We try our hardest to do the best for our horses. This newsletter outlines some of the pitfalls that we can unwittingly stumble across as we try supplementation to help our horses.
◆︎ Resveratrol is a popular anti-oxidant. There are a number of places on the internet to purchase it. However, it’s important to realize that resveratrol can be purchased in different strengths. Resveratrol is available in weak concentrations, such as 10%. Many supplements don’t give the percentage of resveratrol in their supplement. It’s not unusual to find that the packaging will declare how many milligrams (such as 500 mg), but never indicate what percentage of that native ingredient was. – It doesn’t say 500 mg of 90% resveratrol. When you also consider that filler, such as cellulose or rice flour is added, it’s difficult to know what you are actually getting.
Possible solution: My Best Horse Resveratrol is 98% USP resveratrol with no additives nor fillers.
◆︎ Ultra-micronized PEA (palmitoylethanolamide) has become a popular supplement for pain support. Research has shown that particle size determines the absorption. Standard PEA, which is fairly inexpensive, is usually about 400 mesh, which is a fine powder, but still too large for optimum absorption. So, while it’s true that many supplements are actually PEA, the size is critical for effectiveness.
Possible solution: My Best Horse Ultra-micronized PEA is the small particle size, with no fillers, additives, nor flowing agents.
◆︎ Milk thistle is a popular supplement as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, particularly helpful for elevated liver enzymes. The actual milk thistle plant has only about 3% silymarin. That’s a very low amount. To complicate matters, few supplement companies actually disclose the amount silymarin in each serving. They commonly express the servings as amount of milk thistle, or even just the number of scoops of whatever they’ve put in the package.
Possible solution: My Best Horse Milk Thistle is 63% silymarin with no additives nor fillers.
◆︎ Calcium carbonate is a common supplement to add calcium to the horse's diet. However, not all calcium carbonate is equal. Common industrial uses for calcium carbonate include manufacturing of cement, as a fertilizer, and as a filler/pigment in paint, plaster, and paper. It’s easy to see that with so many diverse applications, different grades of calcium carbonate are readily available. The caveat is that there are numerous impurities in many of these preparations. It’s important to know the grade and quality of the calcium carbonate.
Possible solution: My Best Horse Calcium Carbonate is USP grade, with no additives nor fillers. This ensures that it is low in iron and lead.
◆︎ Magnesium oxide is a common supplement to add magnesium to the horse's diet. It also has many industrial applications, such as the manufacturing of Portland cement, electrical insulation, and ceramics. Because there are so many applications, a wide variety of magnesium oxides are available. For our horses, low iron, low lead, and a high quality is important.
Possible solution: My Best Horse MagOx Elite is human food grade with no additives nor fillers. It has the purity that we seek and is 59.4% magnesium. An alternative is My Best Horse Magnesium Glycinate, which is 22% magnesium, which means that you need to feed more to get the same amount of magnesium. The differences in the percentages of these supplements are a result of the size of the attached molecule. MagOx has oxygen attached and the Magnesium Glycinate has a glycinate attached, which is a bigger molecule.
◆︎ Turmeric is known to be helpful with pain. The turmeric root usually has about 3% curcuminoids. The curcuminoid is the active compound that is helpful. When supplement companies advertise turmeric, they may neglect to mention the percentage of curcuminoids present in their supplement.
Possible solution: My Best Horse Turmeric EX is USP 95% curcuminoids with no additives nor fillers. This means that its a human pharmaceutical grade.
We do the best that we can for our horses. We deserve to receive the quality of supplement that we think we're getting. Labelling and marketing can sometimes make that confusing.
Do you have a special photo or story that you’d like to share? Email to sales@mybesthorse.com
Disclaimer: Statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition.
©Joan Kulifay 2024