Beware of The Grain-Free Kibble Trend

So what is the grain-free kibble hype all about?  Well, dogs are not biologically designed to eat grains; they are not a natural component of a dog’s diet.  Kibble is filled with carbs and is over processed to begin with.  Grains are merely used as fillers to avoid using species appropriate ingredients (i.e., animal muscle meat, organ meat, and natural calcium like ground bones (NOT bone meal which is a rendered product) which are more expensive.  Dogs need the actual food with appropriate ingredients.  These high carb diets cause and exacerbate many illnesses.  The answer for the pet food manufacture was to replace the grain content with other ingredients to serve as cheap fillers.

Holistic vets know that’s not ok.  Why???  Fillers are not ok.  Those non-grain replacement fillers that are problematic include peas, lentils, chickpeas, and other legumes and legume seeds (which are all biologically inappropriate for dogs); dogs are unable to properly metabolize these ingredients.  Pet food manufacturers and the AAFCO are going to do their best to not allow this to cut into profits so watch out.  Unfortunately filler ingredients used in grain-free kibble are being used in some diets that are not grain-free.  Be sure to read ingredient lists to be sure that inappropriate ingredients are not being used.

The School of Veterinary Medicine at University of California, Davis discovered this link between taurine deficiency and heart issues in cats.  There is a link between grain-free diets and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a heart muscle disease in dogs. Researchers found that taurine (an amino acid) deficiency lead to  serious cardiac issues.  Because holistic vets are educated about species appropriate nutrition and discourage most commercial diets, they understand the link between nutrition and health.  Unfortunately, veterinary schools  are influenced by their donors which include commercial food and drug manufacturers.  Unfortunately, most conventional vets stick to commercial treatment and methods and refuse to study beyond.

Because dogs can naturally manufacture taurine, it is not a dietary requirement, but veterinary cardiologists discovered several cases of taurine deficiency-related DCM in dogs, and found a common thread.  The dogs’ diets were directly linked to their diet.

• less interest in exercise
• lower exercise tolerance
• increased breathing rate
• excess panting
• coughing
• weakness
• fainting episodes
  

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Check out the following video by Dr. Karen Becker who is a renowned holistic vet:

I’ve written several articles about the issues with commercial dog food.  Here are a couple of articles you might want to get started with: What’s REALLY in Dog Food? and 4-Ds in Pet Food – What’s That?

Read about what food I recommend:
The Best Dog Food for Beginners

Sources:

Essentiallydogs.com is an educational resource, and all information herein is strictly for educational purposes. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure disease, nor is it meant to replace the (prescribed) veterinary treatment. Always inform your veterinarian or healthcare provider of any products that your pet is taking, including herbal remedies and supplements. Please do plenty of research so that you may equip yourself with the knowledge necessary to be an effective advocate for your dog’s well-being.