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Digestive Shield™ – Only from Nutrena

Digestive Shield

What ingredients support foregut, stomach, and hindgut health? Is there a difference between prebiotics vs probiotics vs postbiotics?  How can I support my horse’s gut and immune health? Our equine nutritionists at Nutrena® brand break down some of these most frequently asked questions about gut health and how Nutrena feed’s exclusive Digestive Shield™ blend can help. Because here at Nutrena, we believe what’s inside counts®.

Why Is Gut Health Important?

Overall horse health starts and ends with the digestive system. Some sources even estimate that across mammals, the gut makes up 70% of the immune system by weight. Gut health refers to both the integrity and functionality of the gastrointestinal tract. The digestive tract, or “gut” is also responsible for several key functions like:

  • Digesting (breaking down feedstuff)
  • Hosting a population of microorganisms
  • Absorbing nutrients
  • Producing key vitamins

If gut health is off balance, it could lead to several related issues or symptoms including:

  • Gastric ulcers
  • Unwilling to eat (particularly concentrates)
  • Being “cinchy” or reactive to being saddled
  • Resistant to being touched/brushed
  • Behavioral problems under saddle
  • Poor body condition
  • Colic
  • Diarrhea
  • Suppressed immune system.

How Do Ingredients Like Biotics and Calcite Help?

Calcite

As the horse eats, food passes first into the stomach. The stomach is designed to serve as a mixing vat and begins the digestive process through the addition of strong acids to the food mixture. Because horses were designed to eat continuously, they produce stomach acid constantly, not just after meals. When horses are instead meal fed or go extended periods without food, this acid on an empty stomach can be problematic. Normally, when grazing, horses produce a great deal of saliva that tends to buffer stomach acid. However, if grazing/chewing is reduced, saliva production is also reduced, and stomach acid can get out of hand. One problem that can occur as a result is ulceration of the stomach lining, known as gastric ulcers.

One approach to helping prevent gastric ulcers is the use of buffering agents to help increase the pH of the stomach between meals. Calcium in the diet is a natural buffering agent; marine-sourced calcite obtained from red algae has a porous structure and is a source of highly available calcium compared to traditional calcium sources, which allows over twice the buffering capacity versus calcium carbonate sources.1

In addition to helping buffer in the stomach, research has also shown a beneficial buffering effect of Calcite in the horse’s hindgut (cecum and large intestine).1 In times of extreme stress or illness, the horse’s hindgut can experience a rapid decline in pH, known as acidosis. This acidic environment can be damaging to the microbial population, cause inflammation in the gut, and initiate a cascade of damaging effects for the horse. Helping to buffer or maintain hindgut pH, then, can help keep the horse’s hindgut functioning normally.

Prebiotics

These are the nutrients that beneficial bacteria eat – in other words, “the fuel” for the “good bugs.” Prebiotics help stabilize the population of microorganisms when, for example, there are sudden changes in a horse’s diet, which helps to reduce digestive upset. They can stimulate the growth and activity of beneficial microorganisms, which benefit the horse by enhancing the absorption and retention of certain nutrients. Promoting “good” micro-organisms can also help keep populations of less desirable microbes in check, a concept known as competitive exclusion.

The prebiotic used in Digestive Shield™ comes from chicory root. Chicory root is broken down into a prebiotic known as inulin. Inulin is particularly beneficial to the horse as it is not digested in the stomach or small intestine allowing it to make its way to the microbes of the hind gut.

Probiotics

These are living microorganisms — “the factories” — that can be added to a horse’s diet to help balance its gut flora population. Providing more beneficial bacteria has been shown to increase nutrient digestibility and shift the balance of microbes in a positive way. Probiotics in Digestive Shield include beneficial strains of Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium, and Bacillus. In laboratory research the Bacillus subtilis included in Digestive Shield has been shown to inhibit harmful bacteria including Clostridium difficile, Rhodococcus equi, and Streptococcus equi.4 These pathogens can cause digestive issues as well as severe respiratory infections, so any ability to inhibit their growth can be beneficial. To be effective, cultures in a probiotic must be alive. In some cases, the processing of Probiotics destroys the cultures. Probiotics in Digestive Shield have been tested to ensure they remain viable after pelleting.5 Probiotics can be measured on a feed tag by the measure of Colony Forming Units (CFU) per pound of feed declared on the tag. In general, the higher the CFU/lb. level, the better, as long as you are comparing similar strains and products of equal stability. Understanding the value of specific strains, such as the inhibitory effects of Bacillus subtilis can also be useful as not all probiotic strains play the same role.

Postbiotics

When yeast and/or bacteria are fermented outside the animal they create byproducts known as metabolites that can have beneficial health effects. A postbiotic is the combination of inanimate microorganisms, both intact and cell wall fragments/structures, and their metabolites that when fed back to an animal confer a health benefit. Postbiotics are often considered “the goods” if the microorganisms themselves are the factories. While microorganisms within the animal certainly produce “goods” in the form of volatile fatty acids (an energy source), vitamins, and more, fermentation of yeast and bacteria outside the animal creates a unique profile of metabolites. These metabolites when consumed in the feed as Postbiotics then serve as signaling molecules for a variety of physiologic functions including enhanced immune response. The signaling molecules can also support other microbes to further stabilize the microbiome.

Research-Backed Digestive Shield™

Digestive Shield™ is a new technology, exclusive to Nutrena, that addresses gut health from end-to-end with a unique combination of controlled starch, Calcite and Pre + Pro + Postbiotics. Nutrena is the only horse feed brand with this blend of Digestive Shield™ for stomach, foregut, and hindgut support.

Find Horse Feed with Digestive Shield™ Near You

You can find Digestive Shield™ in the following Nutrena® Feeds:

Visit our Dealer Locator to find horse feed with digestive support near you.

References

1Moore-Colyer, M. D. M. O’Gorman, K. Wakefield. An In Vitro investigation into the effects of a marine-derived, multimineral supplement in simulated equine stomach and hindgut environments. J. of Eq. Vet. Sci. 34 (2014): 391–397.

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