It is easy for a dog owner to forget, neglect or simply ignore a crucial ingredient in the meals they prepare for their pets. This is a problem that may cause your pet to suffer from the effects of a nutritional imbalance, defeating the purpose of a wholesome, holistic diet. In addition, no meal can be guaranteed to have the proper amount of essential vitamins and minerals, as each piece of natural food is different. A canine food supplement would make sure your pet is getting everything he needs, especially when you go through the additional effort to make his meal instead of pouring it from a bag.

“I feed my dog a homemade diet because of the nutritional advantages, so why do I need a dog food supplement too?” This is a common question. Homemade dog food, although a source of many vitamins and minerals, simply cannot satisfy all necessary nutritional requirements found throughout a dog’s life. For example, a growing puppy should have small amounts of DHA and ALA fatty acids for proper retinal and brain development. A dog vitamin supplement containing these properties will ensure the pup is getting the additional resources he needs. Another example is a supplement that contains a blend of pro-biotic bacteria and minerals for dogs going through stressful situations such as pregnancy or breeding.  Again, it is difficult to determine the actual nutritional breakdown of a homemade diet, but these small additions can make a world of difference.

Aside from regular canine nutritional supplements, show dog owners may want to improve their dog’s fur with a canine coat supplement or dog skin supplement. Although not vital for the average pet, these supplements may prove to enhance the health and appearance of a dog’s coat. A canine skin supplement will naturally prevent dry skin without the use of any medication and a coat supplement will ensure fur and hair have a proper balance of oils. Although these supplements may apply to specific applications, they still contain other health-enhancing vitamins and minerals that cannot be guaranteed in a homemade diet.

Although homemade dog food is being used more and more each day, it is important for pet owners to understand that these meals may not guarantee their pets are getting every vitamin and mineral they require. Canine food supplements can be added to any meal to ensure dog owners that their pets are getting everything they need. Additionally, animal supplements can be used in special applications such as pregnancy, post-birth, and puppyhood.

Continuing to feed your dog commercial foodstuff along with uncooked can upset the gastrointestinal tract of some dogs resulting in diarrhea. Chemical additives inside commercial meal is in no way eliminated so the true advantages of a normal diet plan are certainly not really experienced. The dog is short changed. On the other hand, going natural but insisting on including a truck load of supplements into your dog’s weight loss plan this kind of as herbs, oils and nutritional vitamins may backfire. So many foreign ingredients can trigger the canine to refuse the new foodstuff or, if they do eat it, can also cause gastrointestinal issues.

Employing a range of meaty bone and vegetable resources signifies your dog’s weight loss plan will effortlessly balance as time passes. The top quality from the animals and vegetables you decide on is going to be impacted by their respective growing disorders. Animals raised in factory farming ailments are usually not allowed to take in what they’ve been obviously developed to take in, grass, but instead are force fed grain. This results inside a lack of omega 3 necessary fatty acids in their bodies. Crops grown on depleted but chemically fertilized soil have been shown to contain fewer nutrition than those grown in naturally rich soil. Two additional causes to decide on natural or tiny farm sources of foodstuff for yourself and your canine.

If you’re unable to locate very good top quality foodstuff sources you might determine to supplement. But do not supplement indiscriminately. Bones are rich in minerals. Unless the meaty bones you are acquiring are from your factory farm, including minerals to a raw, meaty bones eating habits is most likely unnecessary and possibly even harmful. Excessive calcium, for instance, can result in joint difficulties.

The most beneficial method is always to focus on variety. You’re going for balance over time and not in each meal. A canine from the wild would not pass up a dinner of fresh rabbit just mainly because he happened to have eaten one for breakfast. He takes benefit of what’s offered and in season. A lot more eggs from nesting birds in spring, more berries from the summer. You get the idea.

If you ever definitely feel your food resources are certainly not as very good as they could be take into account adding genuine food items such as eggs, cottage cheese, cod liver oil, kelp and alfalfa for your dog’s menu. And continue to look for better, natural if achievable, sources. Obviously derived vitamins and nutrition in natural entire foods will continually be additional satisfying and much healthier for you and your dog.

Wastefulness.

I hate the thought of wasting time.  I hate the thought of wasting energy.  I even hate the thought of wasting food, which is actually one of the reasons I remained a binge eater for so long.

I love efficiency.

I love getting things done in a timely matter.  I love only using as much as I need.

And I LOVE a low fat raw food diet.

Where am I going with all this?

I really don’t consider myself an environmentalist.  I don’t petition for the polar bears and I don’t support the EPA.

I am currently taking a course on health and environmental justice and constantly feel at arms with my fellow classmates and their views on eco-responsibility.

And yet, I am the most environmentally conscious person I know!

Why?

Because I eat a raw food diet.

Cooking is NOT Environmentally Friendly

Because the topic has already been covered extensively, I’m not going to focus too much on meat and dairy consumption in regards to environmental efficacy.   Suffice it to say that the livestock industry has a profound effect on the earth’s trees, topsoil, and water supply.

If you have any doubts that world-wide meat consumption is completely inefficient and has devastating consequences for our environment, be sure to check out the link below:

Eat To Save The Environment?

Let’s consider a cooked vegan diet that excludes, meat, dairy and eggs and typically includes lots of grains, soy and other processed products as well as fruits and vegetables.

Not only is this seen by many as the healthiest of all diets, it is viewed as the most environmentally friendly way to eat as well.

But is this true?

Here’s an example of some of the damaging effects of grains on the environment from Grain Damage: Rethinking the High-Starch Diet by none other than Dr. Douglas Graham:

Modern grain farming has resulted in the loss of almost all of our topsoil.  What was sixteen feet of topsoil a century ago has been reduced to six inches or less on most of our farms.

And a little further on:

The following is a partial list of toxic chemicals used in the processing of grain.  How much residue from these chemicals remains in the grain itself, versus how much is simply dumped in concentrated form onto our top soil is of little consequence.  In either case, these chemicals end up polluting our bodies and the environment.

Mercury Cyanide Ammonium salts Chlorine

(Each of the above, in high enough doses, can cause insanity or even death).

Flourine Mineral oil Allum

(These are high-potency toxins).

And we all know how much cooked vegans love their soy!  Here’s a quote from an article from 2004 on the effect of soy cultivation in Brazil:

Soy – at this moment – is the most important driver for deforestation, directly and indirectly,” says environmental analyst Jan Maarten Dros. “Directly because the cerrado is being converted from natural vegetation into soy fields. But indirectly, because in this region a lot of cattle farms are being replaced by soy farmers buying or renting land from cattle farmers.” This means, according to Dros’ 2003 WWF study on the impacts of soybean cultivation in Brazil, that the “cattle farmers tend to advance into new forest area, causing more deforestation.

*But that’s not all!*

Have you ever thought about all of the wasted materials that go into packaging these “environmentally responsible” foods?

Plastic, aluminum, steel, tin, cardboard, etc. are all used to contain prepared products such as oatmeal, granola, pasta, organic chips, gluten-free frozen foods, and the like.

*And we certainly cannot forget about cooking!*

All the heat used to bake, roast, grill, and steam vegetables.

All the water used to cook pasta, potatoes, rice etc.

By the way, do you know how much water it takes to boil a pound of pasta?  4-6 quarts.

That’s at least 1 GALLON of water!

The TRUE Green Goers

If you really want to be as efficient as possible, if you really want to go green, if you really want to do everything you can for Mother Earth, you can’t do much better than eating a healthy raw vegan diet.

The reasoning is quite simple.

The more whole, raw foods you consume, the less processed, packaged ingredients you buy and the less cooking methods you use.  The less processed, packaged ingredients you buy and the less cooking methods you use means less wasted materials and a healthier planet (not to mention a healthier you).

When I compare the amount of material and energy waste before I went raw to after, the results are quite astonishing.

Sure, I was eating a vegan diet and consuming lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, but I was also consuming packaged products everyday, such as oatmeal, sprouted bread, prepared juices, tofu, and lots of dried herbs and spices packaged in plastic bags and containers.

Plus, I ate a whole lot of brown rice and pasta that had to be boiled and a good amount of steamed and baked vegetables.

On the contrary, the foods that I consume now – fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds – require very little to no packaging at all.  In fact, my first two meals of bananas is just that…bananas!

No plastic wrap, no cardboard containers, no twisty ties, etc.  Just banana peels that can easily be composted for a lovely, eco-friendly home garden.

And all of this doesn’t even begin to consider the fact that I am no longer supporting destructive agricultural methods, while at the same time encouraging the growth of environmentally AND ecologically friendly fruit trees.

According to The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation:

Fruit trees heal the environment by cleaning the air, improving soil quality, preventing erosion, creating animal habitat, sustaining valuable water sources, and providing healthy nutrition.

And here’s another one from Grain Damage:

During the great floods of 1993, for example, millions of acres of grain crops were destroyed in the United States, while tree crops flourished.  Whereas grains crops lead to depletions and loss of precious topsoil, orchards pull their water and nutrients from deep down in the subsoil, assist in the building of topsoil, and aid in nutrient recycling.

Fruit and nut trees are durable, they protect the soil from erosion, and they encourage biodiversity.

Trees also act as grand air filters, causing particulate matter to fall to the ground.  As we replace fields of grains with orchards, we can expect our air to become cleaner, sweeter, and healthier for us.

Food for Thought

Here’s one last little bit of info from my main-man, Dr. D.

An acre of orchard will feed 250% more people than an acre of grain.

How’s that for efficiency?