unnecessary in the UK.
• Soya - GMO, glyphosate-heavy, inflammatory, poorly digested by horses, incorrect amino-acid profile, and environmentally destructive. See our dedicated soya page for the full breakdown.
• Vegetable oils (RBDs) - Refined, bleached, deodorised, oxidised omega-6-heavy oils. Horses lack a gall bladder and are not designed to digest large fat loads. See our Oils page for more detail.
• Vitamin & mineral premixes - Synthetic, lab-made, poorly recognised by the body. “Premix” = manufactured imitation, not whole-food nutrition.  (We use non-synthetic minerals only.)

And finally…

Most of these ingredients are:

• chemically sprayed during growth
• treated with mould inhibitors post-harvest
• frequently GMO

Meaning the feedbag often contains a chemical cocktail, not nourishment.

Meanwhile...

How to read a feed label (without losing your mind)

Ever picked up a feed bag and felt like you were reading a chemistry set? You’re not alone.

• Start with the ingredients list - If they don’t show one, that’s your first red flag. A “typical analysis” tells you nothing about ingredient quality.
• Beware “by-products” - Meal, extract, middlings, by-product = industrial leftovers.
• Sugar hides under many names - Molasses, glucose syrup, cane extract, beet pulp, flavouring.
• Added vitamins & minerals - Long, unpronounceable names usually mean synthetic. 
• If it reads like a lab manual, walk away - You should be able to picture the ingredients growing in a field.

The takeaway

If a brand isn’t proud to tell you exactly what’s in the bag - and why - put it back. Choose real, recognisable, species-appropriate ingredients.

Your horse’s gut - and long-term health - depend on it.