You may have heard that grain free dog food can have benefits for your dog just as grain free diets have benefits for humans but exactly what are the benefits? Is the extra expensive of grain free dog food worth it, and what is the grain replaced with within grain free dog food?
What Are the Benefits of Grain Free Dog Food?
The good news is that there are actually several benefits to switching your dog to eating grain free dog food. First and foremost is that grain has been identified as one of the main ingredients in dog food that dogs tend to be allergic or intolerant to. A large percentage of dogs have some level of intolerance to grain whether corn or gluten wheat. If your dog suffers from skin conditions, from higher than usual shedding, from digestive problems including flatulence and sickness, as well as bloating, and tends to want food more than twice per day then there is a good chance that their diet is the main contributing factor.
Dogs tend to be intolerant of corn, wheat gluten, chicken, potatoes or soy, in fact it could be several of these foods. When taken out of the diet you will tend to see an uptake in health including a glossier coat, healthier skin, fresher breath, less flatulence, healthy weight loss, more energy, and a healthier immune system.
With grain being the main allergenic for dogs if you start to feed your dog grain free dog food instead then you will likely see many of those benefits.
What is Grain Swapped For in Grain Free Dog Food?
What the grain is swapped for in the dog food will very much depend on the quality of the dog food you buy. With cheaper, poor quality foods you will find that the grain is swapped for another carbohydrate such as potato or rice. The reason this is done is to keep the price lower, putting in an inexpensive carbohydrate. The issue with this is that first of all potato is also a food that a lot of dogs have an intolerance to. So you could be swapping one issue for another. The other issue is that dog foods high in carbohydrates aren’t healthy for dogs, they are quick filler meals, often leaving the dog wanting more food again within hours which makes the dog put on extra weight.
Good quality grain free dog foods swap the grain for a healthier mix of food stuffs higher in protein. Higher protein dog meals promotion high satiation so dogs go longer between wanting meals, they promote stronger muscles, bones, a healthier coat, healthier skin condition and also improve digestive and immune health. Dogs can digest protein much easier than carbohydrates, so they tend to have better breath, less flatulence and no bloating when they have a diet rich in protein.
Si as you can see the benefits of switching to grain free dog food are vast and should promote a healthier pet.