Resources and insights

This was written in response to a post on the PSSM Forum on Facebook.Negative nitrogen balance is a normal process that is helpful under the right circumstances. It is not confined to PSSM horses. You have certainly experienced it yourself. There are some circumstances under which you cannot consume enough dietary protein to meet your needs for amino acids. When you have the flu, for example, your immune system is working hard and you need a lot of amino acids to synthesize proteins. Your body tears down muscle in order break protein down into amino acids for use elsewhere. Some of the amino acids are burned for energy.All amino acids have a chemical structure with a central carbon atom bonded to four different parts: an amino group, a carboxyl group, a hydrogen atom, and an “R” group that is a different group for each amino acid. When an amino acid is burned for energy, one of the first steps is the removal of the amino group. If this is not used to synthesize one of the nonessential amino acids, it is discarded as waste. To do that, it enters a metabolic cycle called the urea cycle and is incorporated into…