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Food For Thought - Gastrolize
Gastrolize is a gentle slow-release buffering agent that helps prevent and solve acidosis problems in horses & ponies. Harvested naturally from the calcified skeleton of red seaweed (Lithothamnion calcareum), Gastrolize has a high buffering capacity to increase the gut pH (GI alkalisation). This is beneficial for horses with stomach ulcers, as Gastrolize has an intense and persistent buffering capacity that may assist with maintaining a higher pH over a prolonged period. Gastrolize also facilitates the higher uptake of nutrients and minerals from the intestinal wall in subclinical conditions. With its porous honeycomb structure and high surface area to volume ratio, the organic and naturally chelated calcium in Gastrolize is highly bioactive, and absorption is superior to traditional calcium sources. In athletic performance horse, which consumes small amounts of feed with an empty stomach for periods between feeding during training or competing, excess secreted acid my impact the upper vulnerable part of the stomach causing ulceration. Low gastric pH for extended periods can increase the risk of gastric ulceration in horses. Therefore, nutritional interventions that buffer stomach acid may be helpful to decrease ulcer risk. Recent research demonstrated that supplementing horse diets with marine-based buffers increases buffering capacity at 2 hours post-feeding (Jacobs et al. 2020). Also, under simulated in-vitro stomach digestion conditions and stimulated in vitro hindgut fermentation activities, research shows that adding marine-based buffers has significant buffering action for 4-6 hours (Moore-Colyer, M. et al. 2014).