HindGut Health supplements with Fibregenix
Compared to a few years ago there’s now a plethora of supplements on the market aiding hindgut health. In fact, it’s currently one of the hottest topics around. Most are in the form of yeast probiotics and prebiotics and some are even live bacterial probiotics. But are they really useful or just another unnecessary expensive supplement? Can they do more harm than good?
Well, actually there are plenty of instances when hindgut health supplements are extremely valuable for your horse. Good health always starts with a healthy gut. But how do you know which ones are really good and which are just a waste of money?
At Fibregenix HQ, in consultation with world-leading nutritional scientists, we sourced those with the most robust scientific research and data behind them. After all, your horse is precious to you – so it makes sense to ensure he’s getting the maximum benefit to keep him in the peak of health.
HORSE HINDGUT HEALTH SUPPLEMENT – LIVE PROBIOTIC YEASTS, WHAT ARE THEY?
The idea behind adding a probiotic yeast to a horse’s diet is to help improve fibre digestibility. The key role they play in equine hindgut health is to help promote the production of bacteria which digest cellulose. Or in layman’s terms – improving fibre digestion.
GOOD, BETTER, BEST…
Live probiotic yeasts contain a thick cell wall which allows them to travel through the horse’s digestive tract to the large intestine where they are utilized and then excreted. Feeding a live yeast probiotic helps promote the production of bacteria which digest cellulose in the horse’s hindgut, improving fibre digestibility. They require daily supplementation to ensure they are replenished in the large intestine.
Some probiotics are good, some are better, and the best are very, very good. However, it’s the specific strain of yeast culture and the level included that differentiates one from another. The effectiveness of a yeast probiotic is only as good as how many yeast cells make it to the intestine intact and alive.
Fibregenix balancers contains Levucell SC Titan. The patented TITAN technology uses microencapsulation to coat the probiotic. This ensures that the probiotics will remain viable and stable through the challenges of the supply channel until they reach the horse. Eg, during freight, warehouse conditions, compatibilities with other ingredients in premixes/feed, temperature/moisture/pressure, etc. Equally important, the microencapsulation also ensures the viability and stability of the probiotic during its transit through the foregut to the hindgut.
Many studies have been conducted looking at the effects of Levucell SC Titan. Trials performed in horses proved that Levucell produced a significant improvement in fibre and overall dry matter digestibility. It does this by affecting the horse’s microflora ie stimulating the growth of cellulolytic bacteria populations. The visible benefits for horses include optimization of forage, improved feed utilisation – and therefore weight gain – performance and general well-being.
Trials also showed that Levucell not only increases fibre digestibility but also reduces lactic acid accumulation. By maintaining a more stable PH within the normal range (around 7), the horse’s health and welfare is improved.
Hindgut Fermenters
Horses have evolved as monogastric hindgut fermenters That is, they ferment the fibre they eat at the end of the digestive system – the caecum and colon. They’ve evolved to consume small, fibre-rich meals on a continual basis. This is in direct contrast to the high starch diet of today’s modern horse, which is difficult to digest. This is because horses don’t produce large quantities of amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into glucose.
Horse Hindgut Health – The Consequences of feeding a large starch meal
If a horse is fed small starch-rich meals, it’s unlikely that there will be any consequences. But if large quantities of starch are fed in any one meal, this gets pushed through the gut with increasing speed. Without having been broken down sufficiently by saliva or gastric juices, starch then reaches the caecum. It’s then fermented by bacteria producing lactic acid rather than beneficial volatile fatty acids produced from the fermentation of fibre.
Hindgut Acidosis
When lactic acid is produced, the PH levels in the hindgut drop. Known as a state of hindgut acidosis, it results in many potential health issues. The low PH effectively kills off good bacteria that would normally digest fibre. This can lead to complications such as colic, caecal and colonic ulcers and laminitis. Studies looking at the effects of Levucell SC Titan found supplementation with the live yeast could double fibre digestibility. It also aids in reducing lactic acid accumulation maintaining a more stable gut PH keeping it within the normal range (around 7). This improves both horse hindgut health and overall welfare.
MOS – WHAT IS IT?
MOS is short for mannan oligosaccharides. There are many different MOS products. Some are just crude cell wall preparations made from yeast leftover from yeast extract (the inside of the yeast). Another example is ground, dried brewer’s yeast. These basic yeasts have little or no data to support their use. Furthermore, they’re classified as feed ingredients, not additives, with no licensing required.
The most effective and reliable MOS products are licenced and manufactured specifically for the feed industry. We’ve included Agrimos MOS, tested for its bacterial binding capacity as part of the quality control process. And it provides high, consistent and guaranteed levels of mannan oligo-saccharides and β-glucans.
HOW DO THESE HORSE GUT HEALTH SUPPLEMENTS WORK?
AGRIMOS has a long history in the market and is well-documented for its efficiency in binding undesirable bacteria and certain mycotoxins. It helps maintain intestinal integrity while improving microflora balance and animal performance.
It works by mimicking sites on the gut wall that pathogenic (bad) bacteria bind to. Once bound to the MOS, these bacteria are rendered useless and flushed out of the gut. MOS also provides a double benefit to a horse’s hindgut health by stimulating the immune system to provide support against infections. MOS products aren’t always necessary if your horse has a healthy gut environment. However, today’s modern horse is placed under a lot of stress. Recovery from illness, training, travelling, competing, large amounts of hard feed. If your horse fits any of these categories, he’ll benefit from the inclusion of Agrimos MOS in his diet.
FOS PREBIOTIC – WHAT IS IT?
FOS stands for fructooligosaccharide. The FOS found in Fibregenix is a prebiotic comprising of short-chained fructooligosaccharide. Research has shown that harmful bacteria such as E. coli and Clostridium Perfringens cannot utilise FOS. And this means that beneficial species are able to competitively exclude them. FOS seems to be particularly useful when horses are suffering with diarrhoea, presumably because numbers of C. perfringens are reduced. FOS also provides an energy source for the beneficial bacteria already living in the horse’s hindgut. In turn, this creates a healthier digestive tract, unsuitable for the growth of potentially pathogenic bacteria.
HOW CAN THIS FOS BENEFIT MY HORSE?
Scientific support has proven that this specific FOS may:
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Positively modify the gut microflora
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Enhance digestive health
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Reduce the risk of digestive upsets
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Reduce putrefactive compound production
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Strengthen the immune system
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Improve insulin sensitivity in the obese horse.
Including both MOS and FOS prebiotics as part of Fibregenix’s horse gut health supplement provides a synergistic effect supporting overall gut health.
NUCLEOTIDES – WHAT ARE THEY?
Nucleotides are highly innovative when it comes to horse gut health supplements. They’re the building blocks for RNA and DNA. All feed contains a level of nucleotides. However in ingredients used for horse feeds they’re at low levels, with very low availability (around 5-10%). They’re also hard to digest due to their protein coating.
Very few companies are giving horse owners the added benefits from feeding Purified Nucleotides to their horses. Fibregenix is the first major feed balancer supplement company in Australia to include them. Prime Original, Platinum Pro and Lami Low-Cal contains purified nucleotides as part of the horse gut health supplement pack. This specific blend of purified nucleotides has a 95% availability rate to balance the limited levels available in the current diet.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF WHAT ADDITIONAL NUCLEOTIDES IN YOUR HORSE’S DIET CAN DO CLICK HERE.
Reviewed and updated July 2023