Phytosterols have quite a reputation in our land. They are one of the active ingredients of the African Potato, for which our Health Minister was recently ridiculed for recommending to AIDS patients.

The media took great delight in making her look like an idiot for doing this. But, as always there are two sides to the story. It is unfortunate that the media so often chooses not to report on both sides without bias.

Try this – do a simple internet search on phytosterols, or more specifically, beta-sitosterol. What you are likely to find, amongst other stuff, is a host of well researched scientific papers relating to the use of phytosterols in the treatment of AIDS patients. It is not a cure, but could definitely, in my opinion, play a part in treatment of AIDS.

Okay, now I’ve got that off my chest! How does this substance, abundant in many plants, relate to horses and dogs? Phytosterols have been found to have similar effects in animals to those found in humans. It is an immune modulator, which means that (unlike Echinacea which increases immune response), it corrects immune response. So, where the immune system goes awry (in allergies, etc) it helps to return the immune response to normal. It also helps with joint flexibility, and has been found to be beneficial in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

We have found that our Immune mix(which contains phytosterols) helps horses to fight off disease as well as allergic reactions, eg. itchy, flaky skin, Sweet Itch, etc.