Are Grain Free Dog Food Really Healthy? Read Before You Switch Over

Having a pet at home is a huge source of fun and excitement, but at the same time, quite challenging! The pet owners need to take care of various aspects when bringing a pet home. Its comfort, its health, its nutrition, its grooming and a lot many aspects need undivided attention of the owners. These days, the trend of feeding grain free food to the dogs is capturing a lot of attention. Whether it is this a fad or there is some truth in it still needs to be seen. Many experts believe that this is a healthier option for the dogs in comparison with the comprehensive range of food products available for the pets in the market.

According to several studies conducted in this field, it was found that grain free diets do work week with the pets, but originally it was developed as a response to many human health and diet needs. When selecting food for your dog, the first and the foremost thing that you need to consider is to find out whether the food offers balanced and complete nutrition for your dogs. The dog food is usually developed as per its nutritional requirements and this is the reason it differs from breed to breed and also as per the age of the dog. If any of the nutrients is more than is required by the body, there may be certain side effects. The same holds true for the deficiency of nutrients. Thus, it is very important to choose dog food with great care.

Grain Free Food and its Importance

Grain free diets are manufactured keeping in mind, offering the complete nutrient profile to the dogs in various ingredients that are added to the food. The nutrients are added in adequate amounts so that the nutrients required by the dog are available, ensuring proper growth and development of your adorable companions. While providing grain free diet for your pets, one more thing that you need to consider is that this diet cannot be considered as the best option for your pet. There is no such thing as perfect diet that suits all pet dogs. So, avoid looking for an option that is one size fits all as far as nutritional solutions are concerned.

Benefits of Grain Free Diet

These days, more and more veterinarians have been recommending grain free diets for the dogs. According to them, the diet of the dog must consist of just a small portion of grains and carbohydrates. The breakup as given by many of them is 40 percent meat protein, 50 percent vegetables and 10 percent grains. Most of the grain free foods available today consist of more animal fats, proteins and fewer carbs when compared with diet options that include grains. Since grain free diet is considered as easily digestible, pet owners prefer them for their pets. Some major benefits of grain free diets are-

• Fewer stools
• Dogs experiencing fullness for a longer period
• Energy giving
• Lowers the chances of suffering from canine food allergies
• Healthier skin
• Less shedding
• Shinier coat
• Reduced Flatulence
• Overall activeness

It is important to consider the fact that the digestive system in dogs is still primitive in nature. Their digestive systems lack the ability to break down and metabolize cereal grains and complicated carbohydrates. Fibers are relatively difficult to digest and as such many times grains are left undigested. This creative digestive trouble for the dog. If the problem continues, it may also result in damaging the internal lining of the digestive tract and this may further complicate matters with problems like food sensitivities, bowel inflammation disorders, leaky gut, obesity and food allergies.

If your dog is allergic to food, the vet may recommend going on a grain free diet. Following are some of the symptoms that help us to recognize food allergies in our dogs.

• Loose stools
• A lot of flatulence
• Skin Irritations and rashes
• Excessive itching
• Ear infections
• Vomiting

Many veterinarians also concede the fact that grain free diet is not the answer to food allergies seen in the dogs. They basically suffer from these problems because of gluten that is found in the grains. Gluten, which is considered as the best source of high quality proteins, may also turn out to be troublesome for the dogs. The major reason may be because it is not as easily digestible as eggs, but when it comes to the fortification of proteins in dog diets, it proves to be an inexpensive way.

We all are aware that celiac disease seen in human beings which is gluten induced is a very debilitating condition. There is no dearth of people suffering from this problem all over the world. Providing grain free diet for the dogs helps in reducing the instances of pets suffering from the similar problem as seen in human beings, which is quite painful.

The dogs that suffer from frequent diarrhea and general poor gastrointestinal health are recommended grain free diet and taking this diet do show a lot of improvement in them. As soon as their diet is switched to a grain free diet, their general health improves. The premium quality pet foods available in the market without grains contain various other ingredients high in quality. Changing formulations as a result of changing diet means adding different ingredients in different amounts. As soon as the amount of gluten is lowered in the diet, a lot of improvements are seen. At the same time, we must also consider the fact that other ingredients found in the dog food, which may also be responsible for the poor health of the dogs also changes in amount. Thus, a clear indication about the benefits and advantages of grain free diet is still not available.

Pet owners do go for grain free diet and also witnessing positive results in their pets, but pinpointing its exact reason may still be difficult.