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A Little is Better than Nothing: A Guide to Fresh Ingredients in Your Dog's Food

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Time to read 4 min

A Guide to Fresh Ingredients in Your Dog's Food.
- Written by Ann-Kristin Meyer, Owner of 
HundeFoderNørden

Processed Food and Lifestyle Diseases

In the human world, there is no longer any doubt: A high intake of heavily processed food and a simultaneous avoidance of fresh, unprocessed foods in the diet are linked to an increased incidence of various lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, cancer, diabetes, and depression . In recent years, something has also started to happen in the field of dog nutrition research. More and more studies suggest that fresh, unprocessed food has a positive effect on a dog’s health and well-being, whereas heavily processed food appears to negatively affect a dog's health.

What is Processed Food?


Heavily processed food, or as it’s called in English, "ultra-processed food," is defined as dishes containing ingredients that you wouldn’t normally use in a regular kitchen. These include preservatives, flavor enhancers, colorants, sweeteners, and emulsifiers . These substances are added to heavily processed food to mimic the quality and sensory experience of minimally processed food. This is the definition of heavily processed FOOD. However, many of the additives mentioned in the definition can also be found in heavily processed dog food . And the vast majority of dog food available on supermarket shelves, pet stores, or veterinary clinics is heavily processed food.


The Effect of Processed Food on Gut Microbiota


Many different nutrition studies in the human field suggest that heavily processed food negatively affects the gut microbiota . The gut microbiota is the total amount of microorganisms living in the human gut. These include bacteria, fungi, and viruses, but bacteria make up the largest amount , and they are also the most studied among the gut's inhabitants. Although the gut microbiota doesn’t resemble the classic organs in our body, such as the liver, kidneys, and spleen, it behaves in a similar manner and can therefore be classified as an organ – a highly advanced one at that !

Raw Dog Food
Foto: Rozanne Willems for Hokuō®

Similarities Between Humans and Dogs in Nutrition

Just like humans, more and more dogs are suffering from the above-mentioned lifestyle diseases . And just like us, many dogs consume a large portion of their daily diet in the form of heavily processed food . Many dogs are even fed exclusively with heavily processed food. Observing the same trends in dogs as in humans is not surprising. Different studies show that the way a dog’s gut microbiota responds to nutritional factors is comparable to the response seen in humans.

Benefits of Fresh Ingredients


Although many still claim that there are no studies indicating that fresh, minimally processed food, such as BARF (raw food) or homemade meals, is healthier for dogs than heavily processed food , this is simply not true. Particularly in recent years, several peer-reviewed studies have been published concluding that minimally processed food has a health-promoting effect, while heavily processed food has a detrimental effect on health.


How to Include Fresh Ingredients in Your Dog's Diet


The ingredients that should be included in your dog’s fresh food are meat, offal, meaty bones, eggs, fatty fish, vegetables, and possibly berries. Meat should ideally be muscle meat, as it has a very high protein quality. It can be given raw or cooked, e.g., boiled in a pot with some water. If the meat is cooked, it’s a good idea to include the cooking water in the feeding portion, as some nutrients leach into the water during cooking.

"Remember, a little is better than nothing, so even small steps can make a big difference in your dog's health.”

Recommended Ingredient Distribution

The distribution of the individual ingredient groups is as follows:

  • Two parts meat

  • Two parts meaty bones

  • One part offal

  • One part fish

  • One part egg

  • Additionally, a little vegetable and possibly berries

It is not necessary to include all ingredients every day. For example, you can give meat on two days of the week, meaty bones on another two days, and offal, fish, and eggs on each of the remaining days. Vegetables can be added as a topping every other day .

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Foto: Rozanne Willems for Hokuō®

How Much Fresh Food Should Be Included?


Research suggests that about 20-25% fresh food is required to have a health-promoting effect. To ensure that the dog does not experience an energy deficit (calorie deficit), it’s important to know how much energy (calories) the dog consumes in the form of industrially produced food . This can be determined by measuring the dog’s daily ration and checking the packaging or the manufacturer’s website for calorie content.

Summary

By following the above guidelines and varying the ingredients well, the risk of nutrient deficiencies is very low, even if you replace 30-40% of the dog's processed food with fresh ingredients. Remember, a little is better than nothing, so even small steps can make a big difference in your dog's health.


Sources:

Coelho et al. 2018: Similarity of the dog and human gut microbiomes in gene content and response to diet


Hemida et al. 2020: Puppyhood diet as a factor in the development of owner-reported allergy/atopy skin signs in adult dogs in Finland


Hemida et al. 2021: Early Life Modifiable Exposures and Their Association with Owner Reported Inflammatory Bowel Disease Symptoms in Adult Dogs


Hemida et al. 2023: Early life programming by diet can play a role in risk reduction of otitis in dogs


Jaffey et al. 2022: Effects of a whole food diet on immune function and inflammatory phenotype in healthy dogs: A randomized, open-labeled, cross-over clinical trial


Kim et al. 2017: Differences in the gut microbiota of dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) fed a natural diet or a commercial feed revealed by the Illumina MiSeq platform


Leverett et al. 2022: Fresh Food Consumption Increases Microbiome Diversity and Promotes Changes in Bacteria Composition on the Skin of Pet Dogs Compared to Dry Foods


Raghavan et al. 2005: Evaluation of the effect of dietary vegetable consumption on reducing risk of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder in ScottishTerriers


Sandri et al. 2017: Raw meat based diet influences faecal microbiome and end products of fermentation in healthy dogs


Sinkko et al. 2023: Distinct healthy and atopic canine gut microbiota is influenced by diet and antibiotics


Vuori et al. 2023: The effect of puppyhood and adolescent diet on the incidence of chronic enteropathy in dogs later in life

Ann-Kirstin HundeFodernørden

The Author: Ann-Kristin Meyer

MSc in Animal Science from the University of Copenhagen , specializing in canine nutrition, Owner of HundeFoderNørden