No Grain Dog Food

Here are the pros and cons of a no grain diet for dogs.

If you are providing a variety of fresh raw free range meat and bones (remember the high calcium requirements) plus organic vegetables and your canine gets lots of exercise every day, then there is little need to read further on this page.

Where the No Grain Hullabaloo Comes From

Most grains in packaged dog food have no nutritional value whatsoever. They are considered "filler" because mill ends or leftover non-nutritive parts of the grains are added to dog food.

Grains are not a high energy food for canines, but cooked whole grains do have nutritional value. Dogs get energy from fat and protein turned into fat.

Our domestic dogs compared to their cousins in the wild are total couch potatoes. (We'll get to potatoes further on down the page) so they really don't need as much meat. Quality grains and legumes give them a variety of nutrients.

Most of us considering a no grain dog food are looking for a grain free diet in a bag.

No Grain Dog Food in a Bag

If you think grain free dog food from a bag is the way to go, you are barking up the wrong tree (sorry, couldn't help myself).

There is no more meat in most grainless dog foods as you might assume. Processed foods must have starches to create a shelf stable dry kibble. Starch is necessary for cohesion, shaping, and efficient drying. (The only one I know of that is different was recently developed by Dr. Wysong, DVM and I'll add a link at the bottom of this page. It's called Epegin.)

Therefore, "grain free" dog foods can still have other sources of non nutritious carbohydrates and starches so dog food manufacturers can continue to make kibble with substandard ingredients and fool you into believing it is healthier.

The “no grain,” “no corn,” “no wheat,” slogans are examples of this deception. If there are no grains, ingredients like potatoes and tapioca must be used. So you won't be ahead of the game unless your dog has a wheat or corn allergy.

In that case you can switch to one of the healthier "no grain" brands for awhile. Should you keep a dog on any one type of food for a long time, chances are, he or she will develop allergies to whatever the new ingredient is.

What About Grains
Predisposing Dogs to Disease?

Here's where we get to the source. As a steady part of the diet, stripped starches are really poly-sugars that set up our canines for a variety of diseases including dental disease, canine diabetes (see Insulin Resistance), obesity and arthritis. I explain it better in "Is White Flour What's Wrong With Fido's Diet?

Although grains must be cooked for dogs to metabolize them, look at a little brown dog kibble and a bowl of cooked brown rice. Obviously there is a huge difference. The kibble has been cooked to oblivion with added food coloring and flavoring to make it look and smell more palatable.

Now look at a few of those little brown kibble pieces again next to a bowl of boiled organic potatoes or even sweet potatoes. Get my drift?

Cooking For My Dogs Has Made Me Healthier!

My example is a sweet potato. I started cooking sweet potatoes as healthy treats for dogs. The recipe for sweet potato treats is good for both canines and humans but I always seem to be busy.

Now I grab a couple of whole sweet potatoes and throw them in the toaster oven for 45 minutes on my way by. They smell so good when done, I'll break them open and spoon out some of the insides for myself! Sweet, full of vitamins and fiber, they put snack foods to shame and cure my sweet tooth!

Of course, my dogs smell them too, so I either have to share or beat them off with the spoon.

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