Science Friday with Dr Gustafson -- Evidence and Science

11/06/2026

In today’s climate, especially since the dawn of social media, thoughts and opinions seem to carry more weight than evidence. Science is shunned as some kind of elitist, stodgy, slow, boring old relic that needs kicking to the curb for “fresh ideas.” Granted, ideas are wonderful – how many incredible discoveries were based on “What if…?” but those ideas were tested, retested, and replicated in a step-by-step process to provide the evidence to support that fresh idea, or not – and that’s OK, too – it’s part of the process.

Too often there is a tendency to cling to opinions as right or wrong, black or white. Stating outcomes as “proof,” leaping to conclusions based on weak correlations, being so wedded to an opinion or not recognizing your own bias are all tempting traps that need self-monitoring. The solution to this is EVIDENCE.

Think of it as a balance scale rather than an absolute. There can be nuggets of truth on both sides of an argument, but which side of the scale has the greatest weight of evidence to support the claim?

Science is also about change, thank goodness or we would never progress. I’ve been with ECIR for over 20 years and here are things I’ve seen come and go with the group:

CINNAMON: Thought to lower blood glucose, cinnamon was recommended in the early 2000’s but field data from ECIR members failed to show a benefit so that recommendation was discontinued.

G:I RATIO and EMS CALCULATOR: This tool was adopted to diagnosis insulin resistance based on proxies reported by Treiber et al (PMID: 16379656). We now recognize that a single blood draw for insulin and glucose under controlled feeding conditions is just as informative.

LEPTIN TESTING: For a time, leptin was recommended, but there wasn’t enough evidence to demonstrate a diagnostic benefit. In short, it was non-specific and much less reliable than monitoring insulin alone. Lab tests are expensive and if there is no benefit, why add to the owner’s burden?

One of the greatest strengths of the ECIR group is an emphasis on evidence and a consistent message. We’ve adopted and tested protocols that look promising but if there is no evidence that the supplement or test is beneficial, we drop it. We’ve all been to social media groups where a question can get a thousand different opinions. When you already have suffered the gut-punch of laminitis, the last thing you need is 1,000 opinions. You need a clear, consistent message with a protocol you can implement right away and that’s what ECIR offers: DDT/E = Diagnosis, Diet, Trim and Exercise if possible. Will the DDT/E protocol work for every single individual horse? Of course not. No one could ever make a claim like that, but it will work for the majority and that’s a good place to start. I hate that so many people come to us with cases of active laminitis but it is what it is.

Prevention is still our number one goal.

Kathleen Gustafson, PhD
President and Research Advisor, ECIR Group Inc.

Text to Give anytime: Text ECIR TO 844-844-6844

Thank you!