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Diet for Dog Health
A diet that will keep your dog’s digestive system healthy for life.
More than ever, dogs need to have a healthy digestive system to break down the chemicals that have crept into their foods and environment. The digestive system is your dog's first line of defense and is a very important part of the detoxification system.
The digestive system is the gateway to a dog's body and in this chemical age dogs’ detoxification systems can easily be overloaded.
More than ever, dogs need to have a healthy digestive system to break down the chemicals that have crept into their foods and environment. The digestive system is your dog's first line of defense and is a very important part of the detoxification system.
The digestive system is the gateway to a dog's body and in this chemical age dogs’ detoxification systems can easily be overloaded.
How can you protect your dog’s digestive system? And if your dog already has a compromised digestive system such as colitis or IBD/IBS, is there anything you can do to improve the function of their digestive system?
The good news is that there is a lot you can do to help your dog live a healthy and long life even though their digestive system may currently be dysfunctional. Diet plays a vital role in supporting the health of their digestive system. Most vets agree that the most important factor in holistic treatment of compromised digestive system is a low protein diet. But there is a lot more that you need to know about the make up of a healthy diet in order to help protect pets’ digestive system beyond just giving them a low protein diet.
The following is a list of diet principles that if applied to a meal can create a healthy and nutritious diet for your dog:
A Healthy Digestive System Leads to a Healthy Body:
We have read many books on the topic of health and the one book that made more sense to us in terms of how to heal the body naturally was Henry Bieler's book “Food Is Your Best Medicine”. What stuck in our mind is the logic Dr. Bieler used to explain how degenerative diseases develop. He said: "The ...body, a chemical engine, accepts all the food it is fed. Some it discards violently by vomiting or diarrhea; some, from the large economy-size package fed to it, it stores in fat reservoirs, a cushion against leaner times; some it gratefully uses to fire its countless tiny cell furnaces, after painstaking and marvelously complex biochemical treatment." The food goes into the digestive system, "...a chemical refinery which manufactures its own fuels and delivers energy from the raw materials provided it: proteins, fats, carbohydrates....vitamins and minerals." (Bieler, pgs. 53-54). Therefore, the digestive system is the first line of the body’s defense against harmful foods and toxins.
If the digestive system becomes congested from harmful foods and toxins, then its able allies, the liver and kidneys take over the burden of breaking down the nutrients from foods and filtering out toxins that come in from the gut. Therefore, the liver and the kidneys are the body's second line of defense against disease (p.61).
It then makes sense that the digestive system will become congested and dysfunctional because of nutritional stresses. Digestive system malfunctions can be in the form of indigestion, acid reflux, allergies, intolerance to foods, nausea and vomiting attacks, bloating, constipation, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disorders, etc., all symptoms that may occur first, leading eventually to digestive system dysfunction.
It would make sense that to support the health of a pet, the digestive system must first become healthy.
Besides probiotics and enzymes as supplements that will aid the health of the digestive system, we often recommend a certain vegetable juice for dogs with compromised digestive system. This vegetable juice is high in sodium which helps with the digestive system. Since the liver and kidneys take over added detoxification jobs when the digestive system is not functioning properly, getting the digestive system to work better will relieve any stress from the liver as it processes food and the kidneys as it eliminates toxins. Here's further explanation:
The good news is that there is a lot you can do to help your dog live a healthy and long life even though their digestive system may currently be dysfunctional. Diet plays a vital role in supporting the health of their digestive system. Most vets agree that the most important factor in holistic treatment of compromised digestive system is a low protein diet. But there is a lot more that you need to know about the make up of a healthy diet in order to help protect pets’ digestive system beyond just giving them a low protein diet.
The following is a list of diet principles that if applied to a meal can create a healthy and nutritious diet for your dog:
A Healthy Digestive System Leads to a Healthy Body:
We have read many books on the topic of health and the one book that made more sense to us in terms of how to heal the body naturally was Henry Bieler's book “Food Is Your Best Medicine”. What stuck in our mind is the logic Dr. Bieler used to explain how degenerative diseases develop. He said: "The ...body, a chemical engine, accepts all the food it is fed. Some it discards violently by vomiting or diarrhea; some, from the large economy-size package fed to it, it stores in fat reservoirs, a cushion against leaner times; some it gratefully uses to fire its countless tiny cell furnaces, after painstaking and marvelously complex biochemical treatment." The food goes into the digestive system, "...a chemical refinery which manufactures its own fuels and delivers energy from the raw materials provided it: proteins, fats, carbohydrates....vitamins and minerals." (Bieler, pgs. 53-54). Therefore, the digestive system is the first line of the body’s defense against harmful foods and toxins.
If the digestive system becomes congested from harmful foods and toxins, then its able allies, the liver and kidneys take over the burden of breaking down the nutrients from foods and filtering out toxins that come in from the gut. Therefore, the liver and the kidneys are the body's second line of defense against disease (p.61).
It then makes sense that the digestive system will become congested and dysfunctional because of nutritional stresses. Digestive system malfunctions can be in the form of indigestion, acid reflux, allergies, intolerance to foods, nausea and vomiting attacks, bloating, constipation, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disorders, etc., all symptoms that may occur first, leading eventually to digestive system dysfunction.
It would make sense that to support the health of a pet, the digestive system must first become healthy.
Besides probiotics and enzymes as supplements that will aid the health of the digestive system, we often recommend a certain vegetable juice for dogs with compromised digestive system. This vegetable juice is high in sodium which helps with the digestive system. Since the liver and kidneys take over added detoxification jobs when the digestive system is not functioning properly, getting the digestive system to work better will relieve any stress from the liver as it processes food and the kidneys as it eliminates toxins. Here's further explanation:
Balancing digestion by adding more sodium to your dog’s diet: Sodium plays a vital role in digestion. Sodium or salt is necessary for balancing fluids and pH in the intestinal tract. We’re talking here about organic sodium or salt as found in many green vegetables and NOT commercial salt (sodium chloride) or sea salt. Both commercial salt and sea salt are inorganic (ionic) minerals. The animal's body does not possess any enzymes strong enough to break the ionic bonds found in inorganic minerals.
Photographer: www.freedigitalphotos.net
Photographer: www.freedigitalphotos.net
Vegetables added to your dog’s diet daily offers them organic minerals required to help digestion. Sufficient sodium enables their body to manufacture watery bicarbonates used to neutralize overacid stomach contents. Foods can then be well digested.
In addition, the production of hydrochloric acid is often extremely low causing symptoms such as indigestion and allergies. Low stomach acid can be addressed with sufficient daily intake of organic sodium in certain vegetables.
Your Dog's Diet Should Include Organic Foods:
The digestive system is one of the body's principal organs of detoxification, and if this system is faced with health challenges, then the daily metabolic waste is not being processed or secreted properly from the body. It only makes sense that you won't want to buy commercial foods for your dog that may add more harmful chemicals to your dog's diet, which will further stress the digestive system.
Commercial foods are sprayed repeatedly with insecticides and fungicides, ripened with ethylene gas, and perhaps waxed with an insect secretion. Animals whose meat ends up in your dog’s canned or dry foods are fed antibiotics and the ground-up remains of thousands of dead animals and has potent sex hormones implanted into them to accelerate their growth.
In addition, the production of hydrochloric acid is often extremely low causing symptoms such as indigestion and allergies. Low stomach acid can be addressed with sufficient daily intake of organic sodium in certain vegetables.
Your Dog's Diet Should Include Organic Foods:
The digestive system is one of the body's principal organs of detoxification, and if this system is faced with health challenges, then the daily metabolic waste is not being processed or secreted properly from the body. It only makes sense that you won't want to buy commercial foods for your dog that may add more harmful chemicals to your dog's diet, which will further stress the digestive system.
Commercial foods are sprayed repeatedly with insecticides and fungicides, ripened with ethylene gas, and perhaps waxed with an insect secretion. Animals whose meat ends up in your dog’s canned or dry foods are fed antibiotics and the ground-up remains of thousands of dead animals and has potent sex hormones implanted into them to accelerate their growth.
Photographer: Suat Eman
www.freedigitalphotos.net
We suggest you consider only organic foods for your dog. These foods are produced without synthetic herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers, post-harvest fungicides, antibiotics growth-promoters, or size enhancing hormones. These foods rely upon Mother Nature’s forces, recycling of nutrients and sustainable methods of production. Foods certified as organic must be grown on farms that are inspected and fully certified according to a stringent set of standards.
My dog Johnny with a
raw chicken leg.
When it Comes to Your Dogs' Diet Think Raw:
I know that there is controversy about feeding your dog raw foods. If you do not want to feed your dog 100% raw foods (we highly recommend it-our first choice), then make sure that it is a combination of home cooked meals and raw foods. The meat can be cooked and most of the fruits and veggies should be raw. Dogs are considered omnivores so fruits and vegetables should be part of their diet to provide them with enzymatically live and mineral rich nutrients.
I know that there is controversy about feeding your dog raw foods. If you do not want to feed your dog 100% raw foods (we highly recommend it-our first choice), then make sure that it is a combination of home cooked meals and raw foods. The meat can be cooked and most of the fruits and veggies should be raw. Dogs are considered omnivores so fruits and vegetables should be part of their diet to provide them with enzymatically live and mineral rich nutrients.
Avoid Giving Your Dog Bad Fats:
Make sure that if you are going to cook a home meal for your dog that you do not use fats that present a high workload for the liver, gall bladder and kidneys. These are margarines and processed vegetable oils (hydrogenated fats). I highly recommend that you use fresh, unheated coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter). These two types of fats can withstand high heat without burning and/or mutating. Better yet, don’t use any type of fat/oil for cooking. Just steam the meat or veggies.
Make sure that if you are going to cook a home meal for your dog that you do not use fats that present a high workload for the liver, gall bladder and kidneys. These are margarines and processed vegetable oils (hydrogenated fats). I highly recommend that you use fresh, unheated coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter). These two types of fats can withstand high heat without burning and/or mutating. Better yet, don’t use any type of fat/oil for cooking. Just steam the meat or veggies.
My dog Millie, loves her micro algae
Feed Your Dog More Alkaline than Acidic Foods:
Your dog's body is filled with fluids both inside and outside the cells in the muscles, the brain, bones, the bloodstream, the spine, saliva, in urine, etc.
All fluids have a certain level of acidity or alkalinity. This level is measured by the pH value. The pH scale runs from zero to 14. A pH of 7 is considered neutral, while a pH higher than 7 is considered alkaline and a pH lower than 7 is considered acidic.
The sicker the dog the more acidic the fluids in her/his body. You can help your dog regain his/her health by helping to reduce the acidity in the fluids of their body.
The main determining factor for maintaining a pH level on the alkaline or acidic side in the dog's body is the food he/she eats. Foods are of two types, acid or alkaline. This refers to the ash value of a food or the type of residue that remains after the food is digested and processed. If the food leaves an acid residue, the body must neutralize this acid to keep the blood from becoming acidic . The acid is neutralized with alkalinity (minerals). Ideally there is adequate alkalinity (minerals) in the diet to do this. However, if there is not, the body must extract alkalinity (minerals) from its own cells to neutralize the acid. Perpetuating this condition over a period of time causes the cells to become acidic, and eventually diseased.
All canned and dried foods fed to dogs today are 100% acidic. They do not contain the alkaline minerals found in live and natural foods. This is why dogs with compromised liver and kidneys must be fed a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are generally metabolized to yield ash residues which result in alkaline potentials for the body fluids. The majority of mineral elements found in fruits and vegetables are alkaline in solution including potassium, calcium, sodium and magnesium.
One of the best foods to use to help regain the alkalinity in a dog's body is wild-crafted micro algae which is 23% natural mineral complex. This percentage is a reference to its entire mineral complex. Over 40 macro and micro minerals have been identified in wild-crafted micro algae. The assimilation rate of these minerals into the dog's body may approach 100%. Karl Abrams, professor of chemistry at Saddleback College in Orange County, California, calls the abundance of minerals in wild-crafted micro algae, "A Treasure Trove." However, not all wild micro algae are the same after the food has been processed. A good quality wild micro algae should not be heated so that the enzymes and its vitamins stay alive and chemically active.
Your dog's body is filled with fluids both inside and outside the cells in the muscles, the brain, bones, the bloodstream, the spine, saliva, in urine, etc.
All fluids have a certain level of acidity or alkalinity. This level is measured by the pH value. The pH scale runs from zero to 14. A pH of 7 is considered neutral, while a pH higher than 7 is considered alkaline and a pH lower than 7 is considered acidic.
The sicker the dog the more acidic the fluids in her/his body. You can help your dog regain his/her health by helping to reduce the acidity in the fluids of their body.
The main determining factor for maintaining a pH level on the alkaline or acidic side in the dog's body is the food he/she eats. Foods are of two types, acid or alkaline. This refers to the ash value of a food or the type of residue that remains after the food is digested and processed. If the food leaves an acid residue, the body must neutralize this acid to keep the blood from becoming acidic . The acid is neutralized with alkalinity (minerals). Ideally there is adequate alkalinity (minerals) in the diet to do this. However, if there is not, the body must extract alkalinity (minerals) from its own cells to neutralize the acid. Perpetuating this condition over a period of time causes the cells to become acidic, and eventually diseased.
All canned and dried foods fed to dogs today are 100% acidic. They do not contain the alkaline minerals found in live and natural foods. This is why dogs with compromised liver and kidneys must be fed a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are generally metabolized to yield ash residues which result in alkaline potentials for the body fluids. The majority of mineral elements found in fruits and vegetables are alkaline in solution including potassium, calcium, sodium and magnesium.
One of the best foods to use to help regain the alkalinity in a dog's body is wild-crafted micro algae which is 23% natural mineral complex. This percentage is a reference to its entire mineral complex. Over 40 macro and micro minerals have been identified in wild-crafted micro algae. The assimilation rate of these minerals into the dog's body may approach 100%. Karl Abrams, professor of chemistry at Saddleback College in Orange County, California, calls the abundance of minerals in wild-crafted micro algae, "A Treasure Trove." However, not all wild micro algae are the same after the food has been processed. A good quality wild micro algae should not be heated so that the enzymes and its vitamins stay alive and chemically active.
Think Simple but Nutritious Meals:
When the digestive system is compromised, you need to feed your dog simple meals and yet high in nutrition. A meal that combines several types of high protein foods like meat, eggs mixed with grains like rice and veggies, is a meal that the digestive system will have a hard time breaking apart and processing. It is more advisable to give your dog a simple meal such as combining one type of high protein food like meat with vegetables. The digestive system can deal with such a meal in terms of breaking it down and assimilating it with no problems.
When the digestive system is compromised, you need to feed your dog simple meals and yet high in nutrition. A meal that combines several types of high protein foods like meat, eggs mixed with grains like rice and veggies, is a meal that the digestive system will have a hard time breaking apart and processing. It is more advisable to give your dog a simple meal such as combining one type of high protein food like meat with vegetables. The digestive system can deal with such a meal in terms of breaking it down and assimilating it with no problems.
What’s in Our Recommended Home-Made Diet?
Now that we shared with you diet principles that if applied to your dog’s meals can help their liver and kidneys regenerate, we bet that you want to know by now the specifics of what’s in a natural diet that you’re supposed to be feeding your dog to help heal his/her digestive system. You might be surprised that we will not provide that information on this website because we feel that it is very important to have a health coach working with you in your dog’s healing process.
In addition, diet is only 50% of the solution to help heal your dog’s colitis condition. The other 50% of the solution is to use whole food supplements. When you change your dog’s diet to a natural homemade diet and you give whole food supplements to your dog, there will be some level of detoxification taking place. In the process of detoxification and healing, you need a coach. Someone to help guide you through the process of your dog’s detoxification. I would like to be your coach in this whole healing process. I don’t charge anything for consulting and working with you. You can email your questions or call me and I’ll be there to guide you all the way until your dog becomes healthier.
Personalized Diet Recommendations Based on Your Dog’s Health History:
Because the real food diet I recommend and the whole food supplements are potent, it is not recommended that you make a complete sudden change from your dog’s commercially prepared diet to a homemade real food diet or use all the supplements we recommend at once. You need to slowly change the diet, start with mild supplements, and slowly move to a 100% natural homemade diet and stronger supplements in terms of their effectiveness to detoxify your dog’s body.
This is why it is important for you to share with me your dog’s health background first. I need to find out if your dog has been on medications, what type of foods you are feeding your dog.....etc. Please request the questionnaire from me. Email me back your answers.
Once I learn about your dog’s health background, then I can recommend how to start his/her change of diet and which whole food supplement suits them best.
So you see, I need to learn about your dog’s health level first before I recommend a specific health program customized for your dog.
Now that we shared with you diet principles that if applied to your dog’s meals can help their liver and kidneys regenerate, we bet that you want to know by now the specifics of what’s in a natural diet that you’re supposed to be feeding your dog to help heal his/her digestive system. You might be surprised that we will not provide that information on this website because we feel that it is very important to have a health coach working with you in your dog’s healing process.
In addition, diet is only 50% of the solution to help heal your dog’s colitis condition. The other 50% of the solution is to use whole food supplements. When you change your dog’s diet to a natural homemade diet and you give whole food supplements to your dog, there will be some level of detoxification taking place. In the process of detoxification and healing, you need a coach. Someone to help guide you through the process of your dog’s detoxification. I would like to be your coach in this whole healing process. I don’t charge anything for consulting and working with you. You can email your questions or call me and I’ll be there to guide you all the way until your dog becomes healthier.
Personalized Diet Recommendations Based on Your Dog’s Health History:
Because the real food diet I recommend and the whole food supplements are potent, it is not recommended that you make a complete sudden change from your dog’s commercially prepared diet to a homemade real food diet or use all the supplements we recommend at once. You need to slowly change the diet, start with mild supplements, and slowly move to a 100% natural homemade diet and stronger supplements in terms of their effectiveness to detoxify your dog’s body.
This is why it is important for you to share with me your dog’s health background first. I need to find out if your dog has been on medications, what type of foods you are feeding your dog.....etc. Please request the questionnaire from me. Email me back your answers.
Once I learn about your dog’s health background, then I can recommend how to start his/her change of diet and which whole food supplement suits them best.
So you see, I need to learn about your dog’s health level first before I recommend a specific health program customized for your dog.
Click here for your free assessment!