There has been some discussion on dogs and the need to feed them vegetables and green foods (barley grass, sprouts, kelp, alfalfa, dulce and other seaweed foods. And every so often a ‘new’ green food is marketed, claiming to offer all the nutrients a dog needs.
It would be delightful if that were true, but it is not. Dogs are carnivores and need animal-based proteins and animal fat. Meat also contains taurine, which is NOT found in plant-based foods, including green foods. (see Taurine concentrations in animal feed ingredients; cooking influences taurine content, 2003)
Green foods may brag they contain amino acids, but meat-based diets are far more complete and useful for dogs. Proteins are simply amino acids and there is no need to add more.
Dogs also need iron, and they can only use heme iron, found in animal-based foods. Dogs cannot utilize or process iron from plants, herbs, vegetables, kelp or grain. They can only process iron from animal-based foods, including eggs, liver and kidney.
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Dogs also have difficulty processing vitamin A from plants (beta-carotene) and do better with animal-sourced vitamin A, retinol. “We can make as much vitamin A as we need. Carnivores cannot do this. They must ingest pre-formed vitamin A, often from animal livers. Too much preformed vitamin A is toxic to us. Carnivores can detoxify preformed vitamin A.” (see The Startling Truth Behind the Foods We Eat)
While many sea-based greens do contain B vitamins, so does meat. So it is rare a dog would be B vitamin deficient if they are eating a raw or homecooked diet.
Vitamin D must be animal-based for dogs to be effective. This is known as D3. This is similar for humans, so make sure to purchase Vitamin D3 only! (see The case against ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) as a vitamin supplement, 2006)
What vegetables and green foods can provide is fiber. This can be useful in a home-cooked diet. However raw diets that contain bone do not need additional fiber.
And carbohydrates (plant-based foods) can help with energy from the sugars found in them, although again, this is not necessary in raw diets, as energy can be created from proteins (amino acids). Animal fats also create energy for dogs.
So why feed green foods? I do supplement with green foods mainly from the ocean. These include kelp, dulce, spirulina, Irish Moss and blue-green algae. I have found these can be supportive to dogs with thyroid issues. They also help promote and brighten color in the dogs’ coats and pigment.
They do contain some B vitamins (if you are not feeding fresh meat). I do add the Bertes Green Blend to my dogs’ meals, along with the Bertes Immune Blend. But green foods are NOT a super food, regardless of what you may have read on the internet. And I AVOID grain-based green foods, such as barley and wheat grass. Many dogs can react to these with allergies.
Please note the best food for dogs is animal-based proteins (meat, eggs, dairy, organ meat, fish, and raw meaty bones) and animal-based fats (for energy).
Green foods won’t harm a dog and they do have some value, but not as a miracle supplement and can’t help with vitamins A and D3, nor is the iron found in any carbohydrate useful or metabolized by carnivores.
I know we all want to find a ‘miracle’ supplement that ‘does it all’, but there is no such thing. However, the best thing you can do for your dog is to feed a fresh food diet (raw or homecooked), add fish oil capsules for the omega 3 fatty acid and a supplement containing D3 (such as the Bertes Immune Blend or the Bertes Daily Blend).
