*** Please be aware when the temperature is over 16C we only ship orders Monday to Tuesday to ensure mastic spends minimal time in transit. Contact us directly if you needing mastic urgently and we can arrange for 24 & 48 hour shipping quotes for you***

Mastiha gum, Masticha, mastica, masatic resin, mastiha of Chios, mastix or mastixa; whatever you call it, mastic gum is pretty unique stuff. True mastic is only produced in the south part of Chios Island. It is a natural resin that forms from the crystalising sap of the mastic tree, which are cultivated without any industrial intervention, chemicals fertilisers or pesticides. Mastic trees have been cultivated this way for thousands of years, while not labled as organic they are the essense of organic agriculature. Chios gum Masticha is harvested by and cleaned by hand piece by piece.

Mastic has many useful qualities and uses. It absorbs cholesterol, helps to manage diabetes, has antibacterial properties, acts as an oral antiseptic, aids digestion, tightens the gums, heals wounds and gastric distress. Mastic is a harmless, non-toxic, non-addictive and has no known side effects. Recently modern science has been looking at mastic for the treat of stomach ulcer and H pylori. Horse owns and equine practictioners alike have started using mastic as a successfully complementary treatment for gastro-instinal issues. Whether used in times of stress, performance and change to help soothe and enhance gut health, as follow on treatment after illness to aid recovery or lessen the aggravating effect of anti-inflamatories and anti-biotics on the stomach, or as a one off course as a prophylaxis for undiagnosed ulcers and lesions, all such issues has so far seen owners report positive improvements in the adminstering of masatic to horses.

Our mastic powder is produced from 100% pure, natural gum mastic of Chios and is high human quality mastic. Unlike most mastic tears and powder on the market which are food grade, our mastic is the same top quality grounded mastic as used in medicinal human products harvested and cleaned by hand from the original source on the small island of Chios. It is ground for us to order with absolutely no additives or preservaties.

For ease of use our ground Chios gum mastic comes in 100g plastic jars. At the recommend treatment rate of 3grams per day per horse this is enough mastic for a full four week course of treatment with a little left over to allow for that standard spillage that always seems to occur in feedrooms. If there is any left over in the jar at the end of the four weeks either continue to feed it to your horse til the jar is empty or better yet, why not try a week course of mastic for yourself at a rate of 1g per day, because our masatic of the highest human quality you can safely enjoy its benefits just much as your horse.

dosing once a day?

Current research being done in Australia on race horses with gut issues bing treated with mastic finds no difference in effectiveness between treating once or twice a day. Dosing twice a day will not make the ulcer or liason heal faster, additionally remember with all natural antimicrobials there is an initial die off of bad bacterial (humans on mastic experience this as well especially if they're taking it to help manage issues such as candida).

While we have seen had some recommendations for the 12-hr dosing of mastic, and while it may be fine for some horses, we do not recommend this. Having spoken at length with research experts the general consensus is that given the negative consequences of sudden bacterial die-off in the caecum it is far better to dose once a day for a longer period of time than risk imbalancing the fragile gut ecology with a twice daily dosing.

The once a day dose allows the gut time to flush out toxins and affords the good gut bacteria the time needed to repopulate the gut and establish a new gut flora balance.
As much as we want the best for our horses and would do everything possible to have them well today we have to remember that time is the secret ingredent to allow natural products (and the body) to heal.

tips when feeding mastic to horses with ongoing gut issues:

• Feeding a mycotoxin binder such as mycosorb in the main meal following mastic can help the gut bind and expel the harmful bacteria and reduce any bloating. Remember to introduce this slowly and ideally split it your mycosorb into two meals.
• If your horse has a history of gi distress consider adding a complementary probiotic such as protexin or yea-sacc or adding a "gut feed" such as bio-moss to help create the optimum gut environment for good gut bacteria.
  

Twelve Good Reasons to Understand GI Ulcers in Horses by Dr Kerry Ridgeway, DVM:

• Ulcers increase the risk to the horse’s health, safety and welfare;
• Ulcers increase the risk to the rider’s safety and welfare;
• Ulcers cause loss of performance and competitive edge;
• Ulcers can upset or interrupt an entire competition schedule;
• Ulcers are very expensive to treat and to resolve – recurrence is common;
• Ulcers cause many “behavioral” problems;
• Ulcers set up many muscle, myofascial and chiropractic issues;
• Ulcers increase risk of injury and lameness as a result of number seven (Musculo-skeletal problems;
• Ulcers increase the risk of colic and diarrhea problems;
• Ulcer stress may deplete the immune system and make a horse more susceptible to disease;
• Ulcers often create “hard keepers” and cause weight loss. The result – an unthrifty horse. (However, some horses with excellent weight also have ulcers);
• Toxins released from altered gut flora increase a risk of laminitis/founder.