Feeding magnesium to the overweight horse

A lump of my best carrot cake to anyone wh can come up with a plausible metabolic explanation of how a mineral could reduce obesity. Because it's completely beyond me.

Paula
 
Paulag said:
A lump of my best carrot cake to anyone wh can come up with a plausible metabolic explanation of how a mineral could reduce obesity. Because it's completely beyond me.

Paula
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If it exists, I'd like to get my hands on that mineral.



And not for my horse. :o
 
Oh yes they work very well you have to take them regularly to boost your metabolism and experiment with lots of different wines until you get the balance right which is tricky so tricky in fact that I never got the balance perfect and how have to buy bigger breeches.
 
magnesium does have therapeutic values, my mum was prescribed it by her GP not for weight loss but because she was feeling very strange and tired and having weird nightmares. I had never heard of it being used in people before It did seem to work and made her feel better.
 
This is an interesting thread, as I have just started my stoutish cob on magnesium - not for laminitis but because several sources have said it can act as a calmer/balancer (she is a persistent 'nervy not naughty' shyer). She did have winter laminitis badly two years ago but has not had a recurrence. I will be interested to see if the magnesium makes any difference to her weight, slight crest etc.
 
It will have beneficial effects if the horse has a mineral deficiency in the first place. In overweight horses, you have to consider carefully the way fat is deposited. Could it be linked to insulin resistance, fat metabolism issues or perhaps glucose regulation in cells.

As we already know in humans, mineral deficiencies can have a catastrophic effect on the body. Lack of calcium causes ricketts, lack of vit c causes scurvy, lack of magnesium causes fatigue, low metabolism, HyPOcalceamia, Neuromuscular abnormalities, Hypokalemia, Decreases carbohydrate metabolism! Worsen insulin resistance! Hormone regulation!

So yes, a mineral can have a major effect on health. Most of us don't notice as we eat good food, fortified foods even and are healthy.

In horses, obviously we think they get everything from grass and the food we give but unless we test the horse or the forage, we don't really know what we are feeding in terms of a good vit and min profile.

Of course a mineral can help in the case of insulin resistance and obese horses if there is a deficiency, just as many fat supplements for humans are full of magnesium, vit d and calcium. They are supplements and not a miracle cure, however, it is an important part of the building blocks you need to get him back to health.

Don't forget that in medicine, minerals are used to heal, even used intravenously for people with anaemia as an example. For the person who has a serious problem with iron, like my friend, her trips to hospital to receive mineral therapy, really is a life-saver.
 
Yes, yes, lovely. But which particular metabolic pathway, enzyme or receptor cascade is magnesium a cofactor, or component of?

No cake without biochemistry.

Paula
 
Oh and magnesium is a component of chlorophyll - so you'd be pretty hard pressed to get a deficiency in a herbivore. In people the problem is usually caused by polyurea - diuretics or very uncontrolled diabetes (best treated by controlling the diabetes) or malabsorption in conditions such as crohns.

Paula
 
I feed magoz to my lammi pony. He's not had lammi since being on it and for the first time this summer he actually had a summer coat plus it's helped with his fat pads. A must I say for IR ponies
 
The thing an overwieght horse needs most is to have it calorie intake reduced no amount os ' clever ' supplements will take this fact away , just like people horses need to move more and eat less to lose wieght.
 
Paulag said:
Yes, yes, lovely. But which particular metabolic pathway, enzyme or receptor cascade is magnesium a cofactor, or component of?

No cake without biochemistry.

Paula
Click to expand...

'Know it all award' goes to........ Paulag :D

I have no idea how Mag works but I was about to start feeding it to my fatty cob along with fennel, pro balance, linseed, yea sacc...... too much? Unecessary? I used to laugh at the people on the yard that fed more powder than feed - now I am one of them!
 
There is quite a lot of research on this - I think that you have to dig around in the highbrow academics of laminitic research (UK and America) to get your answer, but it is out there.

From my understanding, its is the lack of the mineral that causes the problem, rather than having too much and the ramifications can impact of general health especially temperament and foot health, which I suppose are important especially if you are encouraging a horse to loose weight. Apparently a lot of our grass is lacking in magnesium - as someone said well recognised in dairy farmers. The balance of other minerals is also important.

Have you read 'Feet First' by the by Nic Barker and Sarah Braithwaite - who runs 'Forage Plus'. I think she could give quite a comprehensive 'academic' answer to this or point you in the right direction.
 
Billie1007 said:
'Know it all award' goes to........ Paulag :D

I have no idea how Mag works but I was about to start feeding it to my fatty cob along with fennel, pro balance, linseed, yea sacc...... too much? Unecessary? I used to laugh at the people on the yard that fed more powder than feed - now I am one of them!
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Yes, I'd think that was not necessary unless you knew there was an imbalance/deficiency.
 
CobsGalore said:
LOL!

Seriously though, can you do more harm than good feeding Magnesium if you don't know if the horse is deficient in it??
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It is my understanding that they just pee the excess away so unless the horse had a condition where it was compromised in that area it should be ok , that's not for all supplements mind ,some selenium for instance can be fatal if over supplemented .
 
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