Vitamin E and Fish Oil

Vitamin E and Fish Oil

Vitamin E

Vitamin E plays a critical role in your dog’s health and shortages of this very important vitamin can cause serious dog health problems. Vitamin E, an antioxidant, destroys the free radicals in your dog’s body which can otherwise cause major problems for your dog’s health.
Vitamin E plays a particularly important role in skin health and fertility, and is also important for proper functioning of the immune system. Deficiency in Vitamin E can cause major health problems.

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eficiencies in Vitamin E can cause significant dog health problems including:

• Muscle wastage
• Eye problems such as retinal degradation
• Impaired immune system
• Reduced fertility in dogs and bitches

In commercial pet foods, vitamin E is used to prevent the oxidation of fatty acids in the food which leads to rancidity. It accomplishes this by “neutralizing” the free radicals which cause rancidity. However, during this process, vitamin E is used up. For this reason, feeding a diet that has been improperly prepared or stored can lead to a vitamin E deficiency.

Adding oils or oily fish to your dog’s diet also increases the requirement for Vitamin E. Omega 3 & 6 oils are particularly good for your dog’s health, but it is extremely important to add Vitamin E at the same time. Examples of oils that increase the vitamin E requirement include:

• Sunflower oil
• Evening Primrose oil
• Linseed oil
• Fish oils such as cod liver oil or salmon oil, and oily fish
• Olive oil

If these oils are added to your dog’s diet without adding extra Vitamin E, it will cause Vitamin E deficiency and could lead to health problems. The effects of Vitamin E deficiency are not always immediately obvious, but scientific studies have shown that adding oils to the diet without Vitamin E can lead to deficiency within 15 weeks.

The exact amounts of Vitamin E required depend upon the levels and precise mix of polyunsaturated omega 3&6 oils being added. If you know the precise fatty acid analysis of the oil, it is possible to calculate the exact requirement for vitamin E.

It also depends on the quality of the oil being added. Poorer quality oils with increased levels of oxidation will contain higher levels of free radicals so will require more vitamin E.

For example, feeding your dog a poor quality flax oil intended for horses or a cheap fish oil will require more vitamin E than a higher quality one intended for humans, but both will still require high levels of vitamin E to prevent deficiency.

Because of the vital importance Vitamin E plays in your pet’s health, all Yumega oils contain high levels of natural vitamin E to ensure optimal bioavailability for your pet. We calculate the exact Vitamin E requirement based on an analysis of over 30 different fatty acids, tailored to each specific blend of Yumega.

In fact, the level of Vitamin E in Yumega is more than double the minimum requirement. This helps to ensure that there is plenty of natural Vitamin E available for the health of your dog or cat. Vitamin E plays an important role in skin health, so having this naturally available in Yumega helps to improve your pet’s skin condition.

We use a number of processes to ensure maximum bioavailability of Vitamin E:

• Highest quality raw materials
• Gentle oil extraction, avoiding heat, light and oxygen to provide extremely high quality oils
• Oxygen and light blocking packaging to reduce oxidation
• High levels of natural Vitamin E

This means you can add our range of Yumega oils to your pet’s diet, confident that you are providing the right blend of omega 3&6 oils for their skin & coat, together with plenty of natural Vitamin E to support their health.