Ep. 455 - Grain-Free Diets for Dogs

Join Rob for a discussion as he reviews (5) articles on grain-free dog food...and may be rethinking his approach regarding feeding. 

He also shares some thoughts on raw food diets for dogs and discusses the rotation of your dogs diet periodically.   

Be sure to join the discussion with your thoughts on feeding dogs! 

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How To Leave a Rating & Review in Apple Podcast App:  https://youtu.be/M_xz5XbWQTg

This really does affect the algorithm...
...as of recording in November 2022 - I would invite you to do this!

The podcast game is changing - but old-school reviews certainly help

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Discussion Links:

Food Forest Farms - Enterprises - Food Forest Farms Coffee ...
www.foodforestfarms.com/index.html

Food Forest Farms Enterprises Landing Page. Free Minds ~ Free Markets / Free Markets ~ Free Minds / Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

Is Grain-Free Dog Food Bad? - American Kennel Club

FDA Grain-Free Diet Alert: What Dog Owners Need to Know

The Best Grain-Free Dog Food: Our Top 8 Picks Reviewed

Grain-Free Dog Food: Why It May Harm Your Dog's Health

Grain-Free Pet Food: Helpful or Harmful Diet? - ASPCA

Marvel Farms Ohio – Local – Sustainable – Humane

Dog Food - Wholesomes Pet Food

York Meadow Farm: Lacto-Fermented Foods
Rich in probiotics, our fermented foods are also paleo and keto friendly. Eat a proper human diet.

Presearch: a Decentralized Search Engine
Search privately, receive better results and get rewarded with the Presearch decentralized search...

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Transcript

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If we spend together, we'll never fall. We can make a difference.

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Well, hi there, and welcome back to another episode of the All Around Growth Podcast. My name is Rob Kaiser and I am your host. Today is Tuesday, November 1st, 2022. This is episode number 455 of a show where you join me with my family on our smart small farm and homestead as we grow all around, as we talk about the five W's and how as we grow along with the family businesses and all of the various things going on here at York Meadow Farm. And speaking of York Meadow Farm, York Meadow Farm is the sponsor of today's show. And what we do here at the farm is create small batch uh small batch fermented foods and bath and body products. So things that you normally consume as part of your life on a daily basis, especially with bath and body products and with fermented foods, we ought to be. Um if you are interested in nourishing yourself inside and out, yorkmeadowfarm.com is the place to be. And in doing so, you not only support the show, you support my family, but you support yourself and your family, like I said, nourishing you on the inside and out. I would also like to give a shout out to foodforestfarms.com, where you can learn more about the upcoming Squatch Fest in 2023, a celebration of music, art, and light on the summer solstice. And uh in today's show, what we are going to be talking about is grain-free diets for dogs, and um the reason we are talking about grain-free diets for dogs is because I recently had to change my dog food, and the the reality is um things, you know, that experience got me thinking about, you know, why I feed my dog, what I feed my dog, and what some alternative options are. So we're gonna we're gonna take a look at that. I'm gonna link to the articles that we're gonna take a look at together today, and uh the way in which I found these articles was through utilizing a search engine pre-search, and I'll link to that in the show notes as well so you can learn more about how I search and how I obtain the information that I do. But uh I I I like pre search, and just to briefly tell you what pre-search is, um pre search is a decentralized search engine that provides search choice quality results, privacy, and rewards to those who want to end the search monopoly, right? So they are effectively building a complete ecosystem to support this token. Uh it it's it's decentralized, it's it's kind of cryptocurrency based, but and I I guess the reason why I like it is because I can easily interface with Google and a number of other search engines. If I well, I can interface with whatever I want. You can set this up in any myriad number of ways so that when you search for information in the search bar, you can quickly see the results. In I've got it set up Google, Amazon, CoinGecko, YouTube, DuckDuckGo, Google Maps, and Twitter. And right now that's really all I but search for. But as my habits change, as I create content, such as streaming the show like I'm doing now, in conjunction with creating the podcast, because this is kind of two birds, one stone, like a number of us out there are actively doing. This is just one way in which I obtain information. So, like I said, I'll link to pre-search in the show notes. But what I did was I simply searched grain-free diet for dogs. And I guess before I dive into these articles, I should probably provide some backstory on why I was feeding what I was feeding in the first place, and why I changed and what I changed to. Okay, so let's get started with that. Now, my dog Toby, and and and and this is all very interesting because this coincides with Toby's birthday. Uh, my birthday was last month, and as far as I can tell, Toby was born a week or two after I was, and we um, you know, we we we kind of share the same birthdays. So, anyways, I don't I don't really think a whole lot about birthdays. This isn't it's not a thing that we do in our family, but as I'm becoming more active on social media, I was greeted with some Facebook memories from a few years ago where I shared some photos of Toby as a puppy and said something about hopefully many more years to come. And it made me realize that Toby has been in my life now for six years. And for those of you who have listened to this show, he's been a part of this show for as long as this show. And the food that I have been feeding him ever since he was a pup was for those of you who are watching, can see this. That's a wholesome food, it is a grain-free, gluten-free, and this one in particular is white fish meal and chickpeas. But what I had been feeding him was white fish meal and potatoes, okay, and that's just what I fed him. Uh my when I originally got him as a puppy. Um I got him from a friend who who was raising him, and I respect her and her uh knowledge base with animals, not just dogs, but all animals. Um, she is extremely intelligent. And as a matter of fact, if anybody's in or local to well, anyone anywhere should check out what she's doing at Marvel Farms uhohio uh dot com. And you can really see where she's more active or most active on Facebook at Marvel Farms, but um, but she had these these pups, and um at that time I wasn't sure if I was ready for a puppy, but uh you know, seeing as she was a friend of the family, they were around and uh uh you know it it it it seemed right, and based on what she told me at that time, um, you know, she was going along with grain free. Um what you know, I don't know. I I really don't know what what she's doing right now. She's got a bunch of dogs, um, but really uh hogs and and and and kind of farming is is is her her primary aspect. She's she's not a dog breeder or anything like that. But um at that time I started freeding feeding this this wholesome blend. I believe that's what she was feeding her dogs as well. And that's what I continued feeding up until I needed to buy more dog food last month, and it turns out that they were no longer making that white fish meal and potatoes, so I thought, oh boy, okay, what do I do? Well, they had a couple grain-free options. Um, one was I forget what one was, but I ended up I ended up picking up this for those of you who are watching online. You can see this uh wholesome chicken meal and potatoes. Okay. And the reason why I have these little bags of white fish meal and chickpeas is because they gave me a box of this stuff, which was about as close as they had to uh whitefish meal and potatoes, so I could, you know, make the transition to this new food without much of an issue at all. But they were telling me grain-free to grain-free is really not big, not a big deal changing from one brand to another. And what happened was this wholesome brand simply stopped making the whitefish meal and potatoes. So I, you know, after talking with a girl, she said it's not a big deal transitioning from one brand to another, especially if you're going grain free. So, you know, I don't don't think too, I wouldn't think too much about it if I were you. So I said, okay. And I bought this dog food. But then I get I started thinking, well, you know, why am I feeding grain free in the first place? You know, I know a lot of people that really promote and push the raw food diet with dogs. And if I were in a position where I were raising rabbits or chickens and I had abundant access to raw food, I'd I'd certainly have that as a part of my dog's diet. But, you know, at this point in time, you know, even though I've gone through some functional medicine and medicine processes and have tried to improve my own health, you know, in large part I'm still eating human kibble. And until I get to a point where I've optimized my own health and wellness through my diet with what I'm raising here on the homestead, um, you know, my dog's diet will remain what my dog's diet is, which again got me thinking, why am I feeding grain free in the first place? So, like I said, I I went to pre-search and I typed in grain-free diet for dogs. And we're gonna take a look at the first five articles real briefly this morning, but I'll link to them in the show notes so you can read exactly what I'm reading in detail. But the first five articles read Is grain-free dog food bad? That's an article by the American Kennel Club. Number two, FDA grain-free diet alert, what dog owners need to know. Also by the American Kennel Club. Number three, the best grain-free dog food, our top eight picks reviewed by veterinarians.org. Number four, grain-free dog food, why it may harm your dog's health by insider.com. And number five, grain-free pet food, helpful or harmful diet by the ASPCA. Okay, so we're gonna take a look at each of those articles, and I'm not gonna read them in depth, but I'm just gonna glance over them and you know, read the beginning. Um it and and basically I'll just scroll through and you know, really, really, uh, you know, some of these articles from the are are lengthy and there's a lot there. So um the conclusion basically the the summary of this article reads grain-free diets replace grains such as rice and corn with potatoes or legumes, beans, peas, and lentils as a carbohydrate source. And then it talks about the studies or lack thereof, and basically, this article, grain-free dog food, bad or good, really highlights the death of a dog, and it does not really seem to talk a lot about uh grain-free dog food. So let's let's move on to the second article. What dog owners need to know about the FDA's grain-free diet alert and DCM? This is an article from June 28th, 2019. It's a three-minute read, and basically the FDA is investigating potential links between canine heart disease and diet, specifically grain-free dog food diets. We've compiled the information you need to know to understand this ongoing investigation. And why is the invest FDA investigating grain-free dog food? Well, it's easy to panic. Okay, right. Um, the FDA is investigating a potential dietary link between canine dilated cardiomyopathy, DCM, and dogs eating certain grain-free dog foods. The foods of concern are those containing legumes such as peas or lentils or other legume seeds or potatoes listed as primary ingredients. The FDA began investigating this matter after it received reports of DCM in dogs that had been eating these diets for a period of months to years. DCM itself is not considered rare in dogs, but these reports are unusual because the disease occurred in breeds of dogs not typically prone to the disease. Okay, so what you know what what what is canine heart disease or dilated cardiomyopathy? Dilated cardiomyopathy is a type of canine heart disease that affects the heart muscle. The hearts of dogs with DCM have a decreased ability to pump blood, which often results in congestive heart failure. Some breeds, especially large breeds and giant breeds, have a predisposition to DCM. And that's what I was thinking as I was reading this article, but um I didn't want to inject my opinion. These breeds include Duberman Pinchers, Great Danes, Newfoundlands, Irish Wolfhounds, and St. Bernard's. Their report states that more than 90% of the foods reported in DCM cases were grain free. 93% of reported foods contained peas or lentils, and 42% contained potatoes or sweet potatoes. Okay, so that I feel a little bit better about that, having based this on potatoes and still having potatoes. Okay, so according to Dr. Klein, at this time, there is no proof that these ingredients are the cause of DCM in a broader range of dogs, but dog owners should be aware of this alert from the FDA. All right. Um, the FDA's July 2019 update includes the name of dog food brands that were named 10 times or more in reports submitted through April 30th, 2019. Most reports were for dry dog food, but raw, semi-moist, and wet foods were all represented. I'll go ahead and list through these brands here just for your reference, but the brands are uh from most reports to least Akana with 67, Zignature with 64, Taste of the Wild with 53 for Health with 32 reports, Earthborne Holistic with 32 reports, Blue Buffalo with 31, Nature's Domain with 29, From with 24, Merrick with 16, California Natural with 15, Natural Balance with 15 Orion with 12, Nature's Variety with 10 Nutrisource with 10 Neutro with 10, Rachel Ray Nutrice with 10. And uh looks like I see wholesome, and one thing that was notable in the first article was something that I read that read as follows boutique diets are produced by small companies without nutritional testing facilities. Exotic ingredient diets are unusual sources, such as kangaroo or duck, which have not been received, which have not received extensive testing. More common sources such as chicken or beef have grain-free diets replaced grains such as rice or corn with potatoes or legumes, bees, peas, or lentils as a carbohydrate source. No study has ever shown grain-free to be superior to grain-inclusive diets. All right, which makes me wonder if the grain-free dog food trend, if you will, sort of became a thing with us as we all steered towards primal, paleo, grain-free, keto, carnivore, and so on and so forth. As do us, so do our dogs. I don't know. Basically, this article concludes as a general rule of thumb, the best thing you can do for your dog's dietary health is to consult your veterinarian. Together, you can weigh the pros and cons of your dog's diet. Consider whether grain-inclusive food or grain-free dog food are right for your dog, and if necessary, monitor your dogs for signs of DCM. Of course, all valid um, you know, guidance there, if you will. Always consult with your veterinarian. And I'm no expert here. I don't know anything. That's partly why I'm doing this uh show is to learn a little bit and uh question my own thought processes here. The third article, the best grain-free dog food, our top picks reviewed. It basically just lists bullet points of what the grain top grain-free dog foods are. And is grain-free food better for dogs? It depends. Grain-free dog food is better for dogs that are sensitive to grains. Here are some of the benefits of grain-free diets. Fewer allergies, grains can often lead to allergic reactions. Therefore, switching to a grain-free diet helps to reduce the breakout of allergies. Healthy skin and coat. Grain-free diet can reduce inflammation in your dog's skin. This also leads to healthier and shiny coats. Smaller stools, switching to a grain-free diet will make your dog's stools smaller and more manageable. Less gas, since your dog will be able to digest their meals easily. There will be less bloating and production of smelly gas. And better breath. Grain-free dog food has been known to improve your dog's oral health by reducing bad breath overall. What is wrong with grain-free dog food? According to reports, the FDA has investigated a potential link between canine dilated cardiomyopathy, DCM, and grain free dog food. The issue arises with grain free recipes containing alternative carbohydrate sources like legumes, lentils, peas, chickpeas. However, it is not established whether it is due to the lack of grains. Or the presence of legumes. So, can a grain-free diet cause heart problems in dogs? Yes, based on recent warnings by the FDA. Okay, so more on this article here, more on all these articles here. But if you like grain-free diets, then this one might be of interest to you since they review the top eight picks here, which I will not read. I will simply link to this article in the show notes for your reference. And we'll take a look at the fourth article why vets say that you should never feed your dog a grain-free diet. Okay, this article was written by Ashley Ladderer on uh May 4th, 2021, on insider.com. And this article was medically reviewed by Soren McKnight, a veterinarian at Wellbourne Road Veterinary Medical Center in College Station, Texas. And she writes that only dogs who are truly allergic to grains should eat grain-free dog food. Grain-free dog food does not contain wheat, rice, or other types of grains. Grains are usually substituted for legumes, which could cause dilated cardiomyopathy. When you cut out grains, dogs can miss out on fiber, fatty acids, and protein. Okay. That is the summary of this article. It further outlines what exactly grain-free dog foods are, the health, the health risks of grain-free dog food, conditions that DCM can lead to, and other, but also lists the health benefits of grain-free dog food. So the insider's takeaway of this article is as follows: grain-free food may be appropriate if a dog has a grain allergy and if a vet recommends it. However, the diet does come with serious health risks. All three vets are not proponents of grain-free diets for dogs, and they advise discussing any special diet plans with your vet. Quote, pet owners should avoid choosing diets arbitrarily or based on human food fads. Your veterinarian is your best and most overlooked resource to help you find the safest and most appropriate diet for your fur baby. Close quote, says Greenstein. Okay, I'm not really one to refer to Toby over there on the couch as my fur baby, but uh I love my dog and I'm interested in learning more about appropriate diets for not only myself, but my dog. So let's take a look at this last article titled Grain-free pet food helpful or harmful diet. And then I will share my concluding thoughts on all of this. Okay, in this article, they talk about what the cause for concern is. What did the FDA find? What does all of this mean? And we'll read that. A relationship between grain-free diets and the development of DCM hasn't been fully proven. However, there are numerous reports of dogs with DCM whose condition improved or completely resolved after they were taken off a BEG diet and started on a special amino acid supplementation, taurine. The short answer is we still don't know why this is happening, but it appears that DCM is more likely to occur in dogs who are eating only BEG diets. So my question, which is a good segue into uh my thoughts, is the question that ends this article. How should you select a food for your pet? When selecting a diet for your pet, the best advice is to ask your veterinarian. Veterinarians receive training in animal nutrition while in school and at educational conferences throughout their career. They are much better suited to advise you about proper diets than a pet store employee. It is worth noting that there have been no reported cases of dogs developing nutritionally mediated DCM while eating a food that meets the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, W S A B A guidelines. So that is a good place to start. But what is the World Small Animal Veterinary Association? Um I'll link to that. It's uh it's a it's a PDF article that was updated on March 10th, 2021, and it is guidelines on selecting pet foods, and it's got some information on what to look for in a brand, what to look for on a label, and just some good information that you might want to take into consideration when selecting a pet food for your dog. Now, when I left, the concluding dialogue, when I left the pet store, that is the feed store where I buy my dog food, the concluding dialogue that I had with the manager there, the guy who managed the store, was that you know, hey, thank you very much for these samples to help me make this transition into the new food. And I'll go ahead and just buy because normally I'll buy I'll buy multiple bags of food, so I just always have some. But I bought one bag of this and I decided that I would do my research on the other dog foods that they currently stock. And they mentioned that one brand that they had, which I believe was Diamond Brand, if I wanted something grain free in that particular brand, that they could bring it in special order for me. But at this point, I'm not entirely sure if I'm sold on the grain free diet. Uh and one one thought I had which I mentioned in the the the the show notes was the idea of rotating dog food. And I understand that changing foods is not something that you want to routinely do, but I thought that rather than get stuck on one thing that could potentially be uh harmful uh in the long run, is it a bad idea potentially to change out food every six months, per se, and just swap it to a different food just to ensure some variety in your dog's diet. I don't know. So I for those of you who are listening out there, I'm curious to hear what you have to say. And what I would encourage you to do is join the discussion on social media. You can find us on telegram at t.me slash allaroundgrowth. You can find us on Facebook on facebook.com slash allaroundgrowth or the Facebook group at facebook.com slash groups slash all around growth. We're also on Mi We and Twitter and Float. And we are also on YouTube where we are streaming this right now in conjunction with Float and Telegram. So shout out to all you guys on Telegram and Float who are watching out there. The experimentation with streaming to new platforms continues, and hopefully the audio quality for those of you who continue to listen in the traditional podcast format is on par with what your expectations are. So, guys, with regard to food, definitely let me know what you're doing with your dogs on social media, telegram t.me slash all aroundgrowth. And be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel where when we are streaming, we are definitely streaming there among other platforms. And you can find us at youtube.com slash all aroundgrowth. You can find all episodes at allaroundgrowth.co and in the show notes, there is a little link to a brief one-minute video where you can leave a rating in uh rating and review in the podcast Apple Podcast app. And I would definitely encourage you to do that with this show and with the shows of your favorite content creators because at this time, even though the podcast game is changing, leaving rating and reviews still does affect the algorithm and helps expose new listeners to the show. So if you like what you hear, I would certainly encourage you to do this and with all of your favorite content creators. Links to everything I talked about will be in the show notes for today. And I would encourage you to check those out if you're interested. And share this uh, share the uh share the episode with friends and family, share it on social media if you found value in it. And guys, if you're watching this on YouTube, be sure to like and subscribe to the channel and hit that notification bell for future notifications when new content is released and when we are going live. So, with that, guys, this is Rob Kaiser, and thank you.