In the past, many homemade foods have contained grains. However, leading animal nutritionists and holistic veterinarians are no longer suggesting that grains be used.
It is suggested that with grains removed, pets (including my own) eat significantly less food over a period of time (the food intake can drop by as much as ½ or more) and in general, many pets do a lot better without grains.
Holistic vets and animal nutritionists are saying that our carnivore friends can obtain all of the nutrients found within grains from the combination of meats and vegetables.
Grains are not naturally eaten by carnivores and grains are extremely hard on a carnivore's digestive system.
Believe it or not, but carnivores do better on a diet that consists of little to no fiber.
By not feeding grains you remove properties like gluten from our pet's foods. Gluten, along with other properties of grains may be a factor in hidden allergies our pets are suffering from and grains may also be a factor in problems like candida.
I do not suggest or recommend the feeding of grains for a few reasons:
- Grains are not needed and your pet's health will generally improve without grains.
- I'm lazy and grains need to be cooked. By not feeding grains, you will increase the speed, efficiency and ease of feeding a natural diet.
- It is common knowledge that good food combining means that grains and animal proteins should not be eaten together. When grains are fed with an animal protein, the result is poor digestion. This might be the reason why pets who do not eat grains generally eat less food than those pets who do eat grains. As digestion improves, the body is able to extract more nutrition from less food. This ultimately means the body requires less food to get more nutrition. Once the body gets enough nutrition, it stops eating.
- As mentioned, our carnivore friends are designed to eat a low fiber diet. By adding grains you also add fiber. Ironically to help prevent constipation in dogs and cats we want to feed a low fiber natural raw meat diet that uses wholesome foods. A wholesome raw meat diet then helps to bring moisture to the bowels which is one of the keys to preventing constipation. Remember, when we feed a wholesome raw meat diet, the raw meat contains moisture (as described on the page about preparing meat). Many humans who suffer from constipation eat lots of fiber and yet still experience constipation because they do not drink enough water. Water is crucial to good health and so pets eating dry commercial pet food as well as cooked meats meals are more likely to suffer from constipation related health problems which include, but are not limited to, constipation itself, hair balls, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diverticulitis and more.
- The only reason why grains are added to commercial pet foods is because they are a cheap ingredient, not because they are actually beneficial.
Let's keep it simple and let's keep our pets healthy by not feeding grains.