Probiotics and Prebiotics and their health benefits are becoming more important in recent years. With the ongoing worries of safe pet foods and pet health, many pet parents are looking for additional food sources that are not only safe but also give their dog’s additional health benefits.
Not all dog foods are embracing this trend of adding probiotics and prebiotics directly to their dog food but it’s also available in supplement form. It’s such a benefit to your dog and their health, it’s definitely worth considering adding to your dog’s existing premium dog food diet.
With the many choices of dog foods available today, prebiotics and probiotics are a refreshing simplified change to the nightmare of reading a dog food label. The benefits are clear and the idea behind using them is simple and something that every dog owner can understand.
Probiotics and Prebiotics are the latest trend in the dog food world but what are exactly are they and do they really offer any real benefits to your dog? Find out what you need to know about each one and how they function together.
Probiotics are an complex sugar additive that are being added to your dog’s food to assist your dog’s digestive system in restoring the balance between good bacteria and bad bacteria. Probiotics are a good bacteria that help your dog with digestion and can actually assist in helping them with stressful times in their lives.
Some of the functions of Probiotics that are necessary to keep your dog’s digestive system healthy are as follows:
- Regulates hormonal levels
- Produces some vitamins
- Increase Energy
- Produces natural antibiotics that fight against bad bacteria like E-coli or Salmonella
- Helps stimulate the immune system
- Removes toxins from their body
- Aids in digestion
What exactly are Prebiotics? They are a natural, non-digestible, complex sugar ingredient that promote healthy digestion in your dog. They do this by providing nutrition for the “Good Bacteria” or Probiotics. They are not a nutritional source for your dog and your dog doesn’t digest them, so they remain in the digestive track where they continue to feed the Probiotics until they are all used up.
Good Bacteria are naturally found in your dog’s digestive system anyway. The idea is to build up more good bacteria than bad bacteria to aid in your dog’s digestion and build their immune system. It might be surprising to learn that about 70% of your dog’s immune system is located in their digestive tract. Making sure the balance between good and bad is maintained directly affects your dog’s health.
If you are going to purchase a prebiotic for your dog, it’s likely that it’s source will be from the roots of chicory or even beet pulp. Dog’s generally like it because of it’s bitter flavor. Research is still being done to determine the best dosage levels and delivery methods but currently they suggest a low dosage level of about 3% of your dog’s total diet.
Adding a Prebiotic to aid in the energy of the Good Bacteria can be beneficial for the following:
- Diarrhea
- Colitis
- Constipation
- Diabetes
- Some Tumors
- Osteoporosis Protection
- Inflammatory bowel disease
Why do you need probiotics and prebiotics in your dog food? There are many things that can cause a shift in the balance of good bacteria vs. bad bacteria in your dog’s digestive system. For starters, stress can be a major culprit contributing through grooming, surgery, moving or going to the vet for example. Just like us, stress wears our bodies down and that’s when your dog can become sick.
There are other things that can cause a good bacteria, bad bacteria imbalance such as antibiotics which automatically destroys the good bacteria and the bad bacteria. As mentioned above, stress, other medications, diet changes or poor diet, environmental issues such as soil that has been sterilized or chemicals. All of these will change the balance which causes your dog’s digestive system to stop working properly and this leads to a health problem. Long term, it can lead to early death and disease.
A few months ago I left the business world to pursue my passion of working with animals while trying to improve my health. To do this, I am using my 20+ years experience as a dog breeder and pet owner. I also worked for a well known veterinarian and national vet supply company for several years. I have a B.S. In Agriculture with an emphasis in Animal Science and Ag Business and I worked in the Agriculture Business Industry for over twenty years. So if you are interested in the details of how the right dog food, dog care and just good old fashioned love and affection can help your dog live a healthier and longer life, please join us at: http://www.love-your-dog-food.com
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