Are Vitamin & Mineral Supplements Necessary?

Ideally, adequate levels of vitamins and minerals should be available in the diet to sustain all of the numerous body functions and processes that support life itself. Were this the case an adequate diet would be all that is necessary to prevent all nutrition-related diseases. However, similar to humans, the reality is that horses must deal with the many factors that compromise optimum nutrient levels: depleted feed supplies, uncertain hay quality, high sugar diets, high protein diets, high fat diets; inadequate diets, lack of exercise, aging, medications, stress and lifestyle, all of which deplete nutrients. Aside from overt symptoms of nutritional deficiency these factors often create sub-clinical nutrient deficits which are not commonly identified as the cause of disease but have a significant impact on health – especially when corrected!

Therapeutic nutrition involves using specific vitamins, minerals or other nutrients to treat disease, rather than simply preventing clinical disease. Therapeutic nutrition dramatically affects health by providing optimum levels of specific nutrients including vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids that are absolutely necessary for correct functioning of all body systems including the immune system. It is the rare health condition that does not benefit from or even derive a cure from appropriate and well prescribed nutrients. Therapeutic nutrition should therefore always be considered a primary therapy.

Knowing What To Supplement

Vitamins act as cofactors in a number of body functions that support the growth, energy, development and maintenance of all body systems and organs.

Minerals are part of all body tissues and fluids and cannot be manufactured by the body and must be provided in the diet. Minerals are necessary for most physiological functions, including nervous function, muscle contractions, joint function, fluid balance, hormone balance, electrolyte regulation, organ health and metabolism.

Many horse owners have blood tests done for their horses to try to determine whether they should supplement their horses’ diets with certain vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, blood tests are not good indicators for evaluating a horse’s nutritional requirements for several reasons:

• Nutrient blood levels fluctuate from day to day and hour to hour.
• Nutrient levels in the blood do not reflect nutrient levels in the tissues and organs.
• Many nutrients have different storage sites within the body. No blood test can accurately determine how much calcium is in the bones, for example.
• The blood is the last vehicle to change its chemical content, especially in times of deficiency. For example, the lungs can be starved for oxygen caused by low iron levels within the lung tissue long before the blood will indicate an iron deficient state.
• Each horse has unique biochemistry – nutrient levels are difficult to determine. What is adequate for one horse can be a health problem for another.

Supplementing the correct nutrients is not an exact science but knowing which nutrients are most beneficial to supplement requires at least a basic understanding of the individual nutrients, including their deficiency symptoms. We rely on a combination of methods to determine the best supplement program; nutritional science, a working knowledge of vitamins and minerals, a wide range of clinical experience, a sound knowledge of the underlying causes of disease, and a profound knowledge of horses.

Where possible it is always best to allow Mother Nature to formulate nutritional blends from real food, rather than relying on synthetic mixes with uncertain dosages, inorganic minerals, poor absorption and poor utilization. We have therefore formulated the Happy Horse and Happy Horse Senior from whole food concentrates (three different kinds of seaweed and nutrition rich herbs) to provide over 60 trace minerals, vitamins, fibre and cell salts. The Happy Horse can be used as a natural daily supplement that provides optimum nutrition for both the healthy and the unhealthy horse. It is safe to “top up” this blend with specific nutrients (e.g. organic selenium, calcium, iron, etc.) that may be required to restore the horse’s health.

If you are unsure as to what would be most helpful for your horse (or you) please call 1.800.405.6643 or email us with your questions. We would be glad to help.

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For more information please Contact Us today or call our toll-free Horse Health Line at 1.800.405.6643.

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