We are often feeding plant based or marine based oils to horses in order to gain the benefits of the essential omegas. New developments in this area have produced the Ahiflower!
From the research and their website I have read the following;
Ahiflower®, a sustainable, plant-based source of omega-3s.
Ahiflower oil (from Buglossoides arvensis) matches or exceeds traditional fish and linseed omega-3 oils and contains stearidonic acid (SDA) — efficiently converted to EPA and DHA in horses. Milled seed products now offer added nutritional benefits like a calcium-rich mineral profile.
Why is Ahiflower Unique?
Ahiflower oil is comes from the seeds of non-GMO, proprietary varieties of Buglossoides arvensis, which is a small annual or biennial plant in the Boraginaceae (Borage) family.
Unlike fish or flax oils, Ahiflower naturally contains stearidonic acid (SDA), which the body easily converts to EPA, a key omega-3 that supports a healthy inflammatory response.
This makes it significantly more effective than flaxseed oil and a clean, plant-based alternative to fish oil—without the fishy smell or risk of ocean contaminants.
Like ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), the most common form of plant-based omega-3, SDA (stearidonic acid) is a long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA). The body naturally converts both ALA and SDA to the EPA and DHA found in fish or algal oils, but SDA converts far more efficiently than ALA.
SDA converts to EPA on average at a rate of 30-40%
SDA matters because people seeking clean-tasting plant sources that will enrich EPA/DHA in their bodies — thereby gaining improved cardiovascular, joint, brain, and immune functions — can do so with SDA sources, without having to consume fish or algal oils.
Further, SDA has recently discovered gut microbiome balancing and GI-tract calming effects, acting as a prebiotic.
Finally, SDA has comparable anti-inflammatory activity in cells and tissues as EPA/DHA oils.
High omega-3 plant based sources like flax and chia oils contain no SDA.
Neither do typical fish or algal oils, yet in every published study examining Ahiflower oil and fish oil’s effects in the body,
Ahiflower oil has performed as well or better than fish oil at the same intakes.Â
Most plant-sourced omega fatty acid oils contain omega-3 ALA and omega-6 LA. A few others contain omega-6 GLA in meaningful quantities.
Even fewer contain any SDA at all.
Ahiflower is unique in that it contains ALL of these components, and its highest-available SDA content results in a far more efficient conversion to EPA and DHA in the body when compared to flax and other oils that primarily supply ALA.
To put this into perspective, it would take 4 softgels of flaxseed oil to yield the same amount of beneficial EPA in the body as 1 softgel of Ahiflower oil.
Plus, Ahiflower is non-GMO, grown regeneratively by independent farmers,
If you would like to have a read of the research and website see here =Â https://www.ahiflower.com/
I have been really impressed with the research, see links below:
- https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1359958/full
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38126230/
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-024-03397-9
- chrome-eextension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62a768c6b513fe529f9ab021/t/63d15ad1573b8c2326b9e80c/1674664658184/Venema+K+2020+NOURI_BeneficialMicrobes_March2020%5B47%5D.pdf
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36856456/
- chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62a768c6b513fe529f9ab021/t/63d065ae3e4984591c228d77/1674601922011/Lucchinetti+2022+AJCN+Ahiflower+TPN%5B4%5D.pdf
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23417895/
- chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62a768c6b513fe529f9ab021/t/63d069643e4984591c23326d/1674602854700/Ahiflower+human+clinical+trial+1+Lefort+J+Nutr+Sci+2016.pdf
Right now the oil is for sale in prodcuts manufactured in the USA and UK, I for one eagerly await irs arrival in NZ!
