![d1-alpha tocopherol Alpha-tocopherol Antioxidants like vitamin E protect cells from free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that steal electrons from other molecules to become stable, causing the other molecules, like DNA and cell membranes, to become unstable.
Free radicals are naturally produced when horses metabolize carbohydrates, fat, or protein to make energy. Free radicals are not completely bad. A small amount are needed to help cells respond to signals in the body.
However, too much free radical damage, called oxidative stress, damages cells often to the point of cell death. This will cause organs and tissues like the liver and muscles to not function properly and negatively impact the horse’s health, resulting in premature aging.
Antioxidants are compounds that neutralize free radicals before they cause damage. Antioxidants come in many forms. Vitamins (vitamin E and C), minerals (selenium) and enzymes (glutathione peroxidase) all work together to provide optimal antioxidant protection.
Vitamin E eases muscle soreness and stiffness in exercising horses, helping them sustain high levels of activity.
Having adequate intake of this vitamin will help muscles recover after exercise which can support athletic performance. [1]
Horses with adequate vitamin E intake are less likely to experience chronic tying up (defences rhabdomyolysis).
Vitamin E boosts the immune response, enhancing the bacteria killing capacity of immune cells. This helps horses recover from illness quickly. [2]
Vitamin E can help horses with insulin resistance. According to Dr. Nicholas Frank at the University of Tennessee, daily intake of 1000 IU could help improve insulin sensitivity.
Having adequate antioxidant defences can minimize stress and health issues related to travel and competition, helping your horses stay healthy and ready to compete. [4]
It can prevent or minimize the effects of neurological disorders like equine motor neurone disease (EMND) and equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM) from developing. [3]
Horses with polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM), also known as equine polysaccharide storage myopathy (EPSM) have a higher burden of oxidative stress. Vitamin E could help horses with this muscular disorder.](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-texcm/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/229/536/Vitamin_E_product_photo__81922.1649274718.jpg?c=2 "d1-alpha tocopherol Alpha-tocopherol Antioxidants like vitamin E protect cells from free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that steal electrons from other molecules to become stable, causing the other molecules, like DNA and cell membranes, to become unstable.
Free radicals are naturally produced when horses metabolize carbohydrates, fat, or protein to make energy. Free radicals are not completely bad. A small amount are needed to help cells respond to signals in the body.
However, too much free radical damage, called oxidative stress, damages cells often to the point of cell death. This will cause organs and tissues like the liver and muscles to not function properly and negatively impact the horse’s health, resulting in premature aging.
Antioxidants are compounds that neutralize free radicals before they cause damage. Antioxidants come in many forms. Vitamins (vitamin E and C), minerals (selenium) and enzymes (glutathione peroxidase) all work together to provide optimal antioxidant protection.
Vitamin E eases muscle soreness and stiffness in exercising horses, helping them sustain high levels of activity.
Having adequate intake of this vitamin will help muscles recover after exercise which can support athletic performance. [1]
Horses with adequate vitamin E intake are less likely to experience chronic tying up (defences rhabdomyolysis).
Vitamin E boosts the immune response, enhancing the bacteria killing capacity of immune cells. This helps horses recover from illness quickly. [2]
Vitamin E can help horses with insulin resistance. According to Dr. Nicholas Frank at the University of Tennessee, daily intake of 1000 IU could help improve insulin sensitivity.
Having adequate antioxidant defences can minimize stress and health issues related to travel and competition, helping your horses stay healthy and ready to compete. [4]
It can prevent or minimize the effects of neurological disorders like equine motor neurone disease (EMND) and equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM) from developing. [3]
Horses with polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM), also known as equine polysaccharide storage myopathy (EPSM) have a higher burden of oxidative stress. Vitamin E could help horses with this muscular disorder.")
Product Overview
Vitamin E Alpha-tocopherol: An essential nutrient for horses
Hay is almost the perfect food for horses---most varieties offer the right balance of protein, fiber, nutrients and energy to keep the average horse healthy.
The key word there is “almost.” One nutrient that hay may not provide in sufficient quantity is vitamin E. This essential nutrient is present in fresh pasture but begins to degrade as soon as grass and legume plants are harvested. And the longer the hay is stored before it is consumed, the more of its vitamin E is lost.
So for horses whose forage comes primarily from hay, with little or no grazing, Vitamin E deficiency is a possibility. And it’s even more likely for horses who are in training with limited turnout because exertion increases the need for this valuable antioxidant. Vitamin E requirements are also higher for aging horses, those who are ill and those with certain health issues.
Vitamin E helps keep a horse’s muscles, nerves and all his internal workings functioning smoothly. And if he’s not getting it naturally in a green pasture, then you’ll need to find a way to add it to his diet. Here’s a look at what Vitamin E does and what you can do to make sure your horse gets enough---but not too much.
Vitamin E in nature
“Vitamin E” is a collective name for a group of eight naturally occurring compounds that all have distinctive antioxidant activity. There are four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. Each is designated with an alpha-, beta-, gamma- or delta-.
Hay is almost the perfect food for horses---most varieties offer the right balance of protein, fiber, nutrients and energy to keep the average horse healthy.
What Vitamin E does
Vitamin E plays a role in many functions throughout the body, but it is known primarily as a potent antioxidant, meaning it binds with and limits the damage caused by free radicals, which are atoms or molecules with an odd number of electrons. Because they have an unstable electrical charge, free radicals tend to “steal” electrons from other molecules to become stable. But when the original molecule loses its electron, it becomes unstable and in turn tries to steal another electron from somewhere else. All this activity not only damages the molecules that have their electrons stolen, it may inhibit their ability to do their jobs within the body. If there are too many free radicals present in the tissue, this chain reaction can run out of control and injure cell walls, DNA and other vital structures.
Free radicals are a natural byproduct of the utilization of fats, carbohydrates and proteins as fuel. They do have beneficial functions; they can help neutralize bacterial or viral threats, for example. But when the number of free radicals in the tissues climbs too high---such as in the muscles after a horse exercises---the body deploys antioxidants to bind with them, breaking the cascade.
In the case of Vitamin E, action centers on the fats that form the structure of cell membranes, where the nutrient remains ready to bind with free radicals that might otherwise damage the cell walls. “It helps protect the cells,” says Carey Williams, PhD, an equine extension specialist with Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. “The Vitamin E incorporates itself into cell membranes and protects them from oxidative damage. A shortage of Vitamin E might mean more oxidative damage occurs in cells throughout the body, including those in muscles, nerves and immune cells. In the case of a hardworking horse, outward signs of oxidative injury might be muscle soreness and a slower-than-expected recovery from exercise. And so, when a horse’s workload increases, his need for antioxidants, including Vitamin E, also goes up.
“When you damage muscle, for any reason, you have some oxidative stress,” says Paul Siciliano, PhD, of North Carolina State University. “In the cell, when metabolism is taking place, some pro-oxidants are produced. You could equate it to a campfire out in the woods. The fire is producing heat energy and
it might send up sparks in the process. As long as the sparks get put out, things are fine. But if one of them starts another fire and it grows, you could have a problem. Vitamin E attaches to the cell membranes and quenches those little fires and keeps things working properly.”
Oxidative damage is most likely to occur in tissues in the immune system, nerves and muscles, because they are more highly metabolic---that is, they “burn” energy faster. “Thus they produce a greater proportion of these pro-oxidants just as a cost of doing business,” Siciliano says. “There is higher likelihood to have a problem in those areas if horses are short on Vitamin E.”
How much Vitamin E does a horse need?
The minimum vitamin E requirement for an average size horse is 1000 IU/day; 2000 IU/ Day as a maintenance level for an 1100lb horse in light work, however, horses that may be deficient, or in recovery from sickness, possibly require higher doses.
