Since modern day agricultural practices have depleted the soil on which the herbivores graze and in which the vegetation grows, foods are not as rich in nutrients as years gone by.
In the 1800's and early 1900's, as an example, when the early pioneers began farming the agriculatural land of the US Midwest and the Canadian Prairies, the depth of the topsoil was amazing. But now, the depth of the topsoil has been severely dimished due to over use of the land and failure to fully replenish that which has been taken. Even the Grand Bank off the coast of Newfoundland used to be teaming with cod. There was so much cod that the ships would virtually be stuck in the ocean. It's all gone now and this helps to illustrate how humans have over harvested and depleted Mother Earth.
In addition, it goes without saying that foods loose nutritional value as they sit on shelves of stores or in your fridge. Gone are the days when people walked out their back door and milked their cow or when the chicken they ate was so fresh that no refridgeration was needed. Some people are actively starting to grow their own vegetables again and kudos to Michelle Obama for starting her own vegetable garden at the White House.
Since the soil, land and environment are no longer as abundant in minerals and since the food we eat now is really no longer fresh
, adding additional nutrients to the diet is important to help replenish that which is missing.
Supplements play an extremely important role in adding the extra nutrition your dog, cat, puppy, or kitten requires for everyday living. Supplements also play an important role in the health and well being of your pets and all pets simply because the reality is so many pets today are sick, suffering and really need the help of some extra nutritional assistance in the form of pet supplements.
There are essentially two types of supplements that I like to give my pets.
The first type is nutritional and the other type is for overall health.
Nutritional supplements help provide extra nutrition and/or improve digestion. Supplements for health help to specifically improve the liver for example. Of course my preference are always natural supplements.
Ultimately, supplements that provide nutrition ultimately help with health too, but in a less direct or more broad manner. Conversely, supplements for health help to provide nutrients but in a more specific and more targeted manner.
In an ideal world, food by itself would provide all that is required by our four legged furry friends. Unfortunately, environmental pollution, lower quality foods, poor food choices along with many other factors have all had a detrimental effect both on our pets along with all creatures of Mother Earth, including us homo sapiens.
Ultimately, when I give my pet supplements, all I do is provide those supplements that help fill the missing gaps in the diet. Examples include providing ground egg shells to help recreate the calcium that would naturally be obtained in a fresh kill, a supplemental enzyme supplement to provide the missing enzymes in the food, a trace mineral supplement since the foods we feed today contain less trace minerals than before — and also, I like to provide glandular and organ supplements to simulate the missing glands and organs that our pets who naturally be eating in their prey.
When you stop and think about it for a moment, it's really not confusing. Let's say a cat caught and ate a mouse:
- The cat would eat the whole mouse meaning it would be eating the heart, lungs, thyroid, liver, kidneys, pancreas, spleen, etc — a glandular and organ supplement helps to replenish these missing nutrients.
- A freshly caught mouse is rich in enzymes and the enzymes that helped the mouse live, now are used by the cat to aid digesting the mouse — a supplemental enzyme replaces the missing enzymes.
- The mouse was eaten fresh meaning all of the blood and bones were eaten — the ground egg shells help to replace the calcium in the blood while a trace mineral supplement helps to replace missing minerals obtained from the bones and other parts of the body.
Really, supplementing does not have to be difficult nor complicated!
Give your pets supplements to help elevate their health and wellness. You don't need to use every supplement under the sun and for the most part, I only use a total of 4 simple supplements that help replace missing nutrients and missing parts of the wholesome raw meat diet. Throughout Pets Need Wholesome Food Also
you will be learning about supplements and their benefits.