We have been getting quite a few messages from owners asking about the best Vitamin E supplements for PSSM, RER, tying-up, sore muscle prone horses and as always we are a member led site and so David has reviewed this for you!
FORMS OF VITAMIN E
✗ Synthetic – Cheap, less effective at raising plasma or muscle levels, less biologically active e.g. all-rac-alpha-tocopherol acetate, DL-α-tocopherol Acetate
✓ Natural – More expensive, more biologically active, more effective at raising plasma or muscle levels e.g. RRR alpha-tocopherol
LABELLING
Some manufacturers list mg instead of IU.
To convert from mg to IU:
1 mg of alpha-tocopherol is equivalent to 1.49 IU of the natural form or 2.22 IU of the synthetic form.
To convert from IU to mg:
1 IU of the natural form is equivalent to 0.67 mg of alpha-tocopherol.
1 IU of the synthetic form is equivalent to 0.45 mg of alpha-tocopherol.
SELENIUM
A muscle support should contain around 1mg per day selenium.
✗ Inorganic selenium – Cheap, has a very low safety margin e.g. sodium selenite
✓ Organic selenium – From yeast, more expensive e.g. selenised yeast
DAILY DOSE
For a 500kg horse a suitable daily dose would be around 3000IU (Natural Vitamin E).
