- What Is A Whole Foods Diet For Dogs?
- 10 Benefits Of A Whole Foods Diet
- Using ChefPaw To Create Whole Food Meals
What foods should we give our dogs to truly support their health?
At first, that can seem like a daunting question to answer. But in truth, it’s simple. Many of the same foods we know are great for our health, are the same foods we should be giving our dogs. But not so fast! Putting those foods together in the right amounts can be overwhelming and easy to mess up.
That’s why we’ll start off by exploring the many benefits of a whole-food diet for dogs. Then, we’ll show you how you can easily create whole-food meals at home without getting bogged down in all the science while still ensuring they are complete and balanced meals.
What Is A Whole Foods Diet For Dogs?
Did you know that until the 20th century, our dogs had been enjoying a whole-food diet that closely resembles our own? Due to the economic and wartime burden that was placed on the average person during the Great Depression and World Wars, commercial foods (kibble and wet) became the dominating diet we gave our dogs. Advances in technology further made it easier and more affordable for pet food companies to create these foods.
These foods offered pet owners a quick and convenient way to feed their pets and were touted for their long shelf lives. However, therein lies the issue with them. Heavily processed to preserve them, not only do commercial foods no longer visually resemble their preprocessed state, but their nutritional value has been changed, having undergone a multi-step process that applies extreme heat throughout. Gone were meals that featured a range of vibrant colors and appetizing flavors, aromas, and textures.
Thankfully, the whole-food diet that features many of the meats, fruits, and vegetables we eat is coming back in style thanks to its health benefits and new technology that makes it easy and affordable for pet parents, not big commercial brands, to feed their dogs at home.
10 Benefits Of A Whole Foods Diet
A balanced diet of whole foods can improve a dog's overall health in many ways, including:
1. Better digestion
Our dogs are no strangers to digestive issues. Thankfully, whole foods can really help! Veggies like green beans and sweet potatoes can help improve digestion by supporting kidney function and energy. Many pet parents report firmer, less smelly bowel movements after transitioning their dog to a whole-food diet. That’s one TMI, we’re happy to hear about!
2. Healthier skin and coat
Whole foods can offer multifaceted support to our furry best friends’ skin and coat.
First, a whole-food diet can eliminate several preservatives, such as propylene glycol, that have been found to trigger allergic reactions along with causing skin, liver, and kidney damage.
Second, whole foods, especially when properly cooked and implemented into your dog’s diet, can bring a wealth of goodies that aid skin and coat health. For example, you can add eggs to your dog’s diet for its rich source of biotin, grains like brown rice that are chock full of essential B vitamins, and high-nutrient veggies loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
3. Stronger immune system
Did you know that a recent 2022 study found that dogs fed a whole-food diet had higher production of interleukin-8, a chemokine that helps neutrophils (disease-fighting white blood cells) migrate to sites of infection? That’s right; that means whole foods have anti-inflammatory and immunologic effects that may be a key part of treating several immune-related diseases.
Many dogs see too few omega-3s in their diet, leading to various issues, from itchy skin allergies to rancid ear infections. But fish and supplements like Wild Alaskan Salmon oil, with their abundance of omega-3 fatty acids, can give your dog the perfect ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids.
4. Better heart health
The more ingredients are processed, the greater the chance they have lost their original nutrient value. This happens a lot when creating kibble which goes through a process called extrusion, which uses extremely high temperatures and pressure in multiple steps, resulting in some nutrients being destroyed each time.
That’s why whole foods easily have more nutrients than their highly processed versions, including fatty acids, amino acids, and vitamins that are important for heart health. Everything from leafy greens rich with free-radical fighting antioxidants to animal proteins like chicken and beef rich in the amino acid L-carnitine can be an integral part of supporting your dog’s heart.
5. Improved eyesight and eye health
Broccoli, peas, leafy greens, and eggs are all great whole foods that support eye health thanks to their high lutein and zeaxanthin content. Speaking of eggs, they alongside meats like beef and fish are rich in zinc, which helps protect the eyes from sunlight damage.
6. Balanced energy
Many note that their dogs show improvements in their energy after switching to a whole-food diet, especially when combined with natural supplements. Dry foods can feature too many high-GI foods that are rapidly digested, resulting in a lot of immediate energy. But without low-GI foods, this can leave your dog feeling exhausted for most of the day. Whole foods like legumes, fruits like blueberries, and grains like oatmeal are all low-GI whole foods that can provide your dog with balanced energy throughout their day.
7. Fewer behavioral issues
Whole foods are often free of additives that may contribute to behavioral issues — additives frequently seen in commercial dog foods. This also makes whole foods perfect for replacing dog treats and bones that are often filled with hidden preservatives.
Additionally, studies like Shroder et al., and Sandri et al., show whole foods like cheese and other fermented foods, along with a meat-based diet, contain butyrate and beneficial gut bacteria that have antidepressant effects that better let your dog’s body deal with stress and sooner enter into a relaxed state.
8. More appetizing
Got a picky eater? Then a whole-food diet, especially one created at home, may just be your saving grace. Whole food meals simply look better to your dog and their texture is way more appealing with a better mouth feel.
Then there is increased aroma and flavor that will send your dog running for their meals. Dry foods and treats are often surprisingly quite bland. Meaning, making whole-food meals at home can help even more with picky eaters.
Did you know that warmer food smells and tastes more intense than colder food? Warm foods release more aroma molecules in the air and this is big because smell has a much greater influence on flavor than the taste buds do. Speaking of the taste buds, like us, our dogs’ taste buds respond best to foods with temperatures between 59°F to 95°F (15°C and 35°C) with the most intense flavors occurring near the hotter side.
9. Greater nutrient density
We saw above how processed dog foods are prone to nutrient loss, and how commercial diets often feature too many high-GI ingredients. But even when incorporating low-GI foods, commercial processes can destroy their fiber content and degrade essential vitamins and minerals, allowing these foods to digest too rapidly in the body, resulting in an incomplete nutrient profile.
The high heat and pressure used in manufacturing can denature proteins and strip away vital antioxidants, further diminishing the food's nutritional value. Additionally, commercial foods frequently add low-quality fillers, such as corn, soy, or by-products, which offer minimal nutritional benefits and can contribute to allergies or digestive issues in dogs.
Opting for nutrient-dense, minimally processed alternatives can help ensure your pet receives the full spectrum of nutrients they need for optimal health, supporting better digestion, stronger immune function, and overall vitality.
10. Cost friendly
Pet parents will be delighted to know that besides having the ability to better support their dogs’ health, whole foods diets can be quite affordable. Now, there is a caveat, and that is you’ll need to create your dog’s whole-food meals at home instead of relying on commercial foods. Let’s find out below how to make that happen!
Using ChefPaw To Create Whole Food Meals
Whether you’re looking to entice a picky eater by giving them a fresh and warm meal or need a diet that’s better suited to your dog’s needs, ChefPaw is the dog food-making machine that does it all. No more poor-quality commercial foods and no more expensive subscriptions that use wasteful and non-eco-friendly packaging. Compared to the average market cost for pet food, ChefPaw can reduce your spending on dog food by 83%.
ChefPaw Pet Food Maker
With its ability to cook up to 6 lbs in 40 minutes, ChefPaw gives pet parents the opportunity to provide their pets with delicious and nutritious homemade meals using fresh ingredients. Thanks to its gentle cooking process, it treats your ingredients with respect. This promotes all those health-supporting nutrients in them to stick around so they can fully support your dog.
ChefPaw App
While many pet parents are excited about the prospect of switching their dogs’s food from boring kibble meals to a homemade diet rich in whole foods, making the appropriate nutritional adjustments is very confusing and daunting. But not anymore thanks to the ChefPaw app!
The ChefPaw App comes complete with highly nutritious recipes that meet all the nutritional needs of a dog. Simply just input your dog’s age, weight, breed, and activity level into their unique profile and the ChefPaw app is off, customizing its various recipes so your dog is getting all the nutrients THEY NEED to support their health. Not only does this ensure home-cooked meals are complete and balanced, but it brings your dog’s food closer in line with their needs than the majority of commercial foods.