RICE BRAN OIL TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Rice Bran Oil is the oil extracted from the germ and inner husk of rice. Rice bran oil contains a range of fatty acids, with most being short chained, mono unsaturated fatty acids giving it the quality of being liquid at room temperature. Both fats and oil belong to a broader group known as lipids. The terms fats and oils are often used interchangeably in the equine literature but for practical purposes the reference is to oils, as saturated fats tend to not be as well accepted by horses. 

Nutritional benefits to feeding fats: Fats or oils are generally used in equine diets to increase energy density and/or substitute for hydrolyzable and rapidly fermentable carbohydrates in the form of cereal grains. However, fat supplementation has other potential benefits, including improved energetic efficiency enhanced body condition, diminished excitability, and metabolic adaptations that increase fat oxidation during exercise. Dietary fats also serve as carriers for the fat soluble vitamins and supply the essential fatty acids (EFA) linoleic and alpha-lenolenic that are not synthesized by the body, although an EFA requirement has not been determined for horses. All fatty acids serve structural functions and several of the polyunsaturated fatty acids are precursors of the prostaglandins and other eicosanoids, which are important for a host of cellular functions.

Following is technical data supporting “bullet points”:

1. High Caloric Density- Fats have 9 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram from carbohydrates. How many calories a food has is determined by bomb calorimetry. A calorie is the amount of heat necessary to increase the temperature of one gram of water one degree centigrade.
    
2. High Natural E- Laboratory analysis from accredited labs determine the total Vitamin E level. Compared to published values of other oils, rice bran oil is relatively high. The natural forms of Vit. E found in rice bran oil is of higher activity than the synthetic commercial forms. Natural forms have been demonstrated to be preferentially metabolized by horses. Recent studies have demonstrated higher plasma tocopherol levels when horses were supplemented with natural Vit. E over synthetic. Studies in humans and swine show greater tissue retention up to twice as much with the natural isomer and greater transfer of Vit E in the milk from mother to neonate.
    
3. “Cool Calories”- Physiological processes such as ingestion, fermentation, and assimilation, as well as the metabolic process of energy generation, are not completely efficient and heat is produced as a consequence, giving rise to a thermal load. The heat produced for maintenance processes is known as the heat of maintenance (Hm) and the heat produced as a consequence of exercise is know as the heat of work (Hw). A horse’s thermal load is the total of these two and must be dissipated in order to maintain normal body temperature. Diets supplemented with oil have been shown to reduce thermal load through several different mechanisms. An increase in the energy density of the diet reduces the heat of ingestion, fat is digested in the stomach so it does not add to the heat of fermentation, and can reduce ballast or gut fill thereby decreasing the Hm. Additionally, the amount of heat produced per molecule of ATP generated was calculated to be less during the oxidation of fatty acids compared to carbohydrates or proteins.
   
   Holland et al (1996) was the first to demonstrate a decrease in spontaneous   activity. Other researchers have reported a reduction in the exercise associated increase plasma cortisol concentration in horses fed a fat supplemented diet. Field observations in weanlings fed forage/fat supplement vs. sweet feed reported lower stress behavior in the fat supplemented group.
    
4. “High in Essential Fatty Acids”- Mammals lack the de-saturase enzymes necessary to introduce double bonds into fatty acid chains that are more than nine carbons away from the carboxyl terminus therefore they can not manufacture omegas 3, 6, or 9 and they must be supplied in the diet.

Price: $26.40/bottle
5 liter bottle @ $20.00/gallon