What are Nucleotides?
What would be the benefits of nucleotides in an average horse’s diet? What can they do for breeding horses and youngstock? Intrinsic to promoting better health, there are several important Nucleotide benefits in balancers such as Fibregenix Prime Original.
These molecules make up the structural units of DNA and RNA within body cells. They’re essential to create new cells in the horse’s body and for oxygen transportation around the body. A horse’s natural diet contains low levels formed by horses’ bodies ‘recycling’ dead cells. However, recent research has proven there are enormous benefits in feeding additional nucleotides.
A Unique Feed Ingredient
Horse feed ingredients generally contain very low levels of nucleotides. These have a very low availability to the horse (around 5-10%) due to their protein coating. Fibregenix feed balancers contain a purified nucleotide supplement which has a 95% availability rate. The benefit of Nucleotides is to help balance the limited levels available in the horse’s usual diet.
Unfortunately, innovative ingredients such as these come with a high price. As a result, few feed companies are providing horses with the benefits that nucleotide supplementation can provide. Significantly, Fibregenix is the very first feed company in Australia to include them.
Fibregenix Prime Original
Nucleotide benefits in balancers for weight gain: Help promote improved weight/condition by increasing nutrient absorption and utilisation of feed.
Nucleotide benefits in balancers for Mares, foals & young stock: Helps prevent the normal ‘dip’ of antibody levels in lactating mares. Aids placental development/milk production. Help prevents digestive upsets during weaning/general gastro upsets. A plentiful supply of nucleotides are needed for the development of the foal’s digestive tract. This is because it has no dead cells available for ‘recycling’.
Nucleotide benefits in balancers for low-level competition/show horses: Attending shows = greater risk of infection/disease. Nucleotides aid the immune system to recover from this and also promote excellent condition and health.
Further Nucleotide Benefits in Prime Original to performance
1) Rapid cell replication: There are many cells/areas requiring rapid cell multiplication. These include immuno-competant cells, gastrointestinal cells, intestinal flora cells, liver cells and cells of reproductive organs.
2) Fitness, Stamina and Fatigue: Nucleotides help improve the production of red blood cells so more oxygen can be transported around the body. This in turn improves levels of fitness and stamina. Additionally, it helps reduce the onset of fatigue and the level of lactic acid produced.
3) Muscle Recovery and Function: By reducing the number of steps needed to form cells, recovery rates are increased for muscles that undergo stress. This is vital during training schedules. In other words, the better and faster these muscles recover, the better the muscle function.
6) Injury recovery: Increased oxygen transportation provided by nucleotides allows more oxygen to get to the damaged area. Therefore combined with the increase in the rate of cell replication, this helps to reduce injury recovery time.
Further Nucleotide benefits in Prime Original to Digestion
1) Digestion and Nutrient Absorption: Nucleotides can increase the length and surface area of villi that line the intestines. These finger-like projections are responsible for absorbing the nutrients, vitamins and minerals from the food the horse consumes. By increasing the length and surface area of these villi, more nutrients, vitamins and minerals are absorbed from the food.
7) Intestinal development: Nucleotides optimise the natural protective mechanisms of the mucosal lining to maintain a healthy GI tract. They do this by increasing the length and number of villi which are vital for mucosal development. Importantly, this is the first line of defence in the gut. Through increased availability of genetic precursors, nucleotides increases mucosal thickness and protein levels. Additionally, they also speed up intestinal recovery after chronic diarrhea and intestinal damage.
Immunity
70% of an animal’s immune system is in their GI (gastrointestinal) tract. Therefore the immune system itself is directly affected how healthy the digestive system is. Nucleotides help the replication rate of immune cells. This helps the horse’s immune system to fight bacterial and viral infections.
Nucleotides are immune facilitators (not stimulators). Therefore they only help when required by the immune system to respond to and destroy a disease/infection.
Reviewed and updated April 2021