February 24th, 2010
Let’s not mince words. Fats make food taste better. It’s true for us. It’s true for our dogs. Aside from palatability, though, dietary fats (known as lipids) do many good things inside the body, including:
- Preventing heat and moisture loss
- Protecting major organs
- Supplying essential fatty acids (EFAs)
- Carrying fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K)
- Insulating nerve fibers
- Helping to transmit nerve impulses
- Contributing structural components to cell membranes
- Transporting other nutrients across these membranes
Fats (solid form at room temperature) and oils (liquid form at room temperature) get a lot of bad press, but they provide the most concentrated source of food energy. In fact, they’re nearly three times as dense energy-wise as carbohydrates or proteins. Most fats are also more digestible.
Fat Digestion
What’s a little freaky about fats is that they don’t get broken down for digestion the way other nutrients do. Instead, they’re elongated and desaturated (loss of hydrogen atoms) inside the body.
Essential Fatty Acids
Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) might be the most “famous” of all the kinds of dietary fats. These are the OMEGAs you hear about. They’re called “essential” because in most cases the body cannot synthesize them.
- Omega 3 fatty acids (from alpha-linolenic acid)
- Omega 6 fatty acids (from linoleic acid and arachidonic acid)
- Omega 9 fatty acids (from oleic acid)
Vegetable oils can provide Omega 6s, but certain Omega 3s can only be found in animal fats.
Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Omega 3s, in particular, produce a lower immunological response than Omega 6s and Omega 9s, so when veterinarians are concerned with controlling internal inflammation, they may recommend re-balancing EFA ratios and supplementing a pet’s diet with additional Omega 3s.
Be sure to alert your pet’s doctor if you supplement Omega 3s because they act as a blood thinner, which is important if surgery (emergency or otherwise) is needed.
Tags: corneal dystrophy, dog, dog food, dog nutrition, fats, low-fat dog food, nutrition, pancreatitis
Posted in Dog Food Basics, K9 Nutrition | 2 Comments »
February 3rd, 2010
Dog food typically combines carbohydrates, fats and proteins, along with vitamins and minerals. Each element plays a starring role inside the canine body, where all kinds of important processes take place. We’ll open up the discussion to Dog Food Debates later, but for now, let’s simply look at how these nutritional elements work from a purely physiological standpoint.
Dog Food Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates provide a key source of dog food energy that in addition to other bodily functions has a “protein-sparing effect.” That means carbs free up the body to use protein in tissue repair and growth, rather than the protein getting burnt up to meet a dog’s energy needs.
Carbs also:
- Supply energy that keeps dogs warm
- Provide a steady supply of glucose needed for the central nervous system to do its thing
- Convert to glycogen, which can be used as an emergency energy source for the heart
- Hook up with proteins and fats to form body tissue structures
- Supply “carbon skeletons” for the formation of nonessential amino acids
- Are required for the synthesis of other essential compounds
Dog Food Fats
Fats make food taste better. Trust me. Your dog understands that.
Palatability aside … Fats can provide a main form of energy storage in the body. In excess, of course, that’s not ideal, but in normal amounts, fat storage insulates the body from heat loss and protects major organs.
Dietary fats in dog food also supply essential fatty acids (EFAs) as well as carry fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K).
In addition, fats serve metabolic and structural roles, including:
- Insulating nerve fibers
- Helping to transmit nerve impulses
- Contributing structural components to cell membranes
- Transporting other nutrients across these membranes
Dog Food Proteins
In broad terms, dogs require protein because it supplies essential amino acids that form, fix and replenish bodily proteins that truly hold everything together. That means hair, skin, nails, tendons, ligaments and cartilage.
Beyond structural support, proteins do many other things:
- Some key proteins regulate muscle action.
- Some catalyze metabolic actions.
- Some are downright essential to nutrient digestion.
- Many hormones are protein based.
- Protein in the plasma helps maintain a dog’s Ph balance.
And, if that wasn’t enough, proteins work inside a dog’s immune system to generate antibodies that combat potential disease.
Inside your canine friend (and inside you, too) body proteins undergo a constant renewal and decline process, which requires a regular supply of dietary protein.
While you might be thinking, “Hey, protein is king!” know this … water is the single most important nutrient for survival. (Someday soon, we’ll talk all about it.)
Tags: carbohydrates, dog, dog food, Dog Food Dish Blog, dog nutrition, fats, K9Cuisine Dog Food Dish Blog, proteins
Posted in Dog Food Basics, K9 Nutrition | 4 Comments »
A professional writer based in Colorado, Roxanne Hawn doesn't just love dogs. She deep-down requires them in life. Something inside her genes, perhaps? That's why it's such a joy to write about all things canine. Roxanne began writing about pets in 1995, when she worked for the American Animal Hospital Association and later for the American Humane Association. During this period in her career, Roxanne served on the board of directors for the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (a coalition of animal welfare groups). Roxanne also volunteered for many years at an animal shelter, where she witnessed firsthand what happens when the human-animal bond breaks or never forms.
