Pet Escentials Articles
Nutrition is the Basis of Our Pets’ Good Health
I am sure you all have heard a thousand times that the key to good health is nutrition, but what does that really mean? I feed my pet the most expensive dog kibble and treats. I avoid table scraps and make sure he has fresh water everyday. That is enough, right? We will be talking about what good nutrition means and why it is so important for your pet.
What we feed our pets is what they have to work with to operate millions of cellular functions everyday. If we don’t give them the proper nutrition then those cellular functions get neglected, don’t perform properly and can mutate. This causes diseases, allergies, and general discomfort.
Alkalinity
50%-70% of our pets’ commercial food is made of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates metabolize into sugars called glucose. The glucose that our pets don’t use is stored in our pets and become acids. These acids build up over time and make our pets systemically acidic. Diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and arthritis develop and grow in acidic conditions. This also allows internal and external parasites to flourish. Fleas and ticks love a pet with sugar flowing through their veins. Dogs were not meant to eat carbohydrates in their diet but dog food companies use them as filler because it is cheaper.
These are some ways to alkalize your pets:
- Feed your pet a raw food diet
- Feed your pet a natural food with meat as the first ingredient, not a carbohydrate
- Use supplements such as garlic and flaxseed oil
- Use a clean water source such as bottled water. (never use distilled water or tap water)
The raw food diet not only alkalizes your pet but also gives your pet the live enzymes needed to digest, metabolize, and regrow healthy cells in the body. It gives them the vitamins and minerals that your pet needs in their synergistic form instead of in an isolated form that many times they can’t use or digest. It is so optimal for their body that there is very little pet waste.
Here is a sample of the raw food diet.
This article from CNN and Time Magazine explains that if you buy kibble you must be cautious. Only use natural or organic kibble from a reliable source with a whole meat as the first ingredient. Do not accept a meat by-product or a meat meal.
Immune System
Allergies are at an epidemic level in our pets today and we are so used to it that we think it is a normal thing. We do our best to avoid the allergens and if we can’t avoid them we use drugs to control the symptoms. Allergies are a cry for help from your pet’s immune system and if we ignore it or suppress it for too long it will stop functioning all together and they get diseases. Good nutrition is the basis of a healthy immune system. If we are feeding a diet with no chemicals, preservatives, and waste our pets’ bodies can’t use then the immune system won’t be overworked ridding the body of toxins. The immune system can then concentrate on looking out for viruses, bacteria, parasites, and mutating cells. This will be a huge advantage for your pets’ over all health.
The last thing I would like to talk about is water for your pet. Tap water is so full of chemicals, heavy metals, and additives that it is very hard on your pet’s system. If you live near the coast the water has high levels of iron which causes bladder stones in animals. Please use bottled water for you and your pet. Reverse osmosis is the best water that you can get. Even with bottled water read the labels about the source. A very popular brand of bottled water just recently had to start labeling that their source was tap water from Michigan. Do not use distilled water as it pulls the minerals out of your pets body and depletes other nutrients as well.
Good nutrition is the basis of good health and now you have the reasons why. Feed your pets good nutritious food, give them clean water, and good exercise and you are on your way to many years with your pet.