Sue Martin - Equine Naturopath, Nutritionist, Oriental Medicine/Acupuncture/Shiatsu, Iridology Thursday, 17 Feb 2022

What you didn't know about Brewer's yeast

What you didn’t know about Brewer’s Yeast

As horse owners we want our horses to have the absolute best in regards to nutritional support.
While we would have no idea of the intake of magnesium our nearest and dearest had yesterday, we feel a strong need to know how many milligrams our horse absorbs on a daily basis.

If you would like to look a little deeper into a readily available and rather cost effective ingredient that commonly finds its place in expensive products....keep reading.

When it comes to the health and wellbeing of your horse, there are numerous words that can be found on labelling that undoubtedly catches the eye of any caring horse owner.

The labels we often look for contain the following –
- Extra biotin to improve hoof health
- Amino acids
- Trace minerals
- Chromium to maintain normal blood sugar levels
- High quality protein
- Selenium, potassium, iron, zinc and magnesium
- B group vitamins to support the nervous system and aid in the relaxation of a nervous horse
- Toxin Binder

How about a supplement that helps to maintain digestive health and strengthen the immune system, or a product that feeds the bacteria that is responsible for the conversion of fibre into energy in the hindgut.
Many labels contain a "prebiotic" listed in their list of ingredients and because we are well aware that a prebiotic feeds the good microbes and allows them to grow and reproduce, this is especially beneficial and needed to ensure the health of our horse’s digestive tract.
By definition of the medical dictionary - prebiotic · a non-digestible food ingredient that selectively stimulates growth and metabolism of certain beneficial MICROORGANISMS in the GUT to improve health.
If you would like to know some of the specific ingredients that are prebiotics, they include plant material such as hay or alfalfa (lucerne) and if you are feeding beet pulp, you are already feeding a prebiotic. The good news is that you don't have to purchase this...you are already offering it to your horse.

The above listing of beneficial ingredients is indeed very long, and to include everything could well be incredibly expensive...but what if I told you that everything that is listed above is available in a very cost affective form?

The answer is saccharomyces cerevisiae. Take a moment to check any products you may have purchased that do any or all of the above, and check if the list of ingredients contains the words saccharomyces cerevisiae.

This supplement is commonly known as brewer's yeast and saccharomyces cerevisiae is the scientific name.

Numerous owners tell me that they once gave their horses brewer’s yeast and at that time their horses were as healthy as ever…however when visiting the feed store a glossy package with what looked like a long list of well balanced vitamins and minerals presented itself to them on the shelf. The high price tag was never the concern because the health of the horse is really what matters in the end.
So, the simply packaged high quality brewer’s yeast was no more and the expensive premixed vitamin and mineral mix then took centre stage.
Below are a few points that most horse owners may find interesting about this incredible supplement.

Vitamins

Although the horse produces B group vitamins in the hindgut, B1 (thiamine) is still required in the diet.
For horses who forage on green pastures, B1 can be obtained this way, or alternatively from Brewer’s yeast.
Increasing thiamine levels will support the nervous system and relax an anxious horse.
While B12 is a B group vitamin that will not be found in brewer’s yeast, the good news is, the microorganisms of the digestive tract have the ability to make B12 when the body has been offered an adequate supply of cobalt.
Because cobalt is not present in any plant material, brewer’s yeast offers you a great source which will greatly contribute to appetite, energy levels and performance.
Unlike every other B group vitamin which are water soluble, B12 can be stored in the body.
B7 is known as biotin and is a significant vitamin for owners to feed to their horse in regards to hoof and coat health.
As well as supporting enhancing coat and hooves, B7 has the ability to lower blood glucose as it stimulates the secretion of insulin from the pancreas.
If horses have the ability to produce B group vitamins themselves, why do we need to feed them?

Below is a list of horses who may be missing these vitamins.
- Senior horses with compromised digestive efficacy
- Horses suffering from dis-ease/ illness.
- When taking antibiotics causing a deficit of gut bacteria
- Parasite burden
- Diarrhea
- High grain diet
- Low pasture or poor pasture diet
- Stress

While Brewer’s yeast is most well known for its abundance of B group vitamins, it also contains amino acids.

Amino Acids

Many owners question how much protein their horses are getting from the food that they are eating, because we know that a high percentage of the body is made up of protein in the form of the musculature, the organs, the enzymes, antibodies and even the hormones!
When it comes to protein, it’s important to know that it is not the quantity of the protein that is important but rather the quality of the protein.
High quality proteins are those that are rich in essential amino acids whereas low quality proteins are low in essential amino acids.
The most important amino acids for horses are lysine, threonine, and methionine, especially for those that are still growing and for those who are in work. These particular amino acids are essential for muscle growth and cellular regeneration.
While brewer’s yeast contains numerous amino acids including the above, it is contains low amounts of methionine, however horses foraging on grass should receive sufficient amounts of methionine.

Minerals

Horses require various minerals for numerous reasons including the structural integrity of the skeletal system, the function of the nervous system as well as enzymes and hormones.
Brewer’s yeast is a rich source of chromium, selenium, potassium, iron, zinc and magnesium, however lacks calcium and phosphorus.
To balance these shortfalls, the addition of legumes such as alfalfa (lucerne and clover) contains an abundance of calcium, whereas meadow grass and hay also contain calcium, however at much lower levels.
Phosphorus in the organic natural form can be found in various grains and by products such as wheat bran and rice bran, are also low in calcium and higher in phosphorus.

Toxin binder

There are numerous toxin binders on the market and in recent times, their popularity has sky rocketed.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Brewer’s yeast) has the ability bond to particular mycotoxins which have the potential to have a negative effect on the horse’s immune system, and the ability to weaken and potentially damage the liver and kidneys.
For owners who battle photosensitivity which results in skin lesions and discomfort, year after year as a result of the endophyte (bacterium or fungus found within various plants) consumption from specific pasture species at different times of the year, again, saccharomyces cerevisiae can also be used as a toxin binder in these cases.
While this is another subject within itself, it is important to add that if your horse has been suffering from photosensitivity, this is an issue that may also involve the liver and therefore it is vital to contact your Equine Naturopath/Nutritionist to discuss the possibility of over supplementation and detoxification via herbal medicine.

In conclusion, this article has merely scraped the surface of all of the benefits of brewer’s yeast.
While as owners, we love to supplement our horses and offer them care that goes above and beyond, it is worth considering the impact of over supplementation along with the benefits of natural feeding and the use of a supplement such as brewer’s yeast.
Next time you visit your feed store and you see the benefits of the supplement in the glossy bag, stop and rethink the benefits of “saccharomyces cerevisiae”.

Not only will it cover everything promised on the labels of the well marketed supplements, it likely is the base of many of those products and will cost you only a fraction of the cost.

Go on…try it….your horses will love you for it!