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“Until the minerals are balanced, nothing else matters.”
I’ve said that for years, and my late friend Dr. T.W. Swerczek, DVM, PhD, helped me understand even more clearly just how many pieces of the puzzle mineral balance can touch.
Some of you may remember that I have shared portions of Dr. Swerczek’s research before, including information he sent me personally years ago. His work looking at sodium, nitrates, calcium, magnesium, pasture conditions, and metabolic stress has always been something I felt was worth paying attention to.
One paper in particular deserves another look: “Nitrate Toxicity, Sodium Deficiency and the Grass Tetany Syndrome”, which Dr. Swerczek presented at the Annual Growers Mineral Solutions meeting in Milan, Ohio, on December 4, 2007.
Years later, in 2018, he published related work titled “Sodium for the Prevention of Grass Tetany and Fetal Losses Associated with Nitrate Toxicosis in Herbivores”. At that time he was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky.
Sometimes information we have had for years deserves another look.
A note as you read: Some of the broader relationships Dr. Swerczek discussed were presented as observations and hypotheses based on his clinical, pathological, and research experience. I think that distinction is important. What makes his work so interesting to me is the larger nutritional picture he encouraged us to consider.
The Bigger Picture
Much of Dr. Swerczek’s work centered around what happens when growing conditions, forage chemistry, and mineral availability begin interacting in ways that may place added stress on grazing animals.
One area he explored extensively involved nitrates and sodium. In his work, he observed that diets or forages high in nitrogen could be associated with increased nitrate exposure, while adequate sodium appeared to play an important role in how animals handled those conditions.
He proposed that excessive nitrate could contribute to mineral and electrolyte imbalances involving calcium, magnesium, and sodium. In his 2007 paper, he described this as a possible mechanism behind grass tetany and potentially other problems seen in herbivores.
That gets my attention, because those minerals are involved in a lot of basic functions within the body.
And when you begin looking at the body as a whole instead of looking at one symptom at a time, the importance of a sound nutritional foundation becomes easier to see.
Pasture Conditions Can Change Quickly
Grass is not the same every day of the year.
Weather changes, moisture, fertilizer, rapid growth, drought, frost, freezes, and other environmental factors can all affect forage chemistry.
Dr. Swerczek paid particular attention to late frosts and freezes on lush pasture. He wrote that these events provided important clues about increased nitrate, reduced sodium, and mineral imbalances associated with grass tetany and other syndromes in grazing animals.
That is one reason I have talked for years about being especially aware of seasonal changes.
Spring gets plenty of attention, but fall can bring its own set of challenges.
Don’t fail in the Fall.
It is not meant to scare anyone. It is simply a reminder to pay attention to what is changing beneath our feet and what those changes may mean for the animals depending on that pasture.
Where Sodium Fits
Sodium is sometimes treated as though it is just another ingredient on a feed tag.
Dr. Swerczek believed it deserved considerably more attention.
His work repeatedly brought sodium into the discussion because of the relationships he observed among sodium availability, nitrate levels, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and overall mineral balance.
In his later published work, he again emphasized adequate salt and sodium when discussing nitrate toxicosis and grass tetany in herbivores.
He also discussed the importance of making appropriate minerals available during periods when nutritional or environmental conditions may increase demand.
That idea fits with something I have believed for a long time:
Give the body the nutritional tools it needs before you start chasing symptoms.
Calcium, Magnesium, and the Foundation
Calcium and magnesium are certainly not new topics around here.
They are part of the reason RED CAL has remained such an important part of what we do.
But the bigger point is not that one product “fixes” every problem.
The bigger point is that mineral balance is foundational.
A foundation touches a lot of things.
Muscle and nerve function, hydration, electrolyte balance, metabolism, and many other normal processes depend upon having the proper nutritional building blocks available.
Dr. Swerczek’s work encouraged me to think about what can happen when those building blocks are affected by changing forage, excessive nitrogen or nitrate, sodium availability, and other nutritional stresses.
That is exactly why I have always preferred to focus on the cause rather than simply chase symptoms.
Where RED CAL Fits
RED CAL was developed as a simple way to provide calcium and other important minerals as part of the nutritional foundation of horses and other animals.
I have never believed in looking at RED CAL as a cure for a long list of problems.
I look at it as part of the foundation.
And that is an important distinction.
When forage changes, when weather changes, when nutritional demands change, or when the body is under additional stress, paying attention to that foundation becomes even more important.
That was true when Dr. Swerczek first shared his research with me, and the questions he raised about sodium, nitrates, calcium, magnesium, and mineral balance are still worth considering today.
Worth Another Look
I am thankful for the conversations I had with Dr. Swerczek and for the research he was willing to share with me through the years.
His work challenged us to look beyond individual symptoms and consider possible relationships among pasture conditions, nitrates, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and the overall mineral picture.
That kind of thinking still makes sense to me.
Because whether we are talking about spring grass, summer stress, fall changes, or winter feeding, the fundamentals do not suddenly stop mattering.
Until the minerals are balanced, nothing else matters.
That has never meant minerals are the answer to everything.
It means they are part of the foundation everything else depends upon.
And foundations are always worth paying attention to.
Dr. Swerczek’s Work and Further Reading
For those who would like to go deeper, these are two of the works by Dr. Swerczek that helped inform this article:
Dr. T.W. Swerczek, DVM, PhD
Nitrate Toxicity, Sodium Deficiency and the Grass Tetany Syndrome
Presented at the Annual Growers Mineral Solutions meeting, Milan, Ohio, December 4, 2007.
T.W. Swerczek
Sodium for the Prevention of Grass Tetany and Fetal Losses Associated with Nitrate Toxicosis in Herbivores
Nutrition & Food Science International Journal, Volume 8, Issue 1, December 2018.
DOI: 10.19080/NFSIJ.2018.08.555728
As with any research, these sources should be read in context. Some of the mechanisms and broader relationships discussed by Dr. Swerczek were presented as hypotheses and clinical observations rather than established explanations for every animal or condition.
Want to learn more?
Why RED CAL Works
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Thanks for connecting and letting me share.
Dr. Dan
The Natural Vet
