What exactly is a Grain Free Food?

You may be hearing about grain-free pet foods and wondering exactly what these are. Grains that many pet food manufacturers use are corn, wheat, oats, rice, & barely. To be considered a Grain free food, the food cannot contain any grains.

To make a dry food grain free, most manufactures use 1 of 3 substitutes for the grains: potato, peas, or tapioca. The object is to reduce the carbohydrate levels in the foods (other times referred to as a lower glycemic index), which is especially helpful to diabetic pets.

Most manufacturers market these foods around the evolutionary theme that pet foods should resemble the wild diets of the canine and feline ancestors. They argue that animals in the wild don't eat ears of corn off of the stocks, so why should corn be in the food? It's pretty safe to say that there is some truth to this argument but animals did not dig potatoes out of the ground to eat either.

Most of the short term research suggests that grain free diets are in fact healthier than most other commercial diets except in animals with special nutritional needs due to medical conditions. There have been no long term studies published that suggest the higher protein levels in grain free foods are harder on healthy pets to process.

Some of the benefits of grain free diets are:

• Much smaller stoles due to the higher digestibility of these diets so you have less to clean.
• Shinier coats, especially in the fish formula diets.
• Highly palatable, because pets love the higher meat content.
• Less is more, you can feed less because of the higher nutrient and calorie content.

So Grain Free foods definitely have their benefits. Diets with grains are fine as well, as long as you select a food that used higher quality grains such as rice, brown rice, or barley. Your pets diet might be them most important thing you do for them, so do your research and you can rest assured you will be feeding them the health benefits of a great food.

Brad Leezer is the author of Gizzy Lu, Natural Nutrition for pets. He is a co-founder of Gizzy Lu Stores at White Oaks Mall in Springfield, IL. You can reach him by email at info@gizzylu.com or by phone at 217-698-3430.

What's in these dog foods anyway? Tips on choosing a healthy food.

Most people who shop for their pet's food never turn over the bag to see what the ingredients are. I know I didn't look at any ingredients... until I started to do some research on just what was in the foods, I had NO idea. While it is tempting to make a buying decision on the clever marketing and packaging of the product, you definitely want to turn the bag over and look at the ingredient panel. So here are some tips you can use to make sure you are feeding a high quality diet to your four-legged friends.

Does it have by-products?

Chicken by-product meal is just like it sounds, a byproduct of the chicken that is not used in human foods. By-products are not necessarily terrible in and of themselves, for instance the heart is considered a byproduct and has many nutritional benefits to dogs and cats, but let's look carefully at what else is allowed in byproducts and just as importantly what is not there, MEAT.

AAFCO Definition: Chicken by-product meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.

RULE #1: If it has by-products, stay away from it. You can be sure it is anything but meat.

TIP: Chicken Meal is not the same as chicken by-product meal and is an ideal ingredient. It includes meat and organs (and sometimes chicken bones which are essential to your pets health) which provide your animal with vital nutrients.

Chicken meal is the dry rendered (cooked down) product from a combination of clean flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts of whole carcasses of chicken -- exclusive of feathers, heads, feet, or entrails.

Does it have Whole Grain Ground Corn?

This is the whole corn kernel which is ground down and used as a source of protein. Corn is most commonly believed to be the cause of most pet food allergies; however most dogs do not have corn allergies. Using Corn as a protein source is considered inferior by most animal/people nutritionists.

RULE #2: If it has whole grain ground corn in the top 6-8 ingredients, stay away from it. You can be sure it is being used to add some cheap calories and protein that are less available for digestion.

TIP: If you are feeding a diet with grains, look for highly digestible grains, such as rice.

Does it contain Whole Ground Sorghum?

Sorghum is the ground grain of the sorghum plant. Sorghum is a member of the grass family; its leaves and stalk resemble corn but it does not have ears. Although sorghum is a good source of carbohydrates, it is low in digestibility and therefore not used in higher quality pet foods.

RULE #3: If it has whole ground sorghum, stay away from it.

TIP: If you are feeding a diet with grains, look for highly digestible grains, such as rice.

Does it contain Animal Fat?

Animal fat is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting. Ask yourself what animal did this come from? We have no idea and that's the problem.

RULE #4: Do not buy foods with unnammed fat sources. It could be anything.

TIP: The best food manufactures prefer high quality chicken fat because of its higher levels of linoleic acid. High quality Fats are essential to your pets diet.

Brad Leezer is the author of Gizzy Lu, Natural Nutrition for pets. He is a co-founder of Gizzy Lu Stores at White Oaks Mall in Springfield, IL. You can reach him by email at info@gizzylu.com or by phone at 217-698-3430.