08/27/2024
Why not consider better options or take baby steps to add more real food to your pets’ bowl?
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As humans, we’ve long understood the importance of eating fresh, whole foods and steering clear of ultra-processed options. The link between processed foods and a myriad of health issues—ranging from allergies and gastrointestinal problems to neurological disorders and even cancers—has been well established. So why is it that when we consult with most vets and breeders, we’re often advised to only feed ultra-processed food to our pets? This is a critical topic for long-term health, and with your help, we can work together to change this!
This week, one of the few unbiased, independent pet food research groups, DogRisk, is raising money to advance this important topic for the benefit of dogs everywhere. It’s absolutely crucial that groups like DogRisk exist and remain independent, free from the influence of major food and pharmaceutical companies, so they can publish findings without bias or pressure from commercial interests. That’s why we need to support them today!
My amazing veterinary colleague and her team of passionate students are leading the charge, globally, on pet nutrition. Their team includes veterinarians, animal nutritionists, biologists, chemists, geneticists, and other experts who look at every facet of pet nutrition and how it impacts health and well-being. The DogRisk team uses a variety of cutting-edge research methods to expand the world’s understanding of dog diets and diseases:
* Large-scale questionnaires to uncover the associations between dietary factors and disease risk or protection, using robust epidemiological methods.
* Clinical diet intervention studies to determine whether certain diets can prevent disease or alleviate symptoms in affected dogs.
* Comparing food supplements to pharmaceuticals and placebos to scientifically demonstrate the therapeutic power of nutrition—like using fish oil or green-lipped mussel meat for managing arthritic pain.
* Genetic research allows the team to dig deep into gene expression, metabolic pathways, and gut microbiota, shedding light on why some dogs are more prone to disease than others.
* They also evaluate the risks associated with various diets, finding, for example, that commercially available raw foods carry no more risk of harmful bacteria than dry foods.
All of their funding comes from individuals like you and me. Your donation helps them continue this vital work and empowers them to share their findings with dog owners worldwide. Please consider donating today, $1, $10, $100...it all helps us know more! Together, we can extend the life and health span of dogs everywhere. With your support, we can make this happen! Click here to donate: https://www.every.org/university-of-helsinki/f/dogrisk
