Last updated on October 13, 2024
How Amino Acids for Horses Can Benefit Your Horse From the Inside Out
A hot topic in the equine world these days is amino acids for horses: what they are, how they work, and if they’re even worth the money. Having an amino acid horse supplement on board seems to be all the rage right now. We’ve been saying for years that amino acids are the key to your horse’s overall health and wellness, so this conversation is nothing new to us! NuTrack Digestive Support is one of our best-selling supplements, and for good reason. The blend of 14 amino acids and 7 essential minerals works from the foregut all the way through the hindgut, aiding in digestion, nutrient absorption, and toxin elimination.
But to back up what we’ve been preaching, it’s time to break down the ingredient list so you, the horse owners, can see exactly what’s in NuTrack, what each ingredient does once in the horse’s body, and how that compares to other amino acid supplements on the market. Then we’ll discuss the added benefits of pairing with Foundation Daily Detox.
First let’s investigate each individual amino acid and explain its role in the horse’s diet and body. Ready for some some biology?
Why Amino Acids for Horses?
As a whole, amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Each protein has a different function, and thus, a different amino acid sequence. The body needs 20 amino acids to function, and 9 of these are called essential amino acids, which means the body does NOT produce them naturally but needs to consume them from food sources. (Yes, those 9 are included in NuTrack) Amino acids help with numerous functions including:
- Digestion
- Repairing soft tissue
- Hoof & coat health
- Making neurotransmitters & hormones
- Building muscles and supporting overall muscle development
- Boosting the immune system (in both young horses and mature horses)
- Absorbing nutrients
- Making energy
- Supporting connective tissue
The Amino Acids in NuTrack
As mentioned above, NuTrack contains 14 different amino acids. Secret time: half of those in our ingredient list are not included in our top competitor’s formula! And we have all 9 essential amino acids as well, that’s how serious we are about our horse’s health! Now let’s break down the ingredient list. There is no “proprietary blend of amino acids” here, where you never know what you are actually getting or whether you are meeting your horse’s requirements.
Non-Essential Amino Acids
Non-essential means that the body can create the amino acid independently, and does not need it supplemented through diet. Note: although already naturally present in the mammalian body, supplementing with these amino acids is still beneficial and gives an extra boost.
Arginine: opens blood vessels, reduces the effects of lactic acid, aids in immune response, cell regrowth, and muscle recovery.
Cysteine: a fundamental building block of the strong antioxidant glutathione. Helps detox the liver and kidneys and improve respiratory function.
Glycine: promotes the stimulation of serotonin and collagen, regulates the nervous system, and also acts as a binder to toxins so the body can dispose of them.
Proline: important to protein synthesis, immune response, nutrient absorption, and acts as a strong antioxidant.
Tyrosine: made from phenylalanine, it’s essential for making neurotransmitters, regulating hormones, and improving memory and cognitive function.
Essential Amino Acids
Essential indicates that these amino acids need to be consumed through diet as part of their regular feed ration as the body does not synthesize them naturally.
Histidine: protects nerve cells, helps with tissue regeneration and growth, aids in metabolism.
Isoleucine: helps build muscle protein, aids in muscle recovery, blood sugar regulation, and immune function.
Leucine: improves muscle mass and recovery, stabilizes blood sugars, and reduces inflammation.
Lysine: one of the most important amino acids for horses, it is crucial for metabolism and growth. It is also one of the few amino acids that horses are frequently deficient in (due to inadequate forage quality). Hence the importance of supplemental lysine.
Methionine: acts as a carrier of minerals, boosts the immune system, and is a crucial antioxidant.
Phenylalanine: aids in the production of hormones, including dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline. It’s needed for normal thyroid function and regulates blood pressure and sugars.
Threonine: crucial to the development of collagen and elastin, that support the soft and connective tissues in the body. Also helps with metabolism and immune function.
Tryptophan: yes, it helps with the production of serotonin and melatonin, the “sleepy” hormones, but it is also used in the liver to produce vitamin B3 which helps with energy.
Valine: used for energy production, muscle growth and recovery, healthy muscle function, and aids in tissue regeneration. (Spoiler alert, all the protein supplements in the world won’t help if your horse doesn’t have available amino acids to help digest it.)
More than Just for Gut Health
In a perfect world, your horse would have enough high-quality forage that the amino acid content of your equine diet wouldn’t need supplementation. They would get the perfect amount of protein all from high-quality protein sources, you would never have to worry about weight loss, poor muscle tone, or malfunction or weakness in any tissues of the body. However, we all know that we do not live in a perfect world, and most pastures struggle to provide adequate protein to meet a horse’s protein requirement. While we can’t wave our magic wand and turn your pasture into a perfect specimen of tall, nutritionally perfect grass, we can provide you with a supplement that provides all the necessary amino acids to meet a horse’s requirements and provide key components for a healthy, happy horse.
NuTrack Digestive Support was developed, marketed, and used to improve the gut health of horses, but it is so obviously more than just a digestive supplement. Yes, it improves the health and functionality of the digestive tract and overall digestive system, but it also provides the literal building blocks of every other function in the equine body. Amino acids provide the building blocks for the foundation of all the different protein chains for everything from hormones to the immune system, and from muscle and organ tissues to digestive enzymes.
Huge Before & After Transformations
That is why customers are seeing such a HUGE mental and physical change after pairing NuTrack with Foundation Daily Detox as the base for their supplement program. The detox sweeps all of the junk out of the body, while NuTrack comes in behind and starts rebuilding all the damaged systems. It’s truly a power couple.
Read some of our favorite transformation stories to see just what we’re talking about! We suggest Panama’s recovery, Goldie the little horse with a big heart, and Nightmare the mare who is no longer a nightmare!
Not All Amino Acids for Horses are Created Equal
In our formula, we include 14 different amino acids including all 9 of the essential ones. Compared to some of our competitors, that is 6 more vital amino acids provided in our supplement.
The amino acids in bold are the essential amino acids, and the starred ones are not included in our competitor’s formula.
| arginine | cysteine | glycine | histidine* | isoleucine | leucine | lysine |
| methionine* | phenylalanine* | proline* | threonine* | tyrosine* | tryptophan* | valine |
Also included in NuTrack are 7 vital minerals: calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur to add extra nutritional benefits.
Whether you have performance horses, use your horses for light work, or just love having pretty horses in the pasture, it makes sense to support them the best that we can with ALL of the specific amino acids that we know their body needs. NuTrack enables your horse to meet the demands you put on them, by providing healthy muscle tissue, supporting good muscle tone, and preventing muscle loss. And don’t worry! Most horses eat NuTrack and Foundation Daily Detox so well that they lick their feed bins clean! Just treat it like a top-dress supplement and pour it on your horses feed.
$2 a Day for Total Health
Once you break it all down, your horse is getting the best nutritional support from the inside out, for the least amount of money! Can it get any better than that, I mean really? And once paired with Foundation Daily Detox, the health benefits are through the roof and your horse will be looking and feeling better than ever! All for just about $2 a day! Still unsure if NuTrack and FDD are for you? Give Mark a call at 509-301-1798! He’d love to chat with you about the benefits of our supplements, and answer any questions you may have!
All content is intended for informational purposes only. Proudly written for Animal Element by the team at FaithHanan.com.
Resources:
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- Lubeck, Brittany. “Why You Need Valine and How to Get Enough of This BCAA.” VeryWell Health. 26 Sept. 2024. https://www.verywellhealth.com/valine-what-to-know-about-this-bcaa-7964690#:~:text=Valine%20is%20one%20of%20three,part%20of%20a%20healthy%20diet.
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- Wu, Guoyao et al. “Proline and Hydroxyproline Metabolism: Implications for Animal and Human Nutrition.” Amino Acids. 2011 Apr;40(4):1053-63. doi: 10.1007/s00726-010-0715-z. Epub 2010 Aug 10. PMID: 20697752; PMCID: PMC3773366. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20697752/#:~:text=Proline%20plays%20important%20roles%20in,antioxidative%20reactions%2C%20and%20immune%20responses.
- “Amino Acids.” The Cleveland Clinic. 22 Dec. 2021. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22243-amino-acids
- “Lysine for Horses.” Forage Plus Talk. 31 Oct. 2023. https://www.forageplustalk.co.uk/lysine/
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