Watermet Foods

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind. Without question, the best dog food is one which is based on a wild dog’s diet. Dogs have evolved on this. It’s raw meat. There are no cookers in nature.

People are reluctant to believe this for a variety of reasons. So lets look at some of them, and dispel your fears.

Firstly, you may be worried about the presence os parasites and worms in raw meat. It’s been drummed into you that meat needs to be cooked to kill them off.

I can assure you, that dogs digestion is robust. They have no trouble with worms and parasites in raw meat. They have evolved to deal with this. What they haven’t evolved to deal with is cooked food, high fat content, preservatives, pathogens in cooked food, poor quality filler and the low grade food which passes for dog food.

Secondly, you may be concerned about bones perforating an internal organ.

Dogs evolved by crunching up on raw bones. They have absolutely no problem with raw bones, as long as they are raw and they gnaw them. If you have more than one dog and they gobble the bone down to ensure the other doesn’t get it, they may suffer some discomfort while the bone passes through their digestive system, but it won’t do more than cause them discomfort. So ensure your dog gnaws the bone in peace.

The other problem is with cooked bones. These can perforate your dog’s internal organs. Cooked bones are a definite no-no when working out the ingredients for the best dog food.

Thirdly, you may think feeding your dog a raw food diet is expensive. After all, the connotation ‘best dog food’ looks expensive.

It depends on what you take into consideration. If you are feeding your dog the cheapest brand of dog food from the supermarket, and don’t have any ailments treated, then you may be right. If you do, I doubt you’re reading this. So lets suppose you feed your dog a medium priced commercial dog food and do use the services of a veterinarian or other health professional, for ailments your dog may suffer.

Raw dog food is nutrient dense. Commercial dog food is nutrient poor. So you need to feed much more commercial dog food to come anywhere near (and it never comes close) to providing the decent diet that raw meat does. Which means you need much less volume of raw food compared with commercial dog food.

Then, if you include the fees you spend on health care, there’s no comparison. Commercial pet food keeps veterinarians wealthy. They hardly see the healthy dogs fed on raw meat, nature’s best dog food.

Fourthly, you may think that the purchase and preparation of the best dog food there is, is too much like hard work. You think it may be too big a hassle.

I’ve taken the hassle out of it, by telling you how to do it without making the mistakes I did.

Fifthly, you may think you dog doesn’t like raw food.

Have you ever tried? With decent food, I mean? I can assure you, there is no dog alive who doesn’t recognise the raw food as the best dog food. If you’re overfeeding your dog, he may refuse it initially. And if you leave food out all day, that’s likely. Keep in mind too, many commercial dog food manufacturers add appetite stimulants to the food. This may cause a short term problem, while he adapts.

Lastly, you may be concerned that you don’t know enough to be able to get the nutritional needs of your dog correct. After all, that’s what’s pushed by veterinarians and commercial dog food manufacturers – you don’t know enough. Just because the packet tells you this brand is ‘recommended by top vets’ or that brand is ‘scientific’, doesn’t mean they are selling the best dog food. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I can tell you from experience, it’s not as difficult as they make out. You do need to know some important facts, but once you’ve opened your mind to allowing your own inner wisdom to emerge, and by following certain natural laws, you’ll have no problem working it out.

If everyone started feeding their dog raw meat, many, many veterinarians would go out of business.

What are you waiting for?

Everyone eats so everyone has an opinion about food. But if health is the objective, mere opinion doesn’t count nor does fad or majority rule.

Most people think the average cooked diet based upon official food pyramids is just fine. Some eat predominantly fast food. Others advocate veganism (eating only plant foods), or lacto-ova vegetarianism (plants plus milk and eggs). There are also proponents of special foods such as fresh juices, soybean products and macrobiotic cooked grains and rice.

Everyone can make arguments on behalf of their beliefs. They can cite examples of people who have escaped disease and lived long. Some argue morality and ethics, such as those who say sentient animal life should not be sacrificed for food. Others set their eating practices by the standards of holy writ that eschew certain forms of foods and sanctify others. Others just eat what tastes good and that’s logic enough for them.

Eating beliefs seem to take on an almost religious character. People feel guarded and pretty zealous about food and don’t like others meddling. But since health is intimately linked to what we take into our mouths, thinking, honest reflection and willingness to change are in order.

It is easy to be deceived because wrong food choices may not manifest their full impact until late in life. Nutrition can even pass through genetically to affect later generations. In this regard, food ideas are also like religion in that hundreds of different sects can each claim to have the truth. But none of them needs to fear disproof since adjudication will not occur until everyone is dead and gone to the afterlife.

The body is extremely adaptable and will attempt to survive on whatever it is given. If the food is incorrect there is usually no immediate harm. But the body will eventually be stressed beyond its ability to adapt, resulting in disease, degeneration and loss of vitality. Unfortunately, such consequences are so far removed in time from the eating regimen that caused them that few understand the relationship.

So be careful before subscribing to bold claims about what is or is not good to eat. The true test of any health idea lies too far out into the future. Our best hope then is to be well grounded philosophically before we slide our legs under the dinner table.

How do we develop a healthy eating philosophy and sort through all of the competing eating ideas? I am going to explain here a very simple principle that is so reasonable you need not even look for proofs. Follow along with me and see if you don’t agree.

Consider the following three premises:

1. Just like a tree is genetically adapted to absorb certain nutrients from soil, and a lion is genetically adapted to thrive on prey, and a deer is genetically adapted to browse on vegetation, so too, are humans genetically adapted to certain kinds of food.

2. The majority of foods we are presently exposed to are a product of the Agricultural/Industrial Revolution and occupy a small part of the genetic history of humans. (Refer back to the 276-mile time-line in which only a few inches represent industrial-type eating practices.)

3. The natural, genetically adapted to food for humans must predate them. In other words, how could humans exist before the food they needed to survive existed? We were completely developed biologically prior to agriculture and any method of food processing. That means whatever diet archetypal humans ate was the perfect diet because that was the diet responsible for the existence and development of the incredibly complex human organism. That diet was the milieu, the environmental nutritional womb, if you will, from which we sprung.

If you consider these three premises, the logical conclusion derived from them is that the best food for humans is that food which they would be able to eat as is, as it is found in nature.

Our tissues were designed to be bathed in food nutrients derived from natural living foods, not with dyes, preservatives, synthetics, nutritiously barren starches and refined sugars and oils. Make no mistake; if we are not eating according to this principle, our bodies are in constant deficiency, imbalance and toxin exposure. The result of generations ignoring this principle is an epidemic of obesity, chronic degenerative diseases and the exhaustion of our digestive processes.

A feature of all natural food is that it is raw – alive if you will. This is consistent with the Law of Biogenesis that says life can only come from preexisting life. Life begets life. In spite of scientists’ dreams to the contrary, we have never observed life springing from non-life, nor have we ever even been able to create life from non-life in a laboratory. If we eat living foods, we enhance our own life. If we eat dead, devitalized foods we become devitalized and dead. Granted, this will not happen all at once, but as the adaptive reserves are exhausted we become just like the dead food we eat.

So a fundamental feature of our natural diet was that it was raw. Yes, even the meats, organs, eggs and insects – raw. Remember, we’re far back in time, even before the use of fire (much less the microwave, stove, oven, grill, deep fryer or extruder). Studies of the diets of past cultures and today’s still-primitive societies reveals that they ate exactly as their genes and the environment dictated.

We were not suddenly dropped from outer space onto Earth with fry pans, matches and rotisseries. We began on the forest floor, not in a line to a fast food counter. We had only our natural bodies in a natural world, exactly like every other creature. Every other organism on Earth eats raw foods exactly like they are found in nature. Do you think nature doesn’t notice our decision to change all that?

Would tofu qualify? No, because tofu is found nowhere in nature. Would oatmeal porridge qualify? No, because oatmeal porridge is found nowhere in nature. Would hamburgers, French fries, pop, breakfast cereals, granola, canned foods, candy, sports drinks, muscle building powders, vitamins and minerals, mashed potatoes, carrot cake, croissants, bagels, Jolly Ranchers, Ding Dongs, Cocoa Krispies, Good ‘n Plentys or Fig Newtons qualify? No. None of these are found as such in nature.

For those of you who are by now panicking (if not gagging) at the thought of eating raw foods, yes, there is danger of food-borne pathogens. But if you are careful and clean, the danger is far less than the danger of a lifetime eating devitalized processed foods. Raw natural foods must be safe or our ancestors would have not survived and we would not exist!

It is a choice. When faced with a choice, why not opt for the wisdom of nature? Is it not strange we are the only creatures on the planet to cook our foods? Is it a wonder, given this, that we succumb with every imaginable chronic degenerative disease virtually unknown in creatures eating the raw natural diet?

Simply think of yourself placed in nature in the total absence of modern technology. Ask yourself the question, what would I eat… and what could I eat? You could eat and digest fruits, nuts, insects, a few plants, honey, worms, grubs, eggs, milk and animal flesh. These are about the only food substances in nature humans are capable of digesting without technological (including fire) intervention. These are, in fact, the very foods that are the mainstay of nomadic primitive societies. Only when these foods become scarce do unpalatable, inedible foods such as most grains and vegetables become cooked and processed to change their palatability, neutralize toxins and increase digestibility.

So that is where we have been. But does this have anything to do with us here today in the 21st century microwave age? It has everything to do with us because it is this expansive historical context that served as the womb that shaped and defined us. It is this natural wild setting that occupies the vast majority of our history and predominates our genetics. It is the incubator within which life on planet Earth has developed.

What would have been the predominant food in the wild? Likely prey. Envision yourself placed back in time in that setting with a family to feed. You would be looking for the most calorie- and nutrient-dense foods you could find. That would not be a few wheat seeds, some grass or a root. You would let the herbivores do all the grazing and digestion with their specialized stomachs that are capable of converting essentially any plant material into edible protein and fat. Then you would eat them. I don’t like that either, but that is the way it is.

Pretty simple isn’t it? We should eat what nature provides that we can digest. Yet this is not explained in nutrition textbooks, and PhD nutritionists graduate without even grasping it. It cuts through all the theory, belief, and guesswork. It matches our natural bodies with our natural food.

Our immersion in modern cookery and food processing has misled us. Foods such as granola, tofu, cauliflower and lettuce, which are marketed as the ultimate health foods, are in fact not natural human foods at all. These products either do not exist in nature, are so scarce as to never possibly be a sustaining food, or in their raw precooked form are unpalatable and even toxic.

For example, raw soybeans contain a variety of chemicals that can stunt growth and interfere with the body’s digestive enzymes. Eat enough of them and you’ll die. Modern grain products are a result of agriculture and in their raw form are unpalatable, indigestible and also toxic. In nature one would never find enough kernels of rice, wheat or barley to even make up a meal, even if they were edible in their raw form. (Sprouted seeds and grains are an exception to this since they are digestible, raw and nutritious.)

Who, if they were really, really hungry – and options were available – would eat raw broccoli, cauliflower or lettuce? These foods are only now made palatable by cooking or doctoring with manufactured dressings.

Now this creates somewhat of a dilemma. Knowing what our natural diet is and consuming it are two different things. We are so acclimated to the modern diet that the notion of eating raw meat, for example, is nauseating to most. Nevertheless, as evidenced by primitive (but nutritionally advanced) peoples, raw meat and organs can be eaten with great nutritional benefit to humans, and they are totally digestible and nontoxic. Some cultures even bury raw meats and let them rot (ferment) and then consume them with gusto. These societies are robustly healthy until modern foods encroach. Then, like a dirty bathtub ring, modern degenerative diseases decimate those people at the periphery in contact with modern foods.

It would be very difficult today to achieve the ideal raw, natural diet. But if the basic principle is kept in mind it helps remind us of our origins and points us to the appropriate, genetically adapted-to foods.

This does not mean no processed or cooked foods should be eaten. It simply means that consistently doing so will stress the body’s genetic capabilities and will ultimately result in less than optimal health.

Look around the grocery store (usually the outside aisles) and consider what it is that could be eaten in its natural state. Increase the proportion of those foods. Processed foods should be chosen that compromise natural principles the least and are as close to nature as possible. They should be whole foods, packaged carefully to protect nutrient value and be free of synthetics, refined oils and sugars.

For example, whole milk yogurt that has not been homogenized or pasteurized is ideal. The same thing pasteurized would be next best. The same thing pasteurized and homogenized next. Worst would be non-fat, pasteurized, homogenized, artificially flavored and sugared yogurt (which is, of course, what the majority eat because it tastes most like what they are used to – candy).

Eat the best foods you can find in variety and moderation and you will be doing the best that can be done.

There, you have in a nutshell what has taken me decades of research, study and thinking to discover. It is simple and obvious, but that is the way of all great truths.

For further reading, or for more information about, Dr Wysong and the Wysong Corporation please visit www.wysong.net or write to wysong@wysong.net. For resources on healthier foods for people including snacks, and breakfast cereals please visit www.cerealwysong.com.

Food is your best medicine. Or, more accurately, the right food choices can be powerful medicine for the mind and body. A lot of people are aware of this to one degree or another, but they don’t always act on the knowledge or use it to their benefit in the fullest extent. Everything we put into our body has an effect of one kind or another. Junk foods, refined food, processed foods, foods high in sugar or laden with pesticides, herbicides, preservatives and additives… these all tend to have an adverse effect on the health and wellness of our body both physically and emotionally. Healthy foods that were given to us by Mother Nature, like whole fruits and vegetables, herbs and nuts and seeds can be much more than excellent sources of vitamins and nutrition. Many of them, can also help us fight or prevent a wide variety of health conditions or syndromes and some may even prevent or cure diseases.

Many people are beginning to realize how important their choices in foods really are as more and more research is being done to explore the impact foods have on our health. It is estimated that at least one third of American adults will now try to address their health concerns by using food. However, instead of just looking at how nutritious the foods are or whether they are low in bad fats, people have started looking at the bigger picture. They’re now buying foods which will help contribute to their overall level of health instead of looking for one miracle food that will heal everything.

For many years, health researchers were focused on trying to identify which primary constituent in a food was responsible for it’s healthy properties. In time, what became apparent is that there is no one miracle constituent. The best health and wellness benefits from food come from a variety of elements within each particular food. Isolating just one factor won’t give you the same results as eating the whole food will, and this is why there are no true miracle drugs or vitamins on the market to buy. If you want all the health benefits that garlic or blueberries have to offer for example, then you need to actually eat the garlic and berries on a regular basis.

Hundreds of studies also reveal that it isn’t just one food all by itself that is the healthiest, the nutrients in food work together to promote health and heal chronic health conditions. So it is now understood that eating a wide variety of healthy foods is much more important than one or two independently. For example, combining the healing benefits of carrots, broccoli and garlic is much more beneficial than just one. Eating a balanced meal that contains meat, complex carbohydrates, vegetables and fruit is healthier than one of them alone.

We know without a doubt, that the types of foods we eat plays a vital a role in maintaining optimal mental and physical health and it is also critical for helping to prevent and heal chronic health problems, diseases, and syndromes.

On the other hand, a food that is your best medicine for one person can also be a poison for another. We are each unique biochemically and metabolically. Different people need different things. It all depends on your particular body chemistry. Additionally, different illnesses, conditions or diseases have a different impact on nutritional needs and may result in limits that a healthier person doesn’t face.

For example, a diet that is healthy and beneficial for someone with diabetes may be completely different from someone living with asthma. Some body types do well with a vegetarian, raw or macrobiotic diet, while other body types need meat protein to function optimally and do best with steamed veggies.

Although certain dietary guidelines like removing sugar, white flour, caffeine, pesticides, herbicides, food additives and preservative will be beneficial to us all, other factors are more individualized. Part of designing a healthy diet is getting to know your body and what it needs. There is not a “one size fits all diet” and not all foods are created equally. Your diet should take into account the following factors:

- your overall level of health
- health conditions you may have
- what are you trying to achieve
- the integrity of your gastrointestinal tract
- food allergies or food sensitivities

One of the problems that many people face, is that they don’t really know there bodies or what it needs. Approximately 80% of the population has undiagnosed food sensitivities that they are not aware of. Hidden food sensitivities are often at the root of many health conditions or syndromes as well as psychological symptoms.

So, for example, garlic or whole grains may be a Superfood for a person without sensitivities, but for another person with undiagnosed sensitivities, it can unknowingly be the root of their arthritis, migraine, sinus congestion, heart burn, headaches, irritable bowel, fatigue, chronic pain, insomnia or even depression, anxiety, hyperactivity or autism and more.

A person without sensitivities may derive benefits for their colon with a diet rich in whole grains, while someone who is sensitive to gluten or grains may find that these foods are at their root of their irritable bowel or gas and bloating.

One person can thrive and benefit from the vitamins and minerals in fruits high in sugar, while for another it may be the cause of their anxiety attacks and depression.

It is crucial when choosing the foods you will include in your diet, to know which foods are the best choices for you and your body. Food is your best medicine, but only when it meets your unique biochemical and metabolic needs. By designing a diet that is right for your body chemistry, you can make significant improvements in your physical and psychological health.

A recent article posted on The Consumerist website brings up a very good point (and lesson) that pet owners should take note of…

The article comes from a pet owner whose Yorkie became ill, and after a couple of days in the vet’s office, the owner looked at her Eukanuba canned food and realized it had expired 3 years ago. When she checked the cupboard she discovered several other cans of dog food – all recently purchased at PetCo – had expiration dates from 2004. 

What happened to this pet owner (and pet) can easily happen to anyone. How many times have you purchased something and never looked at the expiration date? 

With pet food – somewhere on the can or bag, usually on the side or back of the bag – is the ‘Best By’ date. With most of the manufacturers that I have spoken with, this date does NOT mean the food is officially expired – it just means that the food does not provide the nutrition as stated in the Guaranteed Analysis. The ‘best’ nutrition for your pet has expired – but again in most cases – per what the manufacturers tell me – the food is still ‘good’. 

Shelf life is one of the questions I ask manufacturers about and provide in Petsumer Report. It varies greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. The shelf life of dry pet foods can vary from 4 months to 3 years – canned and/or pouched products vary from 1 year to 5 years. Treats usually have the same shelf life as the manufacturer’s dry food – but just to keep things confusing, that can vary too. The ‘Best By’ date provided on the food – does NOT tell you how old the product is – it does NOT tell you when the food was manufactured. It only tells you the date that particular manufacturer has determined the food no longer provides the pet with the proper nutrition. While some ingredients in the food might still provide adequate nutrition – other ingredients have faded over time. 

All pet foods that are naturally preserved begin to lose their nutritional value almost immediately after they are made. This is the drawback to natural preservatives (but the ONLY drawback – you ONLY want naturally preserved pet foods and treats for your pet ). So the challenge is to find a pet food that is very fresh. Our friends at AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials – rule makers of the pet food industry) have made that a little difficult for pet owners – adding to the challenge. Pet food manufacturers are not required to put the date the pet food was manufactured on the bag or can – ONLY the date that particular manufacturer has determined the food no longer is ‘best’. As I stated above – it varies a great deal from product to product – manufacturer to manufacturer. 

So here’s what you can do to assure your pet is eating ONLY fresh food – providing the best that product offers…

Call the manufacturer and ask them what the shelf life is for their dry foods and/or canned foods. Let’s say ABC Pet Food Company tells you that the shelf life of their Premium ABC dry foods is 18 months and their Premium ABC canned/pouched foods is 2 years. With that information – you then look at the ‘Best By’ date on the product. As an example, if the best by date on the dry dog food you are considering says June 2008 – knowing that ABC told you 18 months for dry food, you would know that the food was made in January of 2007. Using today’s date – October 20, 2007 – this would tell you this particular bag of ABC dry dog food is 10 months old. 

With a canned food – the ABC canned cat food best by date is also June 2008. This would tell you that this can was made in June 2006 and thus it would be 14 months old in October 2007. 

Most of the time, when pet owners look at the ‘best by’ date and they see June 2008 – they think ‘this is good – this food still has 8 months until it expires’. I was guilty of this until I learned the differences too. But the bigger picture needs to be explained. 

Using my above examples – I would NOT purchase a dry dog or cat food that was already 10 months old. Ideally – dry foods should be four months or less old and you should use them within a two month time frame. Again, with any naturally preserved dry product – the nutritional value starts to deteriorate almost immediately. Fresh is best. I would recommend purchasing and using the food within six months of manufacturing. Storing the food in an air tight container will help keep the food fresher after opening the bag – providing your pet with more quality nutrition. With canned products – it’s a different ballgame. You definitely want to purchase and use the food before the best by date expires – but the quality of the nutrition is protected by the canning process. Any unused opened can must be covered and stored in the refrigerator and used within a couple of days.

Call your pet food’s manufacturer and ask them the shelf life of dry foods and canned foods. I know it’s a chore, just one more thing you have to do and look out for – but it is very important. You want what you pay for – quality nutrition for your pet – and a fresh product will provide that (of course you have to pay attention to ingredients too – but that is a whole different subject!). Get yourself into the habit of looking at the ‘Best By’ date BEFORE you purchase the pet food and or treat. Your effort will not only provide your pet with better nutrition – getting yourself into the habit of looking at the expiration date could just save you from an experience similar to the pet owner mentioned in the beginning of this article – and a sick pet.

Wishing you and your pet the best,

Susan Thixton

Because dog foods are bought by people, dog food suppliers market to the ideas dog owners have about their dogs likes. This explains why dog foods come in different shapes and colors, with or without gravy, dry or moist, etc. Dogs do not need any of these things for the best all natural dog foods. Isn’t it interesting that pet owners spend around $13 billion annually for pet food which the majority of these dog foods are not all natural dog foods that give your dog optimum health.

Consumers Digest reported several years ago, “Few foods are so liberally laced with artificial flavors as pet foods” they also quoted sources that basically said that the only way they can get pets to eat the poor quality food is by adding phony flavors.

Would you choose artificial, poor quality for ingredients in your dog foods or would you rather choose dog foods that are all natural dog foods for your dog?

A carnivore’s system is designed to eat raw meat, one animal at a time. Your dog should digest its meal and be eliminated before any putrefaction begins. A dog’s digestive system is highly acidic, or at least it should be. Only raw meat stimulates a highly acidic system that is designed to kill unfriendly bacteria.

Ingredients in the Best All Natural Dog Foods

You will find the best all natural dog foods consist of approximately 75% organic, all natural raw meat. This can consist of beef, whole chicken or turkey wings, necks and backs as long as they are raw and fresh. When bones are old or cooked they become brittle and splinter.

The best all natural dog foods are also around 25% vegetables. This does not mean give your dog a whole, raw carrot. In the wild your dog would get these vegetable requirements from the predigested vegetables in the animal’s stomach and intestines. You can add organic vegetables to your all natural dog foods by grating them, chopping finely (like what you would find in a rabbit’s stomach) or run through a blender, food chopper or food processor.

In the wild a dog would get the water they needed from their prey, so the all natural dog foods you give your dog should be the consistency of a thick stew. The moisture content of dog foods also has an effect on maintaining healthy kidneys and bladder in your dog. Many pet owners report their dog cutting down on water consumption when being fed these types of all natural dog foods.

Most of the minerals must come in the form of supplementation today. Calcium is very important in the best all natural dog foods. Bone meal is not an acceptable source of calcium for your all natural dog foods because bones store toxins and heavy metals like lead or even mad cow disease. The other reason is the calcium to phosphorous ratio. Pets need a 2:1 ratio between calcium and phosphorus. That is, for every 2 parts of calcium in the food, there should be 1 part phosphorus. As an example, if the food contains 2 grams of calcium, the food should contain 1 gram of phosphorus. Meat is naturally low in calcium and high in phosphorus. Bone meal is not only a source of calcium, but bone meal is also a source of phosphorus, so using bone meal reverses the 2:1 ratio so that perhaps your dog’s body has a 1:3 ratio or 1 part calcium to 3 parts phosphorus. This imbalance could cause your dog health problems.

Finely ground raw egg shells are the best choice for calcium supplementation in the best all natural dog foods. They contain virtually no phosphorus and are extremely high in calcium plus they are affordable and lightweight. The best all natural dog foods will use approximately 1 tsp. finely ground raw egg shells or about 8 large eggs for every pound of meat. Raw eggs are an excellent source of meat and affordable.
Digestive enzyme supplementation are also a good ingredient in the best all natural dog foods. The four most commonly used enzymes in the best all natural dog foods are amylase that helps with the digestion of carbohydrates, protease which helps with the digestion of protein, lipase that helps with the digestion of fats and cellulase for the digestion of vegetables.

Nutritive herbs provide a blend of vital nutrients that are essential in the best all natural dog foods. Alfalfa which is an Arabic word meaning “mother of all foods, dandelion leaf, nettle, and kelp are ingredients in the best all natural dog foods. These herbs can be found in various green food powder supplements from health food stores.

The combination of these herbs in the best all natural dog foods provide such nutrients as biotin, bioflavanoids, calcium, magnesium, folic acid, iodine, iron, potassium, linolenic acid, niacin, potash, sulfur, zinc, vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C and E. These herbs also aid in the assimilation of protein, fats and carbohydrates plus are an excellent blood purifier. They also aid the body to help detoxify the liver, clean the colon and keep the thyroid working.

Using these simple guidelines you can choose which are the best all natural dog foods to buy or how to make the best all natural dog foods available so your dog can enjoy optimum health.

Browse any grocery store or pet food store to buy Dog Food and you will agree that trying to decide on what is best for your dog is an exhausting task. Scanning the shelves of products available, you are bombarded by foods extolling different health benefits as well as a huge range of prices. The pet food industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and pet food manufacturers are eagerly marketing for every dollar. Not only are they marketing us to death, but also developing new products to put in front of us. Those products include “dry”, “canned”, “semi-moist” and health targeted products such as “senior”, “premium” and “gourmet.

So which food is best for your dog? Finding that out takes time and research. The truth is, the best dog food is the one that meets your dog’s nutritional requirements, which vary based upon the dog’s age, breed, body weight, genetics, and amount of activity… and one that fits within your budget. It is definitely worth consulting a veterinarian to get the best advice and nutrition plan for your dog. But for those of you that want to take matters in your own hands, you will find detailed below the most important things you will need to know.

Dog Food Labels

Susan Powter comes to mind when thinking about food labels. Remember this iconic infomercial star with the coined phrase “Stop the Insanity”? Her gospel about nutrition and the importance of studying the ingredients on the side of the packaging to distinguish the various elements and how each plays its role in overall nutrition, was novel at that time. It seems that this was the beginning of the mass movement to better nutrition, label reading and choosing products more carefully.

With all the recent pet food recalls, millions of dog owners have extended this scrutiny to selecting a dog food. But we can’t pull from the Susan Powter gospel for this, because dog foods are manufactured under a series of different standards and regulations, put forth by the AAFCO ( The Association of American Feed Control Officials ). There are special labeling requirements that require all dog foods to have certain information on the label. So, in order that we can all make a proper choice for our dogs, we must know how to read and understand the dog food label.

The AAFCO puts out an official publication, on a yearly basis, detailing special requirements for dog food. Among all the different requirements, they request all dog food manufacturers to adhere to label regulations and must include on the package the following:

# Product Name
# Guaranteed Analysis
# Nutritional Adequacy Statement
# Feeding Directions

The Name Game

When shopping for dog food, what is the first thing you look at? The product name, of course. We’ve all walked down the pet food aisle and seen the product names jump out as us…calling us. Displayed in bold type and fancy fonts such descriptions as “With Chicken”, “All Life Stages”, “Duck Entree”, “95% Beef”, “Natural Dog Food”. But what do these descriptions really mean? Is it just fancy marketing? The AAFCO has set forth rules that dictate how ingredients can be used in a product name.

95% Rule

# Applies to most canned dog food that consists mostly of meat, poultry or fish.
# Specifies that at least 95% of the dog food must be the named ingredient on the label, not counting water and preservatives added for processing.
# Counting water, the product must still consist of 70% of the product.
# If the name consists of a combination of ingredients, the two combined must equal 95%.
# The rule only applies to ingredients of animal origin, so grains and vegetables cannot be used as part of the 95% rule. So if the product name was “Beef and Brown Rice”, the product would still have to consist of 95% beef.

25% or “Dinner” Rule

# This rule applies to many canned as well as dry dog foods.
# If the named ingredient, or a combination of ingredients, found on the label consists of 25% of the weight (but less than 95%) excluding water for sufficient processing.
# The name must include a descriptive term, such as “Dinner”, “Platter”, “Entree”, or “Formula”.
# If more than one ingredient is in the name, they must both total 25% combined, with each named ingredient equalling or exceeding 3%.

3% or “With” Rule

# Originally, this rule was intended to apply only to ingredients highlighted on the package, outside of the product name.
# It allows manufacturers to highlight minor ingredients.
# The ingredient must have at least 3% added.
# The rule now allows manufacturers to use the term “With” in the product name.

Be careful when reading the dog food label because “Beef Dog Food” and “Dog Food with Beef” are not the same. The first must have 95% beef, whereas the latter only needs 3%.

Flavor Rule

# A percentage of any one ingredient isn’t required.
# The word “Flavor” must appear on the label in the same font size and color as the ingredient name.
# The flavor might be the corresponding ingredient, but more often than not, it’s another substance such as “meal”, “by-product”, a “stock” or a “broth”.

Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis is the next component that needs to be on a dog food label. It serves as a general guide as to what the percentages of the main nutrients and other items are in the total makeup of the product. At the bare minimum, the guaranteed analysis must consist of the following:

# Minimum Percentage of Protein
# Minimum Percentage of Fat
# Maximum Percentage of Fiber
# Maximum Percentage of Moisture

Go ahead and look at your label at this point. See it there? Good. Now, if you have a can of dog food and a package of dry dog food at your disposal, take a look at both labels. After careful analysis you might want to ask, “Hey Michael, I notice when looking at both labels that the dry dog food has way more nutrients. I thought canned food had way more protein…what gives?”

Keep this in mind, as I have noticed this as well, that the amounts of protein and other nutrients stated on the labels appear to be less for canned versus dry, but looks are deceiving. The reason? Differences in moisture content. Canned dog food, on average, consists of 75% water, while dry dog food contains about 10%. So to make a true comparison of the nutrient levels, we need to put both types on the same playing field. To do this, we will be converting both products to dry matter.

To convert the nutrients, we need to dust off our calculators that we last used in high school, in order to perform a little math. (And you said to your math teacher, “I’ll never use this in the real world!”), But I digress. Here’s the formula we will be using: % Guarantee divided by % Dry Matter multiplied by 100

Example In one corner, we have a canned dog food that has a guaranteed analysis consisting of 9% protein, 6% fat, 1.5% fiber and 78% moisture. In the other corner, we have a dry dog food that has a guaranteed analysis consisting of 24% protein, 14.5% fat, 4% fiber and 10% moisture.

# Dry matter of canned: 100 – 78 = 22
# Dry matter of dry: 100 – 10 = 90
# Now we can do our calculations

Canned Dog Food

# Protein: 9 / 22 x 100 = 40.9%
# Fat: 6 / 22 x 100 = 27%
# Fiber: 1.5 / 22 x 100 = 6.8%

Dry Dog Food

# Protein: 24 / 90 x 100 = 26.6%
# Fat: 14.5 / 90 x 100 = 16.1%
# Fiber: 4 / 90 x 100 = 4.4%

So after were done, do you notice the protein? The canned dog food actually has 14% more protein.

Nutritional Adequacy Statement

You’ve seen it on the labels…”Complete”, “Balanced”, “For All Lifestages”, among others. But how are these claims substantiated? What rules are in place to regulate such verbage? The answer is set forth, once again, by the AAFCO.

The Nutritional Adequacy Statement is required and is one of the most important aspects of a dog food label. This statement assures us that a product meets all of a dog’s nutritional requirements. So how is a dog food substantiated for nutritional adequacy? They must use one of two ways:

Calculations

# The method whereby the dog food contains ingredients formulated to provide levels of nutrients that meet an established profile
# Calculations estimate the amount of nutrients either by an average nutrient content of ingredients or results of laboratory tests using standard chemical analysis.
# If it meets the profile set by the AAFCO, the label will carry a statement as follows: “(Name of product) is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO (Dog) Food Nutrient Profiles for (specific life stage).”

Feeding Trials

# The product (or a similar product made by the same company) has been tested in dogs under strict guidelines and found to provide proper nutrition
# If it meets the profile set by the AAFCO, the label will carry a statement as follows: “Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that (name of product) provides complete and balanced nutrition for (specific life stage).”

The Nutritional Adequacy Statement will also include a statement about which life stage(s) the dog food is suitable for. Two profiles are used. Below is a definition of each and additional information about other profiles:

# Growth/Lactation – A product intended for growing puppies, for pregnant dogs or lactating females.
# Maintenance – Suitable for any adult, non-reproducing dog of normal activity level, but may not be sufficient for a growing, reproducing, or hard working dog.
# Terms like “Senior” or “Formulated for Large Breed Adults” means the dog food meets the requirements for the Maintenance profile, but nothing more.
# A product that doesn’t fit within the two profiles above must state that “This product is intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding,” except if it is conspicuously identified as a snack or treat.

Feeding Guidelines

Feeding guidelines are very broad, to say the least. At a minimum, they should include instruction like “Feed ___ Cups Per ___ Pounds.” But keep in mind that these instructions are very rough estimates. Most people feed their dogs way too much. In fact, 25% of all dog’s are overweight…causing problems such as:

# Diabetes
# Arthritis
# Heart and Liver Problems
# Bladder Cancer

You should treat the guidelines as a place to start. Talk with your veterinarian about your dog food and how much to feed. They understand that nutritional requirements vary and, by knowing your dog, they will be able to recommend a feeding schedule based upon several factors including:

# Age
# Body Weight
# Breed
# Genetics
# Activity Level