What are your thoughts on the benefits/downfalls of each.i just started feeding my 5 year old Morgan X Appendix QH gelding a little bit of beet pulp as the weather has gotten colderI have a hard time keeping weight on him during the colder months even though i increase his forage.so some friends recommended that i put him on some beet pulp or hay stretcher but what is the difference and what are your experiences with either? Thanks!
I've never used hay stretcher so I can't speak to itBeet pulp is a good digestible fiber source and allows more calories to get absorbed faster than with haySo it's a good adjunct to hay and it provides safe calories that don't cause hormone fluctuations or other metabolic disturbancesDespite the myths, it can be fed dry, but many horses won't eat it dry I prefer to feed stabilized and mineral balanced rice bran which is a high fat source instead of beet pulp since it is easierFat calories are also safe calories that don't cause metabolic disturbances and hormone fluctuationsI fed my hard keeper Arab gelding rice bran along with Purina Senior feed and 24/7 good grass hay and he was out all winter in minus 30 F temps without being blanketed and never got sick, and maintained good weight So, I can't compare to hay stretcher, but I recommend rice bran to keep winter weight onBe sure to add it gradually since the body has to adapt to metabolizing more fatsYou can add a few ounces a day up to 1 or 2 cups a day.
First, you need to understand that carbs are the problem, not just junk food and sweetsBread, potatoes, rice - all healthy foods? Not if you have diabetesYou have to carefully monitor the amount you have because frankly, these raise your blood sugar faster than anything but straight sugarIf you already have insulin resistance, improving stuff will help delay the onset of an official diabetes diagnosisHowever, unless something else kills you, eventually, you will develop diabetesThe longer you can stave it off, the better for youI had insulin resistance for 2 years that eventually developed into diabetes last winterLearning about the bread, potatoes and rice resulted in a change of diet, and my meds have been cut in half As far as your tingling, that has nothing to do with your insulin resistance and everything to do with being overweight and a couch potatoDo more flexibility exercise and stop sitting cross legged on the floor for more than 30 minutesWork up to itYou have more girth than you probably had 5 years ago and that can affect your movement or ability to stay stationary.
If your Doctor agrees to wean you off the medication then it may be possible It would depend on why you have insulin dependence, would losing weight or increasing activity help? In general if your health and lifestyle don't improve then no but if you do get better than perhaps as type 2 diabetes is not a termination of insulin production It sounds like you may be on oral medication which is very variable, to have a recession of diabetes, you will want to have very good control of your glucose levels as well as improving your health so you may want to be on the newer insulins like Lantus or Levelin, the better control you have the more likely a recovery will be With a thyroid problem it will be more difficult as many of the control signals will be off so that must be well controlled Don't count on being able to treat it with a healthy diet and exercise, after all, throughout your life, how successful have you been with a healthy diet and exercise?
