Healthiest Dog Food Buyer’s Guide
Some people believe that dogs are carnivores, but they’re actually omnivores. Both plant and animal foods are healthy for dogs and provide them with different key nutrients. It is important to feed your dog a varied diet to allow them to thrive. The dog foods above cover a wide range of essential nutrients.
Importance Of Protein For Your Dog’s Health
Protein is an important nutrient for dogs to get in their diets because it contains ten essential amino acids that they can’t create on their own. Amino acids are needed to build and repair muscles and other tissues, so dogs can’t live without them.
An adult dog requires a diet that has a minimum of 18% protein by weight. An easy way to ensure that your dog gets enough protein and amino acids are to feed him a high-quality commercial dog food like the ones we've recommended. A protein deficiency can cause many illnesses for your dog. This includes skin issues, hormone imbalances, and even growth issues. A reduced growth rate can be one of the main signs of protein deficiency.
Amino Acids Are Beneficial
Amino Acids are one of the most important nutrients for your dog. They help to regulate many important functions for your dog. These include metabolism, tissue repair, immune system, and enzyme activity.
However, you should be aware that not all protein contains all the essential amino acids that your dog needs to maintain their health. Not all protein packed foods contain the full amino acid content for your dog.
If multiple amino acids are missing from the food, it is known as having a "low ecological value." If the food contains a high amount of these essential amino acids, then it has a "high ecological value." An example of foods that have a high value are eggs, milk, and chicken. You should make sure your dog gets plenty of these. Examples of food with low levels are Bread, Rice, and Lentils. So you should be wary of feeding a dog a diet that has a large amount of these foods.
The best dog foods have a very high ecological value since they are filled with a complete set of amino acids which means you don't have to stress about meeting your dog's amino acid requirement.
Fat Requirements
People are taught to reduce the amount of fat in their diets to prevent health problems like clogged arteries, but studies have shown that fat doesn't pose the same risks for dogs. Fat helps your dog absorb fat-soluble vitamins like A and K and contains essential fatty acids that promote skin health. Fat is also a great source of energy. However, too much fat can cause issues with diet and mean your dog misses out on other key ingredients. The key is to keep these amounts controlled and watched carefully.
Animal Fats Are Healthy For Your Dog
Don’t pass on a dog food because you see an ingredient like chicken fat on the label. In reasonable amounts, animal fats can be very healthy for your dog. It is important to remember that healthy types of foods can be different for dogs when compared to humans and other animals.
Moderate The Fat Intake
However, too much fat content can cause protein deficiencies. Therefore, you should pick high-quality meats. In general, you should try to keep your dog's fat content at around 20%.
This is the most healthy base level. For puppies, it can even be a bit lower since they require extra nutrients to grow to their full potential. The management of protein and fat can be difficult; however, when you start checking the content on the label, it can be far more easy to manage.
Importance of Plant-Based Foods for Dog's Health
Plant foods like grains, veggies, and fruits offer your dog nutritional benefits, too. Whole grains like brown rice and oats are good sources of energy, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are nutrients only found in plants that may reduce inflammation in your dog’s body and lower a dog’s chances of getting certain types of cancer.
Phytochemicals
Veggies and fruits also contain phytochemicals. They’re low in calories, so they can help with weight maintenance, and they contain fiber, vitamins, and minerals that will support your dog’s overall health.
Plant Based Proteins VS Animal Based Proteins
You may also be aware of plant sources of protein. Whilst, these can seem like appealing food choice for your dog, you should be aware that not all sources of protein have the same. Many studies have noted that plant sources of protein were inferior to animal sources.
In terms of biological value, animal proteins are higher because the digestive systems of dogs can handle these proteins in a more efficient manner. Furthermore, animal proteins provide a fuller set of amino acids and nitrogen that your dog needs. The inclusion of animal proteins ensures the development of muscle mass and means that a healthy body weight can be maintained.
Generally, we recommend avoiding plant-based proteins since their nutritional value can be lacking.
What To Look For In A Dog Food
So, how do you make sure that your dog’s food is as healthy as it can be? Here are the main things you should look for on dog food labels.
Animal Protein
Some kind of animal protein, whether that be chicken, lamb, or turkey, should be the main ingredient. Don't be put off if you see chicken or fish meal high up in the ingredients list. Chicken meal, for example, is just chicken meat, skin, and sometimes bones that have been cooked to remove their moisture, baked and ground up into protein powder.
Identifiable Protein Source
Because meals have less moisture, they’re more concentrated sources of protein than whole meats. Just make sure that the meal in your dog food is from an identifiable protein source like chicken, fish, or lamb. Don’t buy dog foods that contain “meat meal” or “animal meal” because those are made with lower quality ingredients. Avoid dog foods that have any sort of “by-product” meal as well.
Label Splitting
Watch out for label splitting, too, which is something companies do to make their dog foods look higher in protein. You may want to skip dog foods that contain several derivatives of the same grain high up in the ingredients list. Kibble that contains chicken, wheat, and wheat flour as the first three ingredients, for example, may have more wheat in it than chicken.
Read The Labels
To ensure that the main ingredient in your dog's food is actually an animal protein, always look at the guaranteed analysis. High-quality dog foods like the ones we've recommended have 20% to 25% crude protein or higher.
Further down the ingredients list, make sure that you see some veggies or fruits and plenty of vitamins and minerals.
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