Whole grains provide an important nutritional resource for your dog, including B vitamins, iron, magnesium, selenium, carbohydrates for energy, and fiber to aid in digestion.
You may have heard that grain-free dog food has more meat because it makes up for the lack of grains. Grain-free diets are not all meat, although they may have a higher proportion of meat in them. As we’ve learned, they also substitute some of those grains with other carbohydrates.
You may also think that grain-free dog diets include only high-quality ingredients, but this isn’t necessarily true any more so than with grain dog food.
In certain situations, your veterinarian may recommend a grain-free diet instead of grain dog food. For example, in dogs suspected of having food allergies (also known as an adverse food reaction), a grain-free diet might be recommended on a trial basis to see if symptoms improve.
It is important to recognize, however, that very few dogs have allergies to the grains in dog foods. The vast majority of food allergies are to the protein source (meat) in the food.
There have been recent concerns regarding the safety of grain-free foods and heart disease in dogs. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has opened an investigation into the development of dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs that are fed grain-free diets.
Dilated cardiomyopathy is a heart condition resulting in an enlarged heart and thinning of the heart muscle. This weakens the heart and can lead to heart failure and death.
The FDA opened this investigation due to the rising incidence of dilated cardiomyopathy. They have found that over 90% of the 560 dogs studied were being fed grain-free diets.
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