Question
Does coconut oil help with digestive issues?
Answer
The short answer is that coconut oil may, like other oils, help with digestive issues, but there is not much research available to support this notion.
In general, feeding an oil may have some direct and indirect health benefits besides weight gain and improvement in skin and coat quality. As a highly concentrated source of energy, for example, when fed in sufficient quantities, oil can replace nonstructural carbohydrates in the diet.
Adding oil to a grain meal may also delay gastric emptying and subsequently reduce glycemic response. Other oils, such as ReSolvin EQ, support gastric health, primarily from specific eicosanoids, or hormones, produced through the omega pathway.
ReSolvin EQ is rich in the polyunsaturated long-chain omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and the short-chain omega-6 fatty acid gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which enhances the amount of di-homo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA) available to the horse. DGLA has some beneficial anti-inflammatory properties.
Unlike other popular oils on the market that are primarily polyunsaturated fatty acids, coconut oil is more than 90% saturated fat, mostly made up of medium-chain fatty acids or triglycerides with essentially no omega fatty acids. These medium-chain fatty acids are less susceptible to oxidation/rancidity and metabolized differently for rapid energy availability. They are transported directly to the liver and are used immediately as fuel.
As a fat source, coconut oil is less likely to affect the balance of omega fatty acids compared to high omega-6 oil sources, such as corn oil, and is a good source of energy, but polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have more research-backed direct health benefits to gastric health.
Read a Q&A about fatty acids in the proceedings of the 27th Equine Health and Nutrition Conference, presented by Kentucky Equine Research: Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids in Equine Nutrition. The Q&A begins on page 105.
