Podcast #024 – The Mighty Mitochondria

Within the cells of our horses are power stations where fuel is converted into energy. Without this power station called the mitochondria, the cell and thus the horse dies. In reality, the mitochondria are organisms living within our cells as a symbiotic relationship – where each can’t live without the other.

How well the mitochondria work is related to the fuel it is fed. The good fuel is fat with clean and abundant energy production. Sugar (glucose) on the other hand burns dirty with less energy produced. When glucose is fed in excess of the needs of the horse, the muscles become insulin resistant and the fat cells become good at becoming larger. The result is the horse getting hungrier in an abundance of food.

This podcast explains everything in a simple and story like fashion so once it is understood, owners will never feed starch in excess of their horses’ needs.