Bog standard boswellia or concentrate?

[zoon]

I want to feed my horse boswellia, but unsure whether to buy regular old boswellia or use the concentrate with 65% boswellic acid.

How much boswellic acid is in the standard boswellia? I know you can feed much less, but is the concentrate actually more effective?

 

[PurBee]

The grade of any product can vary hugely.

If a concentrate was just boswellic acid, i would not use that. But if it was a whole herb/resin with a proven high level of boswellic acid , i’d use that.
Sometimes with herbs/roots/leaves/gums they extract the ‘identified useful’ compound and throw away everything else. Yet, within the whole herb are generally many compounds that work together to deliver their noted effects, so i prefer to use the whole herb.

Sometimes, if the ‘active’ compound is quite weak in the whole herb, ill buy both the whole herb and the extract and mix together. Then i know that there’s the other supportive compounds being ingested alongside the extracted concentrated compound.

Here’s a whole herb/gum boswellia powder with a confirmed high acid content:

https://www.animalife.co.uk/shop/for-horses/boswellia/

They state ingredients as ‘boswellia serrata’ - so strictly speaking IF their labelling is correct, that means whole boswellia Whereas if it was just the boswellic acid extracted from the whole herb they normally would say on ingredients label ‘bowellic acid extract 65%’. (Because strictly speaking boswellic acid is just an extract from the whole herb, so the whole herb name should not be used in the actual ingredients list.)

I have emailed companies to double check and get clarification before using their herb products. With the above company i would email to ask if this is the whole resin extract or just boswellic acid concentrate on its own within a carrier powder.

 

[Andie02]

Have a look at Riaflex boswellia https://www.riaflex.co.uk/products/equine-boswellia-serrata-65/

 

[criso]

I fed the concentrate/extract and had as good resuts as with the whole. It also had the advantages that it was easier to get a fussy horse to eat it as it does smell quite strong.

I got it from here https://www.equicure.co.uk/boswellia-serrata
It says the standard is 19%

However i now feed their Flex powder as it combined what i wanted to feed in one product.

 

[zoon]

The grade of any product can vary hugely.

If a concentrate was just boswellic acid, i would not use that. But if it was a whole herb/resin with a proven high level of boswellic acid , i’d use that.
Sometimes with herbs/roots/leaves/gums they extract the ‘identified useful’ compound and throw away everything else. Yet, within the whole herb are generally many compounds that work together to deliver their noted effects, so i prefer to use the whole herb.

Sometimes, if the ‘active’ compound is quite weak in the whole herb, ill buy both the whole herb and the extract and mix together. Then i know that there’s the other supportive compounds being ingested alongside the extracted concentrated compound.

Here’s a whole herb/gum boswellia powder with a confirmed high acid content:

https://www.animalife.co.uk/shop/for-horses/boswellia/

They state ingredients as ‘boswellia serrata’ - so strictly speaking IF their labelling is correct, that means whole boswellia Whereas if it was just the boswellic acid extracted from the whole herb they normally would say on ingredients label ‘bowellic acid extract 65%’. (Because strictly speaking boswellic acid is just an extract from the whole herb, so the whole herb name should not be used in the actual ingredients list.)

I have emailed companies to double check and get clarification before using their herb products. With the above company i would email to ask if this is the whole resin extract or just boswellic acid concentrate on its own within a carrier powder.

this was what I planned to buy - https://www.ourons.co.uk/product/boswellia-serrata-65-boswellic-acids/

Any good?

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I got it from here https://www.equicure.co.uk/boswellia-serrata

I use the liquid version of this. It is mixed with cider vinegar, very easy to add to feed and my mare eats it no fuss.

 

[criso]

I use the liquid version of this. It is mixed with cider vinegar, very easy to add to feed and my mare eats it no fuss.

Though you have to check overall concentration with the liquid. When I was looking at the Flex powder compared to the Flex liquid, I emailed to check the difference and the powder had much higher levels so although it seemed more expensive, it worked out cheaper.

 

[PurBee]

this was what I planned to buy - https://www.ourons.co.uk/product/boswellia-serrata-65-boswellic-acids/

Any good?

Yes i’d try that.
Don’t forget, as its concentrated, work up to the recommended daily dose over 10 days , rather than give the full dose on day 1. That way, you can monitor any adverse changes/reactions, and know what dose you were giving.
If there are any adverse changes you can reduce the dose, for a few days, and monitor if symptoms go away. If not go to a lower dose, to the dose where adverse symptoms go, and stick with that dose.

If there are no adverse changes, continue dosing to recommended dose, monitoring if there’s any improvement. Dosage can vary from 1 horse to another, depending on their individual biochemistry. Dosage recommendations on products is the ‘average’ dose found useful and given to the average horse. You may need a bit more, or a bit less.

Sometimes dumping a new ‘medicinal benefit’ supplement full dose into their diet suddenly can induce reactions, because its something new, not because it’s bad, so by slowly building-up to recommended dose, allows the body to more easily assimilate and adjust to the supplement.