Dog food - dog nutrition

In today’s world we can buy almost any meal ready-made. But recent studies have found that these convenience items are laden with processed ingredients that are potentially detrimental to our health.

Unfortunately, this is also true in today’s modern dog world. Because dog food requires a long shelf life, preservatives and other chemicals are found side-by-side with the healthy ingredients listed on the nutritional labels. Food containing “unnatural” ingredients isn’t necessarily that terrible for a healthy dog but can affect dogs with special dietary needs or different illnesses. A new trend is to make your own dog food. The natural train of thought is to equate a dog’s diet with giving him meat, meat and more meat; however, in the wild dogs’ weren’t just meat eaters.

Many of the animals dogs ate were plant eaters whose stomachs were full of vegetation. If times were tough, dogs would graze on grass and shoots. Therefore, a diet of meat and vegetables is perfectly natural. One vet-recommended diet includes a baked two ounce boneless pork loin chop (chicken, beef or lamb can be used as well), four ounces of Tofu, eight ounces of cooked long grain brown rice, two teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil, a quarter cup of Molasses, two steamed carrots, one cup cooked spinach, half a steamed green pepper, a few steamed broccoli spears, one teaspoon ground ginger, two garlic cloves (crushed), half a teaspoon of dry mustard and one teaspoon of bone meal.

One serving of this recipe is equal to a large can of dog food and is much healthier. If cooking is not up your alley you can always supplement your dog’s diet with readily available natural substances. To begin, garlic is an excellent “extra” to add to your dog’s food. Raw garlic is an antibacterial and anti-fungal agent. In addition, it is also an anti-inflammatory and works wonders for dog’s that suffer from arthritis and other joint ailments. Ground ginger is also an anti-inflammatory and when combined with garlic, it can replace the need for expensive drugs if your dog suffers from an ongoing condition. Fresh ginger is great for calming a dog’s stomach while dry mustard improves digestion and bowel functions.

And all of these items are available at any grocery store for mere pennies! Next, make a trip to the pharmacy. Why? Because most commercial dog foods do not contain enough vitamins to maintain a balanced diet. Again, this will probably not affect a healthy young dog but older dogs can really suffer from a lack of key nutrients.

Ready?