The Importance of Nutrients in a Home-made Diet

Hello Readers – Many of you have heard me repeat, like a mantra, that nutrients do count, that guesswork will diminish the value of a homemade diet, that variety does not equal adequacy – and, that it is very easy to learn how to formulate balanced recipes, it is not advanced math, nor do we (ridiculously) attempt to balance every nutrient at every meal every day. I repeat these comments because I hear the opposite all day long, and because of the work I do which shows me, over and over, how important nutrient adequacy and balance truly is. When I assess the diets, often homemade, of dogs whose owners have contacted me for help, with various problems the dog did not have before starting the fresh food diet! I see the need to keep on educating. An all-too-familiar tale is – the owner joined several online dog nutrition groups, purchased a couple of books, started home preparing raw or cooked meals for their dog. And at first it was fantastic! The dog had better skin and coat, more energy, better muscle tone, breath, fewer hot spots, and so on…cause to rejoice and become very committed to home feeding…for a while. And then, depending on exactly what was missing from the diet and how much, new problems begin to arise. If the dog had good coat initially, perhaps it started to get dull and dry. If the dog was used for stud, his fertility dropped off (or out, I have seen this many times). Sometimes, the formerly energetic dog became sluggish, to the point that the thyroid was tested (and was fine). The formerly radiant Poster Dog for home feeding, suddenly was not.

Diminished energy can be a symptom of many chronically low essentials.

And this will, 9 times out of 10, be linked to a subclinical deficiency – not an outright disease state produced by a total lack of a needed nutrient, but symptoms associated with CMI – Chronic Marginal Intake. And most of the time, this arose simply because there was a lot of guesswork going on, and the initial results were so good (and social media backed it all up).

I am in a unique position, analyzing homemade recipes professionally for more than two decades, to see what goes on behind the enthusiasm for fresh foods – what can go wrong, and how avoidable it is. For those who may be skeptical, I’ve put together a lengthier article, which evaluates several nutrients that come up low in homemade diets, and how they can masquerade as something else. Trust me when I say, whenever I can pinpoint chronic marginal intake in a recipe, I can fix it and we will always, so far always, see improvement. The proof is in the pudding, as my old mentor Dr. Eddie Beltran used to say. But you have to know what to look for – you have to know how to assess your recipes and how much of each essential is needed, as well as which forms – foods, supplements – are ideal. If you are keen to learn it more, unload my free pdf and have a read. If you still want more, and there is ALWAYS more when it comes to nutrition, my course on Dietary Formulation will walk you through the process step by step and impart a great wealth of nutrition knowledge. All three of my courses are on Sale for the last part of August, so if you download the pdf and find you want more, now might be the time to dive in. Or I can simply assess and amend the recipe for you – contact me at catlane@thepossiblecanine.com and let’s talk. There are many options you can use to fine tune your homemade recipe and tailor it to your own dog’s unique requirements.