Some types of human food may be easier for your dog to digest than the dry kibble of dog kibble, according to a new study. Another issue is whether that more natural ancestry diet leads to a healthier dog, but at least it could make your pet poop a lot less (up to two-thirds more less, of course).
The idea that human food is bad for dogs is relatively new, and historically it is based in marketing, not science.
For thousands of years, humans have been feeding their scratches to canine pets that have gradually grown to their bones. Commercial dog food, on the other hand, is only a hundred and fifty years old and seems to have emerged as a way to make food waste more profitable.
Today, after decades of unfounded marketing, many pet owners are under the impression that scratches are dangerous for their dogs, while a kibble is full of the nutrients their canines need.
In the last few years, however, with the emergence of the ‘Big Kibble’ history, and the reintroduction of some pet foods for safety concerns, home alternatives have become more prevalent. popular, and many pet owners have begun to convert them to healthy, fresh, organic, grain-free and slightly processed commercial options.
Those words certainly feel healthier, but does that mean they are the best choice? The truth is, we don’t know yet.
Many commercial pet diets have not been thoroughly tested or compared, even though they technically meet standards for ‘complete and balanced nutrition’. It is also unclear how to find out what a dog ‘s’ natural’ ancestral diet was and what effect modern foods may have on their health.
That said, some of the first study of human-level dog food has now received a number of comments about jumping off the kibble. Dogs seem to feed a mixture of meat and vegetables that we ourselves would like dogs to make much less than dry food.
When a dozen beagles got a normal kibble diet for four weeks, the canines had to eat a lot more to maintain their body weight, the authors say, popping up to three times more than when they were give them a human level diet of ingredients. Compared to new ingredients, kibble poop dogs made 1.5 to 1.7 times more.
This makes the nutrients in human food easier for dogs to digest. Moreover, the last two diets appeared to alter bacteria in the canine’s gut in a way that it could not kibble.
“As we have shown in previous studies, the faecal microbial communities of healthy dogs fed a new diet were different than those fed a kibble,” says nutrition scientist Kelly Swanson of the University of Illinois.
“These specific microbial profiles were likely due to differences in dietary processing, ingredient source, and the density and type of dietary fiber, proteins and fats that are known to affect a dog’s digestion and digestion. reaches the colon for copying. “
The results are largely in line with previous research, which found that fresh or raw meat diets also alter dog midges, but more research is needed to find out how this affects on dog health in the end.
In 2018, Swanson and her colleagues fed him eight bills either a kibble diet, a roast-free diet, or a raw diet. Analyzing their physical activity, urine, stool, and blood, the authors found that roasted diets were easier to digest than a kibble, while both a grain-free and raw diet led to higher levels. lower blood sugar and higher levels of fat.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean those foods are healthier. A few years ago, some grain-free boutique dog foods were linked to a type of canine heart disease, leading the U.S. Federal Drug Adviser (FDA) to warn against that type of diet for dogs.
As well as the health of our pets, there are environmental impacts to consider as well. If all pet dogs are given human-grade meat, fish and vegetables, the impact for carbon emissions and climate change would be huge.
Therefore, some scientists claim that we will change kibble food and human level for an insect-based diet, which will provide 25 times less greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of beef farming, and at the same time time uses 47 times less land, and uses about 20 times less water.
Ultimately, Swanson says while a diet has proven to be safe and meets your dog’s nutritional needs, she believes it is an appropriate choice. If you want to pay more for premium ingredients, that’s up to you.
“For me, the most important thing is to test these new dietary forms and products before they become commercially available,” she said in 2018.
Until we know more, that sounds like a measured approach.
The study was published in the Journal of Animal Science.