NATUSAT Milk Thistle Seeds, 500 g

With a protein-heavy diet based on oats, grass and silage, horses suffer from a large surge of ammonia, which is converted into urea by the liver. However, ammonia is a toxin that can also destroy liver cells. Too much fat and excessive feeding also puts a strain on the liver, as does alcohol, which is produced by incorrect fermentation in the large intestine, as well as colouring agents and preservatives.

The milk thistle, also called Silybum marianum, can nutritionally support the healthy function of the liver.

The milk thistle has its origin in the Mediterranean area, southern Europe and North Africa. It comes from the sunflower family, is about 1.5m high and has large, dark green leaves with pointed thorns on the edge. The reddish-purple flowers are relatively small. The approximately 7 millimetres long, egg-shaped fruits, which are shiny brown-black, are the most valuable part of the plant.

The milk thistle fruits are harvested in August. They contain 25-30% protein, 20-30% linoleic acid-rich oil, flavonoids, bitter substances, essential oil, resins, tyramine and histamine. The active ingredient complex silymarin makes milk thistle interesting. It consists of Silibinin, Silybin, Silychristin and Silydianin. They belong to the secondary plant substances and are also called flavolignans.

Since the silymarin complex is contained in the fruits of the dried flowers, a desired dosage of 2 - 4g silymarin per day per horse is obtained by feeding around 120-150 g milk thistle fruits.

The administration of milk thistles in the form of tea is not recommended. The flavolignans are poorly soluble in water. Therefore, the desired concentration cannot be achieved. As the only known side effect, silymarin can have a slight laxative effect.

Feeding recommendation:

• 10-30g per 500kg LG and day