DOG-Breath

Dogs don’t need fewer fats, they need more—the good kind. If you have been scared off fats by numerous health warnings, you too have been mislead by the misinformed. There is far more to this fat story, and your dog’s health (and yours) will depend on getting the fat facts straight!

Fat gets an underserved bad rap from those who failed nutrition 101 or skipped the class completely. Newer research confirms the healthy role that good fats play to prevent degenerative diseases like cardiovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes and even cancer.

Remember when margarine became the new health craze and butter was banned from the kitchen table?  I do. Sometime during my teenage years the familiar stick of butter was replaced with a new shiny plastic tub. As I am now celebrating fifty-hood, it’s been a few decades and now we are back to butter. Why? Because food scientists tampered with the real thing, butter, to create a “healthier” but fake fat. This new healthier fat came in convenient tubs for easy spreading and melted faster too. Best of all, this new butter was better for us (brainwashing commercials overrode our common sense), so we became overnight converts as millions of dollars were poured into clever marketing campaigns by the food industry’s newest profit center! 

And we liked the taste of our new chemically modified guilt-free butter until we learned about dangerous trans fats (created by manufacturing) and hydrogenation (chemically alters fatty acids to prevent spoilage). Well now … one of those margarine ads got it right when they exclaimed: It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!—insinuating no one could tell the difference between real butter and the fake one. Maybe you can fool your taste buds but not your own body chemistry—all cell membranes are composed of specific fatty acids. Without these fats, our cells cannot perform vital functions. Deficiencies in essential fatty acids play a key role in the progression of common degenerative diseases that plague Americans and people of other industrialized countries.

All processed foods that have been chemically modified (to cut costs and improve profits) and refined (extracting nutrients to extend shelf life) must be met with serious skepticism in regards to our health. These unnatural flawed foods are leading us to repeat another disastrous experiment in the food lab such as the one we had with margarine. 

 Now we are learning that popular vegetable oils lining grocery store shelves have also been chemically modified and stripped of natural good-for-us fats by commercial manufacturing methods. These industrial oils have seeped into our salad dressings, supermarket cooking oils, packaged processed foods and of course pet foods! They have been called adulterated oils because their flawed chemistry creates a biochemical imbalance in the body. 

A simple understanding of biochemistry and physiology of cell membranes explains why these engineered fats deserve the real bad rap and why you need to avoid them. For a thorough discussion (and life changing experience—it was for me!) the book, Fats That Heal Fats That Kill by Udo Eramus PhD, is truly a must read for any truth seeker. 

Authoritatively known as the father of fat research, back in 1986 when Udo first published his findings, he revolutionized our understanding of the terms, good fat, bad fat and busted the cholesterol myth! The consequences of eating bad fats and not enough of the good fats will change your opinion of fat forever. No longer a dirty three letter word—natural fats are perhaps the most misunderstood essential nutrient ever discovered!

Bottom line: insure your dog’s daily intake (and your own) of essential nutrients* by eating more whole foods and adding these two essential fatty acids to your supplement program: 

• Linoleic acid (LA)—parent omega 6 fatty acid.  Best sources: the seeds and oils of sunflower, safflower, and hemp plants.
• Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)—parent omega 3 fatty acid. Best sources: flax seeds and walnuts.

I strongly believe that eating good fats (from seeds, nuts, and animals that are allowed to eat their native diet—which excludes feedlots and fish farming) is the missing link to optimum health. To be sure my dogs are getting a healthy source of essential fatty acids, I have added Udo’s Oil 3-6-9 blend to their meals.**  This seed oil looks and tastes like no other—and it’s made only from organic sources. Surprisingly, the health benefits far exceed the virtues of olive oil as Udo explains in his book.

Udo’s 3-6-9 Oil Blend 17oz

I now soak up this thick golden nectar on a toasted whole wheat bagel and love the rich earthy taste. However, my personal decision to cut back on carbs (nutritional research shows the benefits of eating less carbs and more fats—ending the era of  the low fat dogma) will not limit my  use of  this wonder oil. I also use it to make my salad dressings and drizzle it over veggies. 

There is no mystery as to why we are a nation of unhealthy people and pets. Processing and manufacturing techniques, created primarily to manipulate flavor, extend shelf-life, and reduce cost, have striped vital nutrients from the foods we eat. It’s that simple. Nutritionally depleted foods have been blamed for our modern day malnutrition—and that includes all processed pet foods!  You can reduce or avoid feeding processed pet foods with my alternate feeding plans outlined in my e-book, How to Feed Your Dog if You Flunked Rocket Science.

Take home point: We have been seduced by a profit driven food industry to buy their junk food—becoming addicts of convenience and meals on the run. As a result, we face epidemic levels of obesity and chronic degenerative diseases that plague modern man and modern dog. Your health is your choice. Make the better choice for you and your dog!

* Essential nutrients are the raw ingredients (specific vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids) that must be in the diet to provide vital cellular functions.  Therefore, the absence of any essential nutrient over time will lead to disease.

** Suggested range of intake for dogs: ½ to 1 teaspoon per 10 pounds body weight daily.  Adjust intake on the low end (1/2 tsp per 10 pounds) for maintenance and increase to the  higher end (1tsp per 10 pounds) if your dog is health challenged.