Your dog depends on you to provide them with the nutrition they need to thrive.
The reality is that as people become more and more disease ridden our pets do as well. In most cases the culprit is very clearly this: a poor diet. Some of the food don’ts listed here may sound like an attempt to rid your dogs’ lives of everything yummy, but dogs are suffering from cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and obesity diseases such as heart disease and premature death at alarming rates. These things can all be traced back to improper diets and poor gut health.
As a carnivore your dog has a short, powerful digestive system that has the ability to break down bones and raw meats, and stand up against bacteria. This is unlike herbivores and omnivores whose digestive tracts take longer to break down foods for the purpose of being able to properly digest carbohydrates and plant matter.
Today many dogs suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, hemorrhagic gastritis, ulcers and gastric dilatation at alarming rates. What’s causing these painful and debilitating illnesses? Let’s take a look.
Here are 10 things your dog shouldn’t be eating.
Fruits: Not only do fruits tax your dog’s system, they also add sugars to your dog’s diet. Carnivores aren’t able to easily digest plant matter, let alone sugars. When the digestive system is on overload and the gut is unhealthy, the body becomes susceptible to all sorts of diseases. Read more about their negative effects.
Vegetables: Vegetables are generally used as fillers in dog foods, but just like fruits, they do quite a number on your dog’s digestive system, making it work harder to digest something that it wasn’t made to. Dogs easily process meats and bones in as little as 4 hours, but it takes their body much longer to process foreign plant matter. Read more about their negative effects.
Plant Based Oils: This includes vegetable oil, canola oil, olive oil, and yes, coconut oil. This out-of-control trend of feeding plant-based oils to carnivores is alarming. These oils coat the stomach wall and make digestion much harder. Feeding plant based oils along with bones is especially dangerous. When the stomach is compromised by something like coconut oil it can’t do its job and properly break done bones, thus putting the digestive tract at risk of being damaged (scratched or punctured) by undigested bone shards.
Grains: Grains are yet another filler in many processed dog foods. Even if you’re feeding grain-free kibble much of the people food dogs are given do just as much harm. A piece of bread here and a cracker there will cause an unhealthy gut and can lead to many of the illnesses and diseases listed above.
Processed Commercial Foods: Many commercial dog foods contain the three things mentioned above, yet even if they don’t these foods are far from being appropriate for any animal. Raw foods (meats, bones and organs) not only provide incredible health benefits, they’re also species appropriate and necessary for a long and healthy life.
Commercial Supplements: Over-supplementation can potentially do long-term damage to your dog. While there are healthful, natural vitamin and mineral boosts you should be feeding your dog (raw eggs, fish oils and bone broths), commercial supplements can be cause for concern. Read about this in depth here.
Chemically Laden Treats: Many popular dog treats contain harmful additives such as BHA (a cancer causing preservative), propylene glycol (a cause of Heinz body anemia), carcinogenic food dyes (linked to cancer and mental health issues), and red dye 40 (linked to immune system cancers).
Sugar: Cookies, candies, ice cream- you name it. Most pet owners feed their dogs just about everything. In return dogs are coming down with ailments and diseases in record numbers. Sugar consumption is a huge problem among people, and we’re passing our bad habits right down to our pets.
Dairy: By nature dogs are lactose intolerant whether they show signs of digestive distress or not. Dairy causes intestinal issues that may or may not show up right away, but because dogs can’t digest dairy products your dog’s digestive tract and gut will suffer in the long run.
Nut Butters: Peanut butter is yet another plant based food that can cause a carnivore health issues. It especially causes changes in the gut- much like plant based oils or vegetables. Plus, it’s full of sugar and preservatives. They’ll jump for joy at the smell of it, but that isn’t a reason to feed it.
Remember, the power is in your hands. Your dog looks to you for its source of food and nourishment. His health is in your hands.