DrBecker-RawPetFoodPart1of3
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Raw Pet Food (Part 1) By Dr. Karen Becker Hi, I’m Dr. Karen Becker, and today we’re discussing my favorite topic: raw food diets for pets. We’re going to discuss some of the myths and truths surrounding raw food diets. But before we get into the good stuff, it’s important to have a foundation of understanding about basic nutrition. One point that no one is going to argue about is that for optimal health to occur, animals must consume the foods that they were designed to eat. I call this a species‐appropriate diet. So, vegetarian animals must eat vegetation for optimal health. And carnivorous animals must eat fresh whole prey for optimal health. A good place to start with our carnivorous pets is to go back to a dog and cat’s roots prior to the domestication. The domestic dog whose taxonomic name is Canis lupus familiaris is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, which is a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. Most scientists believe that dogs were domesticated from gray wolves about 15,000 years ago. But DNA analysis published in 1997 suggests that the transformation from wolves to domestic dogs occurred more like 130,000 years ago. Data suggests dogs first diverged from wolves in East Asia. And then these domesticated dogs quickly migrated throughout the world. Of course, humans began selectively breeding dogs to create animals that suited their needs and their likes. The earliest evidence of cat domestication is a kitten that was found buried alongside a human approximately 9,500 years ago in Cyprus. Researchers have gained a major insight through DNA testing into the evolution of cats by showing how they migrated to new continents and developed new species as the sea levels rose and fell. A 2008‐study revealed that lines of descent for all house cats, which are Felis catus, probably came from self‐domesticating African wild cats up to 10,000 years ago. And like the domesticated dog, humans began breeding cats to suit their fancy, recognizing over 80 breeds of cats that have been created today by one registry or another. So, there are a lot of different kitty species now that humans have created. Feeding Pets the Way They Should Despite humans’ desire to create certain physical characteristics in dogs and cats – this is called their phenotype or how animals look externally – both dogs and cats’ genotype or their genetic makeup remains essentially the same as their wild ancestors, which should tell you something about the foods that they should still be consuming and eating. Of course, all animals are biologically equipped to assimilate and digest foods that they were designed to eat. For instance, earthworms are really designed to process dirt. Their whole GI tract from their mouth to excretion was designed for this purpose. And they’re set up perfectly to be able to process dirt as their digestive task.
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Dr. Becker-Raw Pet Food, Part 1 of 3
Transcript of DrBecker-RawPetFoodPart1of3
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RawPetFood(Part1)ByDr.KarenBeckerHi, ImDr.KarenBecker,andtodaywerediscussingmy favoritetopic:raw fooddiets forpets.Weregoingtodiscusssomeofthemythsandtruthssurroundingrawfooddiets.Butbeforeweget intothegoodstuff,itsimportanttohaveafoundationofunderstandingaboutbasicnutrition.Onepointthatnooneisgoingtoargueaboutisthatforoptimalhealthtooccur,animalsmustconsumethefoodsthattheyweredesignedtoeat. Icallthisaspeciesappropriatediet.So,vegetariananimalsmusteatvegetationforoptimalhealth.Andcarnivorousanimalsmusteatfreshwholepreyforoptimalhealth.A good place to startwith our carnivorous pets is to go back to a dog and cats roots prior to thedomestication. The domestic dogwhose taxonomic name is Canis lupus familiaris is a domesticatedformofthegraywolf,whichisamemberoftheCanidaefamilyoftheorderCarnivora.Mostscientistsbelievethatdogsweredomesticatedfromgraywolvesabout15,000yearsago.ButDNAanalysis published in 1997 suggests that the transformation fromwolves to domestic dogs occurredmorelike130,000yearsago.Datasuggestsdogs firstdiverged fromwolves inEastAsia.And then thesedomesticateddogsquicklymigrated throughout theworld.Ofcourse,humansbeganselectivelybreedingdogs tocreateanimalsthatsuitedtheirneedsandtheirlikes.The earliest evidence of cat domestication is a kitten that was found buried alongside a humanapproximately9,500yearsagoinCyprus.ResearchershavegainedamajorinsightthroughDNAtestingintotheevolutionofcatsbyshowinghowtheymigratedtonewcontinentsanddevelopednewspeciesasthesealevelsroseandfell.A2008studyrevealedthatlinesofdescentforallhousecats,whichareFeliscatus,probablycamefromselfdomesticatingAfricanwild catsup to10,000 years ago.And like thedomesticateddog,humansbeganbreedingcatstosuittheirfancy,recognizingover80breedsofcatsthathavebeencreatedtodaybyoneregistryoranother.So,therearealotofdifferentkittyspeciesnowthathumanshavecreated.FeedingPetstheWayTheyShouldDespitehumansdesire tocreatecertainphysicalcharacteristics indogsandcats this iscalled theirphenotypeorhow animals lookexternallybothdogs and cats genotypeor their geneticmakeupremainsessentiallythesameastheirwildancestors,whichshouldtellyousomethingaboutthefoodsthattheyshouldstillbeconsumingandeating.Ofcourse,allanimalsarebiologicallyequippedtoassimilateanddigestfoodsthattheyweredesignedtoeat. For instance,earthworms are reallydesigned toprocessdirt.TheirwholeGI tract from theirmouthtoexcretionwasdesignedforthispurpose.Andtheyresetupperfectlytobeabletoprocessdirtastheirdigestivetask.
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Cowsaredesignedtoeatgrass,andtheirGItractsaresetupperfectlyforthis.Cowshavebig,round,flatteethusedtogrindgrassesandanunbelievablerangemotionintheirmandibles,allowingthemtochew,chew,chew,andchew.Theyhavealotofrangeofmotionlaterallyintheirjaws.Dogsandcatsdonothavethismotionintheirjaws.Dogsandcatsjawsmoveonlyupanddownlikeatrapdoororahinge,becausedogsandcatsaregulpers;theyrenotchewers.Theydonthavechewingteeth.Dogsandcatshaveincrediblysharpinterlockingteethdesignedtoripandtearflesh.DogsandcatshaveveryshortGItractscomparedtovegetariananimalsthatneedtofermentfoods,ascarnivorousanimalsconsumefoodswithpotentiallyveryheavypathogenloads.Theywerereallymeanttogetfoodsinandgetfoodsoutveryquickly.Theancestral lifestyleofacarnivore includes lotsofvarietyand seasonalvariability,meaning certainpreysweremoreprevalentatcertaintimesoftheyear.Theythrivedconsumingfresh,living,andwholeanimals.Butcarnivorousanimalsdonoteatcleanfoods.Dogsandcatsdidnotevolvetoconsumesterilefoods. Theyhavedigestive tracts that aredesigned tobe resilient andhandle the loadsofnaturallyoccurringbacteriathatarepresentinthefoodsthattheyate.Theirfoodwasmoisturedense,meaningthepreythattheyconsumedwasprimarilywater.Thecarnivorouslifestylerequiredatremendousamountofexerciseandexertion.Foodwasnotservedtothem,sotheyhadtostealthilycatch it.Thisprovided intensestimulationofalloftheirsenses,plusnervous, skeletal, endocrine, and circulatory system involvement. Carnivorous animals had dailyrigorousworkoutsinanattempttocatchenoughfoodtonotstarvetodeath.Whatsvery important forpetowners tonote is thatpet food isarelativelynewconcept.So,dogfoodandcatfoodthatyouwouldbeabletobuyfromthesupermarkethasonlybeenaroundalittlebitmorethanahundredyears.However, animals have hunted prey or, in the case of dogs, scavenged for millions of years. Andalthough recent research has demonstrated that domesticated carnivores have bodily changes thatshow some adaptations to metabolizing some starches as humans became planters and farmers ofgrains,dogsandcatsreallyhavenotevolvedintovegetariansincethattime.TheTruthAboutPetFoodsInthelasthundredyears,sincemajorpetfoodcompanieshaveproducedthemajorityofpetfoodsfromthebaseofcorn,wheat,rice,andpotato,ourcarnivorouspetshavenothadaflurryofevolutiontobeabletoprocesstheseforeignfoods.Thegoodnewsisdogsandcatsareadaptableandresilientunlikeotherspecies,letssay,snakes.Ifwesuddenly force snakes to eat grains or die, or consume vegetation or die, they would simply die,demonstratingrathervisiblythattheywerenotprovidedwiththecorrectfoodsource.Dogsandcatsaresomeofthemostresilientanimalsontheplanet.Theyareabletowithstandreallysignificantnutritionalabuse,inmyopinion,withoutdying.Degeneratingdoesoccur,butsuddenlydyingdoesnt.So,partof thedeception in feedingdogsand catswith inappropriate foods for the lasthundredsofyearsisthattheyhaventdiedofacutestarvation.Theyveconsumedtheseinappropriatefoods,whichhave kept them alive,but far from the thriving statusof theirwild relatives. Instead,weve created
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dozensofgenerationsofnutritionallyweakenedanimalsthatsufferfromdegenerativediseases linkedtonutritionaldeficienciesthatmostveterinarianshavenotacknowledged.ThePottengercatstudyisoneexampleofhowourcurrentsystemofnourishingpetsisreallycreatingalotofchronicdiseaseinourpetpopulations.The truth of thematter is our current population provides a place for recycling in the human foodindustry.Grains that fail inspection,uninspectedpiecesandparts leftover from the seafood industry,leftover restaurant grease, downer cows, dead farm animals, deceased livestock and road kill couldalmostbepickedupanddisposedof throughrendering,aprocess thatconvertsall sortsofanimalproteinintorawmaterialsforthepetfoodindustry.These rawmaterialsarepurchasedbyhugepet foodmanufacturersyouknow, thebigbrandsyourparentsandfriendshaveprobablyfedforthelast50years,whothenblendtherenderedfatandmeatwitha largeamountofunnecessarystarch.Theyaddabulkofvitaminandmineralsupplement.Theyextrude itathigh temperatures,creatingall sortsof toxic reactions includingadvancedglycationendproductsandheterocyclicamines.Andthensellittoyouatanunbelievableprofitandcallitpetfood.Is theentiresystem flawedanddamaged?Yes.But thepet food industrygiantsarerealizing thatpetownersarebeginningtobecomemoreeducatedaboutthissystem.Theyare.Andreally,theyaretryingtocleanuptheir image.Wearebeginningtoseewords likeNaturalandNobyproductson labels.AndwerebeginningtoseeGrainfreeandNaturallypreservedonlabelsaswell.Manufacturersarehearing thegrumblesofeducatedpetownersandarechangingtheirmarketingto tryandregain lostcustomers.MythsandMarketingGimmicksIhavefounditamazingthatpetparentshavefallenformarketinggimmicksthathumanparentswouldhaveneverfallenfor.Forinstance,howoftenhaveyouheardapediatriciansay,Neverfeedyourbabyanything,but Xbrandof baby food,because feeding ahomemadediet couldbe dangerous to yourchildshealth?Never.Butyoudohearthatintheveterinaryworld.Howabout thisone,Switchingyourbrandofbaby foodcould lead toGIproblems,soonly feedonebrandortypeofbabyfoodtoyourchildrenfortherestoftheirlivestoavoidGIproblems.Youwouldneverhear that.Andyet,youdohear that in theveterinary industry. Itsa little startling tome thatentiregenerationsofpeoplehaveactuallybelievedthatpetsmusthavepetfoodtobehealthy.Andthentheresawholehostofothermythsthatyouprobablyhaveheard.Forinstance,thatpetscanderiveallofthenutrientsforavibranthealthfromadrynuggetthatcanbefeddayafterday,yearafteryear;thatiftheydontfeedcrunchyfoodstotheirpets,theirpetsteethwontbecleaned;thatcannedfoodsistoorich,andrawfoodissimplyarecenttrendycrazethatcouldberisky.AlotofpeoplebelievethatmyvetwouldntrecommendXbrandoffoodifwasntgoodformypet;thatallcatsshouldeatfishanddrinkmilk;thatveterinariansarethepeopletotrustforthemostuptodateinformationpertainingtonutrition;andthatdisease,degeneration,andpoorvitalityhavenothingtodowithdaytodaynourishment.Allmyths.StraighteningOuttheFactsSo,whatarethefacts?
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Carbohydratesarenotanecessarycomponentofacarnivorousdiet.Catshaveno tastereceptors forsweetflavorsandhavelowratesofglucoseuptakeintheintestine.Theyshouldnotbefedanytypeofgrainsthatmetabolizeintosugar.Catshavenosalivaryamylasetobreakdownstarches.Anddogshavevery lowamylasesecretion.Catsneverhuntedfishfromtheocean,anditsnotanevolutionaryfoodsourceforthem.The intenseheatused toprocesscommercialpet foodsdestroysand reducesvitamins,minerals,andenzymesinthefood.Digestibilityofaminoacidsinprocessedpetfoodhaschangedsignificantlybytheheatingprocess.Processedpetfoodsrequiresupplementationtoreplacelostnutrients.Anddigestibilityofmeatbasedproteinisproventobesuperiortoplantbasedproteinfordogsandcats.So, inanutshell, for99.99percentofthetime,dogsandcatshaveconsumedanaturaldiet.For .001percentofthetime,dogsandcatshaveconsumedanextrudedprocesseddiet.Dogsandcatsevolvedtoconsumealowcarbohydratediet.Andinthelast100years,themajorityofpetownershavefedpetsahighcarbohydrate,lowmoisturediet,creatingsignificantmetabolicandphysiologicstressandtherootcauses of most of the degenerative diseases and inflammatory processes that now plague ourpopulation.[END]
