HEALTH THROUGH NUTRITION
Back to Basics Human Grade Food for Pets
All Life Stages Formula
Studies substantiating the need for a high-fat diet are blossoming. Since the advent of commercial foods, the industry has been trying to sell low-fat food for pets. It means greater profits, at the expense of real health for your dog or cat. The term "high-fat" used in this document is in relation to typical fat levels in commercial foods. Based on what is necessary for a canine or feline to reach and maintain an optimum level of health, what is being referred to a "high-fat" is what should be the normal levels of high quality fat.
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It should be made clear that, all discussions on nutrition and ingredients have no basis unless a very high level of quality is maintained. For example, you cannot compare a quality grain to a fragment or filler (rice being a whole grain, rice bran being a filler etc.). The first consideration on any food product, whether it is for a human, feline, or a canine, is the quality of the food they are consuming. We all know that nutrition can improve the quality and length of dogs or a cat's life. The correct levels of quality fat are essential to this.
What About a Healthy Dog or Cat?
Do they require higher levels of fat than they have been getting from most commercial foods?
A resounding
YES!
We now know that a high-fat diet is of dramatic benefit to a cancer patient. The same is true with a healthy dog or cat, whether he is active or inactive, young or old.
In humans, eating the bulk of your caloric intake with carbohydrates (carb loading) has proven to increase muscle-glycogen; therefore, increasing stamina. The same carb loading tested on sled dogs showed an excess accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles. In horses, it caused founder and colic; therefore, establishing that canines and horses do not metabolize carbohydrates the same way as humans. Cats and dogs metabolize fat the way humans metabolize carbohydrates. It is fuel that gives them the ability to function at their greatest peak of health.
From an article by Hilary Watson, "Fats Is Where It Is At": "A high-fat diet in conjunction with endurance training causes cardiovascular pulmonary and exymatic changes that enhance the ability to use fatty acids as fuels for muscle activity. This process is known as fat adaption. Also taken from Ms. Watson's article: "Sled dogs have shown to perform better on a high-fat diet". Treadmill test done on Beagles eating a high-fat diet showed much longer periods before exhaustion set in, as opposed to when fed a typical canine diet higher in carbohydrates. The beagles on the high-fat diet had better oxygen utilization, improved endurance the reduced depletion of muscle glycogen".
Fat adaptation has shown to reduce the effort of breathing through lowering the levels of carbon dioxide in the blood. Even sedentary pets benefit form the high-fat diet, giving their body what has long been required and allowing it to easily digest.
Dogs and cats maintain better body heat in cold temperatures, and in warmer temperatures, a high-fat diet guards against heat exhaustion and dehydration through fat adaptation. Dogs who are competing in field trials, lure coursing, agility, or any sport requiring excessive effort and using a high-fat diet consume less water than their competitors, giving them the competitive edge. It is believed that, this is through an increase in production of "metabolic water" in animals fed a higher-fat diet.
Metabolic water is water produced from the metabolism of nutrients in the body. Depletion of water is a major cause of fatigue, heat stroke, and in cases that are more serious, heart attack and death.
Hot or cold weather results in increased stress to any animal. When that animal is not getting a quality diet with the proper amount of fat, it takes a toll on their body, reducing their optimum state of health.
An excerpt taken form "Dogs In Canada" The Most Essential Nutrient, June 1998, Hilary Watson states: "Diets moderate in protein but high in fat, tend to help conserve body fluids in three ways".
(1) They minimize urine output by reducing the amount of nitrogen that must be eliminated form the body.
(2) They provide a more concentrated source of nutrients, thereby minimizing stool volume and fecal water losses.
(3) Dietary fat contributes metabolic water defined as water produce form the metabolism of nutrients".
It is time we give our dogs and cats what they have always needed, and not what the manufacturers have tried to convince us was adequate. A quality food, with proper fat levels, gives a greater level of digestibility, better coats and skin, and an overall improved health leading to a longer fuller life with fewer medical problems. This is truly a win-win for cats, dogs, and owners alike.
Back to Basics Food For Pets has the necessary level of fat in a quality diet.
Back to Basics Food for Dogs provides protein levels of 23% with a fat content of 19%, for all dogs, young and old, active and inactive.
Back to Basics Food for Cats provides 34% of the highest quality proteins and 21% fat.
