Why you should choose raw food for dogs
If you are thinking about whether a raw food diet for dogs is a good diet to feed your dog then we have the answer here plus you can also check out our raw food dog recipes here
Pretty much everything we know about healthy eating and weight management tells us that we should eat as much fresh, unprocessed food as possible, while avoiding things like refined sugars, simple carbs and heavily processed foods .
Common sense says this approach should also apply to our animals, especially if they need to drop a few kilos – but it’s also founded in evidence.
In 2020 the University of Florida conducted a large survey that clearly found dogs eating a processed dry or canned diet were more likely to be overweight or obese than those eating fresh foods, such as home cooked or commercial raw food.
Perhaps even more significantly, researchers at a teaching veterinary school in Finland found that dogs fed raw food have lower levels of inflammation and disease markers, regardless of whether they are overweight or not.
This is troubling for the dogs eating processed food because chronic inflammation is widely understood to be a precursor to a vast number of diseases .
A New Zealand study published in 2017 found a clear link between gut microbiome diversity with intestinal health.
It also found that kibble fed dogs had increased levels of bacteria associated with diarrhoea and irritable bowel, whereas the raw fed dogs in the study experienced greater gut microbiome diversity and improved nutrient digestibility.
The makeup of the microbiome is critically important to overall health, given that as much as 70-80% of the immune system cells are thought to reside in the gut.
Despite all of this, commercial weight loss dog foods are still brimming with heavily processed carbohydrates and typically achieve their lower calorie density with the addition of large amounts of indigestible fibre.
They often cost the earth, don’t work and cause insulin to spike (which may lead to weight gain), leaving your dog hungrier than ever and maybe even poorly nourished due to the fibre’s ability to hinder nutrient absorption.
Any weight they do lose is likely to be muscle mass, rather than fat
You can also see more on raw dog food here
Should I feed a raw dog food diet?
We believe a far better way to support your dog through their health and weight management journey is to provide them with a nutrient dense, species appropriate diet (aka raw dog food diet) that will not only help them maintain a healthy weight, but also support their gut health, fight oxidative stress and inflammation, keep them feeling full and satisfied, and potentially may even extend their life
Another key consideration that doesn’t get a lot of attention is water. Water is the most important nutrient any of us consume, but it is decidedly lacking from most commercial dog food.
A fresh and raw dog food diet will naturally keep your dog hydrated, as most of our water comes from our food. This will not only help your dog’s weight loss goals, but it will also improve their overall health and the health of their organs.
