You probably have a friend, or perhaps yourself have celiac disease or an intolerance to wheat gluten.  This is becoming a more common allergy and recognition of it and removal of it from the diet can have a profound effect on the health and wellbeing of an individual.  So is grain free dog food really necessary or is it just jumping on a human food pattern and making us worry?

Our pets aren’t able to tell us how they’re feeling and where it hurts, but we can often see signs of when they’re not well.  Often their digestive system will indicate that the food they’re eating isn’t being digested well, perhaps heavy flatulence, bad breath, vomiting, heaving, bloating of the stomach.  Signs of poor diet may also show physically with a dog having low energy levels, a dull coat, skin irritations, and a dry nose.

Why is Grain Free Dog Food Necessary

The fact is that dogs are often allergic or intolerant to some of the main ingredients in the main dog foods we buy.  The result is the health issues mentioned above, skin conditions, digestive issues and overall poor health. The primary allergens for dogs are chicken, soy, potato, wheat gluten and corn.  It should come as no surprise that among them wheat gluten and corn are two of the most prolific and it is estimated that one in four dogs have an intolerance of allergy to these ingredients.

The first step in diagnosing your pet’s ill health of course is to visit your vet, but often they will indicate that it is down to diet but won’t be able to pinpoint the exact ingredient that is affecting your dog.  So they will likely recommend that you cut grain from the diet first of all, and avoid chicken meat recipes. By eliminating these three most common antagonists there is a good chance you will resolve your dog’s allergies, and their health issues will start to subside.

Why Grain Free Dog Food is Better For Your Dog

There is another reason though why grain free dog food is generally healthy for your dog, even if they don’t have intolerances to grain ingredients.  Grain free diets are carefully structured to include the right balance of ingredients and compounds that make up a healthy diet for your dog. Having the right balance of vegetables, proteins and carbohydrates is essential to the health of your dog and to maintaining a healthy weight.

Would you be surprised to know that the common supermarket dog foods aren’t configured with a healthy balanced diet in mind?  Of course no, they are configured with selling price and profit in mind. Just like the cheaper readily available human food in the supermarket, it is cheaper filling junk food.  Think about your dog, it is a carnivore, look at it’s wild cousins the foxes and wolves, do you see them munch on grains and vegetables? Dogs need a diet rich in protein and low in carbohydrates to have a healthy physique.