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The Benefits of Grain Free Dog Food:
History of grain in dog foods
With the introduction of mass-produced dog kibble around World War II, inexpensive fillers like corn, wheat and barley were added to dog food to create bulk and keep costs down.
Today, most commercial dog foods still list corn or wheat as one of the main ingredients. Grain Free dog food removes all of these heavy grains and replaces with higher meat content(read about how higher meat content can help your dog) and complex carbohydrates with lower glycemic index like sweet potato.
10 Beneifts of Grain Free Dry Dog Food
It has been proven that dogs are biologically incapable of fully digesting grains. As grain free dog food has more protein and less carbohydrates, it’s easier to digest than food laden with carbohydrate heavy grains.
Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starchy carbohydrates, and dogs do not have enough of it in their bodies to fully break down and digest carbs. Therefore, grain free food is beneficial in aiding digestion. If your dog has trouble digesting their food it’s therefore advisable to introduce them to a grain free diet.
Over a long period of time, dog food containg grain can damage the lining of the digestive system, resulting in bowel inflammation disorders, food sensitivities, food allergies, leaky gut and obesity.
Many pet food brands stuff their products with unnecessarily large quantities of grains to bulk up their product and produce it as cheaply as possible. These products are therefore very low in nutritional value, as their main ingredient is carb-heavy grain.
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 grain free diet can be of great benefit to your dog’s coat. Grains do not provide your dog with the proper oils and nutrients needed to maintain a healthy skin and coat.
As grain free dog food is high in protein, there tends to be an increase in omega-3 fatty acids, especially in food that contains fish. These fatty oils make your dog’s coat thick, shiny and healthy.
The increase in protein also leads to a stronger coat which in turn reduces shedding, a benefit that every dog owner can agree on!
Grain free dog foods can be of benefit to your dog’s energy levels. Protein is the main source of energy for dogs, and regular dog food doesn’t provide your dog with much protein or energy, as it will mostly come out as waste.
Alternatively, grain free dog food is high in protein and is therefore an excellent energy source.
Most dog foods – especially those at the low end of the price spectrum – 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.
If your dog suffers from an allergy, making the switch to grain free dog food can be especially beneficial.
Many dogs are allergic to wheat and corn, common ingredients in dog food with grain. If the result is that your dog has a grain allergy, then you will be advised to make the switch to grain free dog food.
Another benefit of grain free dog food is that it can help control your pet’s weight.
If dogs consume an excessive amount of carbohydrates without getting enough exercise, they could experience weight gain. Most grains contain a lot of carbs, so feeding your dog regularly can therefore lead to weight gain.
Alternatively, grain free dog foods have a high vegetable and meat content, and usually include good carbohydrates like sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes have a lower carbohydrate level than regular potatoes and include more vitamins, potassium and fibre than grains.
What’s more, because of the high nutritional content in grain free dog food, it helps keep dogs fuller for longer than regular dog food, which results in less food being eaten overall.
As dog owners, we‘ve all experienced a time when our pet’s breath is less than pleasant. But eating grain free dog food can actually help improve bad breath in dogs.
Nutrition has a huge impact on dental health, and in most cases, poor nutrition leads to bad breath. Therefore, if a dog eats a highly nutritional diet, like grain free food, it can really benefit their breath.
Grains tend to leave a film of carbohydrates on your dog’s teeth when he eats. While the food particles are eventually washed off by your dog’s saliva, this happens over the course of several hours. In the meantime, bacteria in your dog’s mouth will begin feeding on the remaining carbs. These bacteria often produce foul-smelling odors, which can give your dog bad breath, or canine halitosis. Grain-free foods do not cause this problem, or at least not to such a bothersome extent.
Although dogs are not very prone to cavities (unlike us humans), excess carbohydrates promote bad oral health and cavities. It is important for any dog owner to brush the dog teeth every few days.
Many dogs begin producing less waste after switching to a grain-free food. This means your dog will not only have to go to the bathroom less frequently, but his stools will be smaller too.
This occurs because grain-free foods do not have as much indigestible material (fiber) as foods that are full of corn and wheat have. Additionally, the potatoes and tapioca used to replace the carbohydrate content of grain-free foods work as thickening agents, and help slow the transit time of food through the intestines.
Corn, wheat and other grains often cause many dogs to produce copious quantities of gas. This foul-smelling gas is not only unpleasant for owners, it often causes your dog to feel cramping and discomfort until he eventually passes it. Gas in dogs is not necessarily a bad or unhealthy thing, but it’s more of an inconvenience. In a few situations, it could be a sign of a more problematic digestive health issue.
However, grain-free diets rarely cause these same types of problems, and most dogs produce much less gas after switching to such a food. Many high-quality grain-free diets also include probiotics, which can provide further flatulence relief.
Pregnancy places a lot of stress on your dog’s body, and they need to be as healthy as possible – they are having to sustain their own health as well as the health of a number of puppies too.
Simply providing your dog with more food isn’t going to work as well as giving your dog less good quality food such as grain free dry dog food. This will give them the energy and nutrients they need, and keep them as healthy as possible both during and after their pregnancy.
Grain free dog food is also recommended for pregnant and lactating dogs, as it will provide the energy the dog needs to produce puppies and to provide them with nutrients.
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