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Equine nutritionist, founder, and managing director of Equinutritive, Alexandra Frazer, explains how green bananas provide powerful, natural support for the equine gut.
TH: What are key clinical signs horse owners should look for that might indicate gut health issues in their horses?
AF: There’s a huge range of signs and symptoms that can appear. The most common ones really tend to be that their horse is experiencing runny droppings or loose stool. Horses’ stool frequency, color, or general consistency can be a clear indicator that there’s something up in the gut. Owners might notice things like a sudden unexplained weight loss, lack of energy, and/or a dull or lackluster coat. They may also notice sensitivity like girthiness and discomfort while being groomed around the flank area.
Nervous behaviors or growing reactivity is lesser known or appreciated but often clear sign that there could be a problem with the gut as well.
TH: What should horse owners know or look for when considering a supplement for their horses’ gut health?
AF: One of the things I find most, speaking to my own customers, is that in the market a lot of people feed products designed to help their horses. But they’re layering on a new problem.
Horse owners don’t want to be adding to the issue that they’re trying to resolve. So, choosing a supplement with quality, natural ingredients is key.
To start, it’s really important to make sure what the horse really needs is a supplement, rather than a medication. If the horse has a known gut problem, such as ulcers, it’s important to consult the veterinarian, get the medication needed, and administer it as advised.
If the horse owner looks to improve their horse’s gut health with a supplement that’s not medication or they’d like to add a supplement to complement medication, then there are quite a few things they can look for to make sure they’re getting a supplement that’s going to be really truly beneficial for the horse.
One of the first things to look for is a natural product made from natural ingredients. Stay away from ingredients difficult to pronounce or look like they’ve been produced in a lab.
Next, check the ingredients to make sure that the product doesn’t contain any flavorings, additives, or mold inhibitors. All those ingredients can wreak additional havoc on the horse’s gut. Also, make sure to avoid added sugars. Ingredients like molasses, dextrose, or maltodextrin contain additional sugar and can be hidden amongst the listed ingredients.
Consider using a supplement that is free from grains and soy because horses can be sensitive to those ingredients. Those can also cause further gut disruption.

TH: What specific benefits do green bananas provide for equine gut health? How do they support the digestive system of horses?
AF: Green bananas are an interesting feed ingredient. They’re high in resistant starch and also in pectin, which serves as prebiotics. These ingredients get into and feed the beneficial bacteria in the gut, and they stimulate the growth of good bacteria. That’s really important because those bacteria make up the microbiome. The microbiome regulates the health of the entire animal. A horse’s microbiome should be nicely balanced with diverse microbes.
The resistant starch in green bananas is also effective at regulating blood sugar. It helps mitigate blood sugar spikes, making it beneficial for horses that have metabolic issues like EMS or insulin resistance. Resistant starch also helps firm up soft or runny stool. It can particularly help horses that have issues with fecal water syndrome or diarrhea.
Resistant starch is considered a dietary fiber, which is very important for the gut, as fiber is the backbone of the equine diet. Fiber is essential for the hindgut to work effectively, to ferment and function, so the majority of their diet should be made up of dietary fiber. If the gut functions as it should, the horse is on a good track for being healthy in general. So, having a high level of dietary fiber in their diet is useful.
The resistant starch also ferments quite slowly in the hindgut, meaning that there’s less gas produced when it’s broken down. Green bananas can act as a gentle source of fiber for horses prone to gassiness, helping them stay comfortable.
Vitamin Content
Green bananas also contain vitamin C which is a potent antioxidant and supports immune function. B-Complete, a 100% natural equine and canine gut health supplement made from sustainably grown dried green bananas, also contains high levels of B6, which is very good for metabolic health and for supporting the nervous system. B6 is also essential for fighting infections as well. Beyond the vitamins, other essential daily nutrients in B-Complete range from potassium and magnesium to manganese.
These are things that horses need to be taking in every day to keep their system healthy and functioning properly. It’s really nice to have this natural source of these daily nutrients, as opposed to the lab-produced forms most often included in commercial horse feeds and supplements.

TH: As a professional equine nutritionist, what are the key factors that encourage you to advocate B-Complete?
AF: Within my line of work, the approach I’ve taken through my own company and with the products I develop, is always looking for natural ingredients. The first thing about B-Complete is that it’s 100% natural. There’s nothing extra added to it. In that sense, it is quite a simple product. It really is an excellent example of allowing nature to do its thing and have its benefits.
Gut health is promoted by resistant starch. There are other sources of resistant starch that occur in nature, like lentils and some potatoes. However, they’re probably less interesting and palatable than green bananas. B-Complete is an easy way to get naturally occurring resistant starch into a horse’s diet, without high levels of sugar. This makes B-Complete suitable for all horses, even those that have metabolic problems. It’s suitable for horses that are insulin resistant, prone to laminitis or have had laminitis in the past.
TH: Have you observed any behavioral improvements in horses after incorporating green bananas into their diet, possibly related to gut-brain axis modulation?
AF: In my own business, we find that behavioral problems are the most reported issue. Those behavioral issues are often the presentation of a gut problem. The horse may not have ulcers. It might be that their feed is causing disruptions to their gut, either from the ingredients that it contains—because it’s too high in sugar—or the diet doesn’t have enough fiber.
There could be a whole range of factors causing a gut problem, often presenting as nervousness, reactivity, or excitement. It’s very common for us to recommend B-Complete to the owners of nervous horses. This helps them address the gut issue that we suspect before they reach for a calming supplement.
So often I hear horse owners trying every calming product on the market and often they don’t work because they’re not addressing the actual root cause of the problem, which is a gut issue. We definitely do see that once people start addressing the gut issue, often the behavioral issue is resolved. This is happening through the modulation of the gut-brain axis.
TH: Is there any benefit to feeding B-Complete over fresh green bananas or a human-grade banana powder?
AF: Fresh green bananas are in most parts of the world pretty common, however the big challenge is accessibility. The bananas aren’t grown out of season, and they’re only green for a very short time.
The window of opportunity to feed fresh green bananas is very limited because the bananas also must be green. If they’ve started to turn yellow, you’re feeding something completely different than a green banana. If you feed a yellow banana instead of fresh banana, and it was a little bit too far along, you’re not really getting the benefits that you would be hoping for from a fresh green banana anymore. Yellow bananas are high in sugar, so feeding a large quantity of them isn’t a good idea. It’’simportant that the bananas are at just the right stage of their development.
B-Complete is a great mixture and consistency, making feeding green bananas easy for the horse owner and palatable to the horse. My company has been selling B-Complete for a couple of years now. We have hundreds of pieces of anecdotal feedback on the benefits of it, and how it helps a variety of horses with all kinds of situations.

Whether your horses are experiencing gut health issues or you’re looking to improve their supplement program, incorporating green bananas can be a simple and natural way to support their gut health. Packed with essential fiber and nutrients, the B-Complete green banana supplement makes it easy to provide a gut boost while promoting overall well-being. By adding this easy and effective option to your horses’ nutrition plan, you’re helping ensure they feel their best, from the inside out.

Written by:
Banana Feeds Australia
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