Re: probiotics

["Susan Evans Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

>I have been reading the ingredients for some of the probios out there, and
>some include yeast and others don't.  Are yeast a normal part of a horses
>gut flora?  What do you guys think, yeast or no yeast?
>

Yeast are just one of the types of friendly (naturally occurring)
microorganisms in the equine gut, as are different types of bacteria and
protozoa.  There are MANY different strains and species of each major
category and some have different characteristics, sensitivities and
"favorite foods" than others.  It's an extremely dynamic and complex system.
However, when you buy a probios product, there are also differences between
strains---for example, AllTech has published research on the effects of a
particular strain of yeast they've developed, which they market as Yea-Sacc.
The species is Saccaromyces cerevisiae, which is brewers yeast---but while
just plain old (dead) brewers yeast from the health food store won't do
anything except provide some B vitamins, feeding the live strain of Yea-Sacc
has been demonstrated to have some pretty interesting benefits, especially
in growing horses.  So, IMO, yeast is great, but it can't be just any old
yeast.




>Also, any comments about ABC's probios product that doesn't contain any
>organisms (dead or alive) but is supposed to have the stuff that the good
>bugs make that inhibits the bad bugs would be appreciated.

Well, I can give you my opinion, but let me preface it by saying there are a
few people on this list that tend to be highly offended that I air my
opinions without ever having personally bought a bucket of ABC product and
trying it out myself.  (On the other hand, I don't have to buy a can of rat
poison to know it would be bad for me.)(And I'm not comparing ABC products
directly with rat poison).  So my opinion is basely SOLELY on reading their
literature and from a few posts I've received from representatives of the
company, which I've found consistently full of misinformation, hype and
references to "research" that they then don't cite specifically (nor have I
ever seen or heard of any published research that they have funded or
otherwise been involved in).  ABC is not the only company guilty of this,
they're just IMO much better at it than most.  Being a researcher myself,
it's a personal weakness of mine that I happen to be offended by companies
that use the magic phrase of "research" without backing it up, only because
I HAVE to be able to back up everything I say with published numbers and
statistics.

IMO (and this is ONLY my opinion, everyone can take it or leave it), the ABC
people are exceptionally talented at taking a small bit of factual equine
physiology, adding in a few selectively big words, citing that magic phrase
"research" without specific citations and rubbing out the dividing line of
where fact ends and rhetoric begins, which in their case usually begins
pretty quickly.

So, bottom line regarding the ProBi product and their theories of how it
works.  I'm not real impressed by their theories of why their product is
better.  Maybe it does work.  I dunno for sure either way.  Neither do
they---unless they have actually funded, carried out and published REAL
research on it, or at *least* can cite results that in some way support
their theories.  If they can't provide you with real citations, forget
it---it's just as or more cost effective to stick with a product that's been
proven.

I don't have any vendetta against anyone at ABC, never met any of them, I
don't work for a competing company of any sort.  I apologize to anyone who's
offended by my opinion, but that's all it is---my opinion.

Best of luck to you!

Susan Garlinghouse, MS
Equine Research Center
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona



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