Research on Pet Health and Conclusion

Bill Bookout: You know, there's limitations on research for natural products. A lot of people say that they want more research and I completely agree. But research is a challenge, right? And the reason it's challenging is because the courts have held that natural substances cannot be patented or protected be via intellectual property. And so, research costs money, and you have to have an economic way to recover the investment that it takes to conduct research. And then, secondarily, if you have research that you have a great supplement that helps dogs with osteoarthritis and relieves chronic pain, you can't make those claims because FDA won't let you right. So, a couple of limitations to research, how do you handle that at FoodScience? And you know, people say I won't use a product until there's more research. And that's not the right question. The right question is, why isn't there more research? Talk about the limitations of research and how you address that at FoodScience.

Sara Phillips: It's really critical to understand the regulatory landscape. That is the key point number one. Because, like you said, you can do the most fantastic research. You just legally may not be able to make that claim. So, understand the regulatory environment. Work with your regulatory team, work with your marketing and branding teams work with your formulators. This is a very collaborative effort we have at FoodScience. What are we trying to solve for what claims we 1st talk in plain English. What are we actually trying to solve? What sort of compliant claims could we make out of that? Is that going to resonate with a vet or a consumer or whoever is that going to make sense? Can we then fashion any sort of scientific research protocol that has a chance of meeting this? It may or may not. We've done 7 or 8 clinical studies at FoodScience. I think only four of them have produced legitimate claims. It's science. You have to budget for failure, because science needs to be true in its form. So, I think it's just really understanding your landscape and what you're trying to do.

Bill Bookout: The reason the raw material suppliers are so important because raw material suppliers conduct research. We talked about proprietary ingredients. And so companies like Lonza Capsules and Health Ingredients, who sponsored this session. Look for companies with research. HMB is another good example. Research on a raw material. We only got a couple minutes left. So, I'm gonna give you 30 seconds or so. So start with Dr. Pachel, closing remarks and comments.

Dr. Chris Pachel (he/him): Yeah, I appreciate the comments that have been made within the session today. I think there's so many tangible points, regardless of whether you're coming at it at the practitioner level, the caregiver level, the scientists behind the scenes. All of that. I think there are so many layers to this process, and what I love about this particular conversation is the level of transparency that's being provided across those layers to help people make educated decisions for the animals that they're ultimately trying to better their lives. So I thank you for hosting.

Bill Bookout: Absolutely appreciate you being here, Dr. Morgan.

Dr. Judy Morgan: I have a saying that I've used for many years, which is, you can't out supplement a bad diet. So, you've got to start with good nutrition. I don't care if you have three grocery bags full of supplements. If you are feeding really highly processed, poor quality food, you can't fix it with a bag of supplements, and I'm going to modify that a little bit and say you can't out supplement a bad diet and a bad lifestyle. So, if you have a very highly stressed animal like the Malinois, who's getting no exercise, which, from a TCM standpoint, they have a specific personality, and those dogs that fall in that personality. You better play to that personality. So, you know, you've got to decrease the stressors in their life whether that's giving them a job to do over 80% of indoor cats are highly stressed. And I think that also goes with the gut-brain axis, because I think that over 80% of indoor cats are also fed highly processed, dry kibble in a bowl, and so they've got poor gut health, and then poor brain health, and nobody plays with them, and they don't get to hunt and play. So yes, there's a lot of stress. So, supplements are amazing. I love supplements. I use them for my pets, for certain things, all the time for my family, but we also have to temper that with decreased stress, good environment, and good diet.

Bill Bookout: Consider all factors. Sara, closing comments.

Sara Phillips: I think, as a manufacturer and a brand owner, in this space we actually get super excited to hear veterinarians like we heard today embrace supplements as a piece of holistic or integrated or full pet health. We’re certainly in the business. We believe supplements can play a role in pet health at any age, but we love what we're hearing today in this combination of diet, of the proper veterinary care, the proper environment, exercise and then supplements become a little slice of this pie that truly can help our pets live longer and healthier lives. And I think at the end of the day, that's what all of us are looking for.

Bill Bookout: That's our goal. I'd really like to thank everybody for being here. That'll conclude our discussion. Thanks for tuning in. I want to thank our sponsor Lonza Capsules and Health Ingredients, and also our honored panelists, Dr. Judy Morgan, Sara Phillips, Dr. Pachel. It's really an honor to be on the same stage with you guys. Thanks also to Sebastian and the team for putting this together really appreciate it. You take care.