Announcing Optimum EQ 2.0 from BioStar

If you give your horse a multivitamin/mineral, it’s possible that your horse’s body is not able to process all of the potential benefits due to low bioavailability.  BioStar’s upgraded Optimum 2.0 provides your horse with organic, bioavailable minerals so your horse can make the most of its multivitamin.

When Biostar introduced Optimum in 2007, it was the first whole food multivitamin/mineral on the market. In the twelve years since its introduction, the science on whole food has expanded. We now know more about the importance of using the most bioavailable ingredients for supplements and feed. Due to the growing nutritional deficits for our horses, BioStar has upgraded its multivitamin/mineral to respond to these needs by addressing nutritional wellness with whole food and bioavailable ingredients. Only the best for your horse!

Nutritional deficits in horses:

Over the past twelve years nutritional deficits for horses have grown. Horses require more protein, but hays provide lower micro mineral content, low vitamin E and sometimes low selenium.  Magnesium supplementation has increased because of its varying quantities in forages and feeds and the need to maintain the ratio of calcium to magnesium (2.5: 1 up to 3:1).

Horses that don’t spend enough time in sunlight may not be converting sufficient vitamin D in their skin. With the changes in farming practices, vitamin D levels in hay are not as abundant as they used to be. Vitamin D is required for calcium and phosphorus metabolism. Beyond bone health, vitamin D plays a role in cell growth and tissue differentiation.

Often, the soil forages are grown in or used for grazing lack the organic materials needed to support healthy plants and horses due to environmental factors and farming practices.

Often, the soil many hays and forages are grown in are lacking organic fulvic and humic acids, which serve to support both plants and our horses’ intestinal microflora in the GI tract. Fulvic acids play an important role in nutrient absorption, particularly with minerals. Chemical fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, lack of crop rotation, and monoculture farming have all contributed to the decline of humic and fulvic acids in our soils.

Bioavailability matters:

Nature in all her wisdom has figured out bioavailability.  Not only with plants making their own mineral proteinates, but also with the whole food matrix itself. The body knows what to do with food, and can use it to its full extent instead of sending it through the system. When the nutrients are bioavailable, your horse gets all the benefits. That is why so many doctors recommend that humans get their nutrition from food. It is why we use organic carrot powder to supply beta carotene and mushrooms to supply vitamin D.  It is why BioStar uses whole food.

BioStar has upgraded its multivitamin/mineral to respond to these needs by addressing nutritional wellness with whole food and bioavailable ingredients.

Optimum EQ 2.0:

Optimum Senior 2.0:

Optimum Senior 2.0 includes the same ingredients and blend as Optimum EQ 2.0, with some important additions just for seniors.

Vitamin E:

With the alarmingly low levels of vitamin E in hays, horses need a maintenance supplement of at least 1,000 IUs of vitamin E per day. Horses with low levels of vitamin E may need 3,000 IUs or more per day to raise their levels.

Most vitamin E used for supplements is sourced from palm. BioStar will not source from palm because of our environmental commitments. One third of the rainforest in Borneo and Indonesia have been burned to plant palm plantations. This has displaced the Sumatran Tiger, the Sumatran elephant, and the Oraganatan.

We recommend excellent vitamin E supplements from Kentucky Performance Products (Elevate) and Kentucky Equine Research (Nano E).

There are food sources of vitamin E such as sunflower seeds, almonds, and camelina oil. However, to get therapeutic levels it would take a large amount of these foods on a daily basis.

I recommend requesting a CBC at least once a year (performance horses twice per year) to know where the vitamin E and selenium levels are in your horse.

Why BioStar does not use mineral carbonates, oxides, or sulfates:

These forms of minerals are inorganic, meaning inorganic to the body. Plants and mammals cannot effectively utilize inorganic minerals. Plants create mineral proteinates with free amino acids. The inorganic minerals are bound by the amino acids, which creates an organic form of mineral that is bioavailable to the plant, and to the horse or human who eats the plant.

Inorganic minerals are ground up rocks.  They are inexpensive to add to supplements and feed, which is why they are found in virtually every feed and multi vitamin/mineral supplement. Companies need to use higher amounts because they’re not very bioavailable.  For example, 2,000 milligrams of calcium carbonate may result in only 200 milligrams of bioavailable calcium.

What is not in Optimum EQ 2.0 and Optimum Senior 2.0:

• No ingredients made from petroleum or petroleum by-products.  Vitamin A commonly is sourced from petroleum by-products. Vitamin B complex is commonly sourced from coal tar derivatives. Vitamin E as dl-alpha tocopheryl is made from petrochemicals.  MSM is made from petroleum by-products and methane gas.
• No synthesized nutrients.
• No lanolin. Vitamin D3 used in many equine supplements and feeds uses lanolin (also known as wool grease) extracted from sheep’s wool then processed with synthetic chemicals to create the vitamin D.
• No soy.  Trace mineral proteinates in feed and supplements are typically from soy.  There are horses who are soy sensitive or who have tested for soy allergies. Although soybean hulls have very low NSC (4.3% sugar, 1.9% starch), soybean meal has 14.3% sugar and 2.1% starch for an NSC % of 16.2%. This is above the ideal NSC of 10% for easy keepers and metabolic horses.
• No wheat. Wheat middlings, also known as wheat mill run or “floor sweepings,” are commonly found in supplements and feed. Based on Equi-Analytical Labs testing: wheat middlings contained 32% NSC (10.1% sugar, 26.2% starch).
• No artificial or natural flavorings. Tastes great as it is!
• No preservatives.

We know you want the best for your horse. We want the best for your horse too and that is why we reformulated our multivitamin mineral formulas. We cannot wait for your horse to feel the benefits!

Optimum EQ 2.0 and Optimum Senior 2.0 now available!

Coming Soon:

Optimum JS 2.0, Optimum Senior JS 2.0, and Optimum GI 2.0 available October 2019!