Summary: Hello there this is Krista with Episode #155 on the Wag Out Loud pawdcast. After so many dog food recalls, and confusion as to what commercial brands we can trust, many of us have decided to make our dog's food ourselves. Now, that's love, right? You might be purchasing organic and pasture raised and pasture finished ingredients. But are you sure that the meals that you're preparing are nutritionally balanced? The fact is that most DIY diets are lacking some major nutrients. And back in 2013, the UC Davis Veterinary School, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, that only nine of the 200 homemade recipes that were tested, actually met the minimum nutrient standards for dogs established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials. And that's also referred to as AFFCO. All the others were nutritionally incomplete or out of balance. So if your dog appears to be healthy on a homemade diet, I encourage you to be absolutely sure. Most of the recipes found on the internet are deficient in key nutrients that our pups need to be healthy, and they can only get it from the food that they eat. So my recommendation is to work with a board certified veterinary nutritionist or there are two great resources to help ensure that your recipes are nutritionally complete and balanced. Check out PetDiets at https://www.petdiets.com/ or BalanceIT at https://secure.balanceit.com/, two great websites that are super easy to use. And of course, I highly recommend any recipes from The Canine Health Nut, Nikki, she's also a registered veterinary technician and expert in dog nutrition. She has fantastic complete and balanced home cooked dog food recipes, so check her out. So if you're gonna commit the time, the cost, the effort and the love into making your dog's meals from scratch, please do it right by being absolutely certain that they are getting all the nutrients in the correct ratios to thrive. Welcome to the Wag Out Loud pawdcast, where we are obsessed with bringing you helpful tips on canine health care, nutrition, and overall wellbeing. If you'd like to support the show, check out the amazing online events, products and resources that I personally recommend on the Wag Out Loud website. I'm your host, Krista and I'm super excited to be bringing you yet another tail wagging episode. Dr. John Howie is the Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Lintbells – Home of YuMOVE, the UK’s #1 veterinary hip & joint supplement, used by over 1.7 million dogs each year. John started his career in science, with a PhD in Molecular Genetics, and moved into the commercial world in 1997, working in various European food raw material and health businesses. In 2006, he co-founded Lintbells after spotting a gap in the pet nutritional health market for a natural supplement that combined a scientific approach with raw material quality and functionality. With a strong focus on product quality, effectiveness, and outstanding consumer satisfaction, Lintbells is one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK, selling products such as joint, skin, and digestive supplements to health-conscious dog, cat, and horse owners in more than 15 countries. Hello dog lovers. Welcome to another informative episode of the Wag Out Loud pawdcast. And today I'm chatting with Dr. John Howie about the significance of green lipped mussels. I'm so excited about this! Dr. Howie welcome to the show. Thank you for the kind invitation. It's a pleasure to be with you. Well, I'm gonna have you introduce yourself and tell us why you originally started researching the effectiveness of green lipped mussels for canine joint health. Sure, so yeah, so my name is John Howie. I'm the Co Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of a company called Lintbells. We have a brand called YuMove, which is our joint supplement. And we're actually the UK’s #1 joint supplement for dogs. And now over in the USA as well. That's wonderful. And what got you into green lipped mussels and their effectiveness, especially in joint health for dogs? Effectiveness of Green Lipped Mussels Well, we were looking at developing a joint supplement for dogs. And we were looking at all the reasons why dogs get stiff as they get older. And we were looking at the products that were available to pet parents to look after their pets. And one of the things we identified was that one of the key reasons that dogs start to struggle is they start to get much more uncomfortable as they're moving around. So we were keen to try and find active ingredients that will help them to ease their discomfort and help to move more easily. And so we were looking at all of the research, the scientific research that was available to us to indicate which ingredients would do a good job and in that work out came lots of good scientific evidence to support the use of green lipped mussels and that's why we started looking at them. Well let's get into this. You know, this show focuses mostly on holistic and integrative approaches to canine health. So I'm so excited to see that more and more dog parents I think are turning to more natural approaches to keep their dogs healthy. And when we look at the conventional treatments for joint issues, of course, we think of the NSAIDs or the non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs that really can do more harm than good. I think a lot of people don't realize that they can cause ulcers, liver, kidney damage, and even damage the actual joints and soft tissues. So I'm excited to talk about a natural approach, especially with the mussels. So why are green lipped mussels specifically such a great supplement for joint issues? What does it do? One of the key components of green lipped mussels is their Omega 3 content. So they have a number of different Omega 3s, which are really good for easing stiffness in the joints. So it's taking a natural approach to managing that issue. But green lipped mussels specifically have a unique combination. So you get omega threes in lots of different ingredients, fish oils, and flax oil and so on. But the unique combination in green lipped mussel has a particularly strong effect, and so provides that natural relief that many dogs are looking for. That's great. So in addition to the omega three fatty acids, green lipped mussels also have vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, it has glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate. So how cool is that? Because I know a lot of people that take supplements for themselves or for their animals. It's synthetically manufactured supplements and this wonderful green lipped mussel has everything naturally, which I think is wonderful. Yeah, they are fantastic sources of, as you said, lots of different beneficial ingredients within them. And alongside things like chondroitin sulfate, there are a number of those are called glycosaminoglycans. They are a particular type of natural compound that's great for joint structure, for example, there's actually several different types within just within the green lipped mussel itself. But part of the reason for that is the place where they live in New Zealand. They live in the fresh, clear waters of New Zealand, coastal waters in New Zealand. And so they're accumulating lots of natural ingredients coming up through the water, and the ocean currents, and then concentrating them in this superfood, which we now use for joint health. And aren’t they considered the filters in the ocean.? And that's why they have so many bioavailable compounds? That's right. They're essentially they are what they eat. They are filtering nutrients out of the water. And the beauty of the areas where we source our green lipped mussels from is those particular waters are very rich in these natural nutrients. And so there are lots of different types of green lipped mussel, qualities and contents that you can get. But the ones that we're utilizing, are located in areas where we know there's much more of those nutrient flows, which they are as you say they are filtering out of the water and concentrating them as they as they grow. So again, we have to say these green lipped mussels are only found in New Zealand. Is that right? New Zealand Waters That's correct. Yeah, they’re only found and the New Zealand has called them green shell. So it's either green shell mussel, green lipped mussels is what we normally refer to them as. But yes, they only grow. In New Zealand, there are mussels, there are all sorts of species of mussels growing around the world. But these particular type are only found in New Zealand. And that's where a lot of the research has been done to identify them and their beneficial effects for dogs. Well, let's talk about the research because I know that there have been studies and I know you probably know all of them. So can you just share some of the research that is coming out about this magic superfood? Studies on Green Lipped Mussels Certainly. The first studies were done are actually done in humans. So there was quite a lot of work done looking at the effect on human health. And then there was some more research in the early 2000s looking at their benefits for particularly for joint health in dogs. And that was some of the first research we looked at. And over time, there has been an increasing body of evidence being built up an increasing amount of research looking at green lipped mussels themselves and what's in them and how that affects joint health. As a company, we've then taken that research one step further or several steps further, in fact, so we've run our own clinical studies, looking at the effect of our green lipped mussels within our product, YuMove. And identifying the specific ratios that have the greatest effect. So we've identified unique combinations of omega threes that have the greatest effect for dogs. And then we've utilized that research further, to continue to develop our range and, and develop our offerings. So we now understand what levels of what types of green lipped mussels have what effect on the dog. So it's deepening that understanding of these, these creatures all the time. And I think I read in one of the studies that there was such a significant improvement in pain and mobility compared to dogs that were just given a placebo, that nearly 75% of the dogs that were taking green lipped mussel did not need any additional pain meds. So there has been some work absolutely looking at that, that sort of side of things. And so you do see some quite dramatic effects. As you it takes a bit of time, it's not an instant effect, it's not feed them one day, and they're magically fixed the next you have to build this up over time. So it can take up to four or six weeks to really build the levels of these compounds up. And to see that benefit. But having done that, then you do see quite significant changes in in the mobility of those dogs and dogs that were struggling to move around in the house or stuck in their basket or on their bed, and not being able to get out very easily. And then within a few weeks, our customers are phoning up and saying that you've given me my puppy back. He is running around the park and chasing balls and enjoying life again. And that's essentially what we're about. And we're trying to help those dogs to enjoy their life again, rather than being bored at home as it were. And I love that because inevitably, with us and with our dogs as we age, osteoarthritis is bound to be knocking on the door. So this just prolongs that and gives them such a better quality of life. And another cool thing about green lipped mussels is there are no side effects, like there are with the medications that are typically given. Yeah, and in fact, you can see some positive benefits, not just in joints. But you know, for example, there is some research that's shown that it, it reduces some of the the effects you might see in the stomach, for example. So when you're getting some inflammation in other areas, that can help as well. Those same properties and benefits that we're looking at for the joints can also be beneficial elsewhere in the body. That's great. Well, we love to geek out here on this show. So I really urge our listeners to look more into the research that's been done. Because over the past 40 years, there's been about 150 publications that have reported the health benefits of green lipped mussels. So as Dr. Howie mentioned, there's so much beyond just controlling inflammation as far as the benefits. How long after giving dogs, green lipped mussel could we see improvement in mobility? You mentioned it doesn't happen overnight, as with natural remedies, of course, that's the case. But when can we see an improvement? How Long Before We Can See a Difference? So we typically say four to six weeks. But we do get some owners reporting effects much quicker. So to a degree, it depends upon the dog. But some, some will tell us they've seen a difference within a week, two weeks, it really depends on the sort of condition of the dog in the first place. But also then the strength of the product that they're using, because we have a range of strengths. And so for example, if you use our veterinary strength products, something called YuMove advanced 360. That's much higher strength green lipped mussels, so you would expect to see an effect quicker with a higher strength product. But all of our products are clinically proven. So it's not that there's only one or the other is the whole range is proven, but it's just as you increase the amount that you give on a daily basis, you would expect to see an effect faster. Okay, can you talk a little bit about how not only NSAIDs but also green lipped musssels are COX inhibitors? So what does that mean? And what is what's happening in the body? COX Inhibitors? So a COX enzyme is the enzyme that is creating well it can do, you can do one of two things. They can either create what we call pro inflammatory mediators. So compounds that increase the amount of inflammation in the body, or they can produce anti inflammatory mediators. So compounds that reduce the amount of inflammation in the body. Classically, you would expect them to be producing these pro inflammatory mediators as part of a normal reaction, normal immune reaction or an inflammation reaction. And some of that is useful. So if you're talking about a COX two inhibitor. Some of these drugs that you refer to, they're knocking that enzyme out. So they're knocking out the effect of that enzyme. We're looking at things slightly differently, because all of these enzymes are using Omega, usually Omega 6 oils, which will be expressed in that there'll be in the dog's diet anyway, just from their normal food. And those will tend to be converted into these pro inflammatory compounds. What we're doing with green lipped mussels is we're providing these very specific omega 3s, which basically are competing, so they're trying to provide the anti inflammatory path instead of the proinflammatory path in that for the for that enzyme. So we're essentially changing the way in which that enzyme is is operating, but without knocking it out. Whereas nonsteroidals will be trying to knock out the effect of that enzyme. So we're trying to use a natural nutritional route to managing the challenges that the dog might be experiencing rather than a pharmaceutically mediated one. That makes sense. Well, I think now is a great time to take a quick commercial break. So sit tight, everybody, we will be right back. A special thanks to our sponsor of the month, Poochcasso. Of course, we all absolutely love our dogs and I bet that you have many pictures of them on your phone. Well, why not take that a step further and have a unique and colorful portrait made of your pup! 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