100% Natural Dry Dog Food

Keeping your dog at a healthy weight is well within your control, for the most part. In fact, a survey published in the Preventive Veterinary Medicine Journal, reports that just three percent of obesity cases seen could be attributed to genetic factors or illness, 97 percent of these cases could be traced to how owners fed their pets.

So why is natural dog food better in helping your dog maintain a healthy weight: Simple: It’s not heavy on starches. Many pet foods contain fillers so that the manufacturers can [spend less and therefore] make more money; corn, wheat, rice are very inexpensive. It’s exactly the same as for humans: A diet heavy on starches leads to weight gain.

In one paper, dogs fed a homemade diet lived for 13.1 years, on average, while those fed commercial, canned dog food reached an average of 10.4 years.

The starch, dyes, preservatives, and synthetic nutrients in many non natural commercial dog foods eventually take a toll on a pup’s health, while steering clear of them sets a dog up for many years of health. Brown adds that nutritional issues ring true with youth: “When you’re young, you can eat anything. But as the body gets older, you need to support it with the right food.”

Conversely, grain free food is high in vegetables, fibre and healthy meat or fish protein, which provides your dog with a nutritionally complete and balanced meal.

A healthy diet can improve canine cognitive function! Research points to a study where old, cognitively impaired dogs fed an antioxidant-enriched diet had higher levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factors, which may slow cognitive decline.

It’s much like how a diet rich in antioxidants (i.e., fresh, colorful produce) is now recommended to help prevent cognitive decline in humans. Even in younger dogs, a natural, wholesome diet fuels learning and alertness.

Most non natural dry dog foods are packed full of enriched, processed grains. This means that the outer layers of the individual grains have been mechanically removed to improve the grains’ taste, color and texture. However, this process removes much of the fiber content of the grain. This means that your dog’s body burns through the energy contained in the grain very quickly, which causes a quick spike and then a precipitous fall of your dog’s blood sugar levels.

By contrast, grain-free dog foods generally contain fewer of these easily digested carbohydrates, which means your dog’s blood sugar level will remain more consistent, thereby providing him with more energy.

This mirrors the way humans eat. If we eat a low-quality, high-carb diet we don’t have enough energy and do not really fill up.

Just like with humans, a diet rich in antioxidants and high quality protein helps ward off several ailments. The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association backs this up with a study finding a link between lower rates of canine urinary bladder carcinomas and eating green, leafy and yellow-orange vegetables three times a week.