L-Lysine (Monohydrochloride 98.5%)

Lysine is the essential amino acid that is most often deficient in the diets of horses.

This essential amino acid is often the key to improving protein availability, especially in grass hay-based diets. Making the proteins that are in the feed available to the horse is one of the most important keys to efficient growth, blood building, tissue repair, and muscle development. By concentrating on improving protein quality and availability, owners can avoid the problems and expense of high levels of crude protein. Supplemental lysine is the best approach to achieving this goal.

Lysine is one of nine essential amino acids, which are the building blocks that make up protein. We give a lot of attention to protein but, in reality horses do not have a dietary protein requirement; instead, they have a dietary amino acid requirement and, in particular, they have an essential amino acid requirement. This is because essential amino acids cannot be made by the horse the way non-essential amino acids can. Therefore, they must be present in the diet.

Lysine is found in a wide variety of tissues, hormones, and cells throughout the body. Myosin and other muscle proteins contain large amounts of lysine. Proteins that require lysine include the collagens and elastins that make up bone matrix, tendons, skin, and articular cartilage. Keratin protein in hoof and hair also requires lysine. Inadequate intake of protein or required amino acids by horses may lead to reduced feed intake, body tissue loss, poor coat, poor hoof growth, decreased growth and development of young animals.

Using L-Lysine at times of stress is key to calcium absorption, boosting the immune system and supporting the body’s production of hormones, enzymes and antibodies.

Each protein has a specific structure and requires amino acids to be available to connect in the right order, like links in a chain. If one of the amino acids needed is present in a smaller quantity than is needed, protein synthesis will be negatively impacted.

To recap, for protein synthesis to occur all amino acids must be present in the correct amounts and ratios. Even if only one amino acid is below the amount necessary for protein synthesis to occur, synthesis will be limited. And given the range of structures made up of protein in your horse’s body, this can have major consequences.

Supplementing the immune system with L-Lysine can be very beneficial to optimal health and performance.