Beware! Ingredient-ists Aren't Nutritionists!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- Caring pet parents go to social media to get advice on pet food and pet nutrition, but too often they are listening to well meaning people who know little about actual nutrition and simply focus on ingredients, unaware that the whole ingredient game is managed by the manipulative pet food marketers. I call these people Ingredient-ists, not Nutritionists!
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Made my vet smile today when I was bringing my new rescue in for the first time when I said "it's the nutrients that matter, not the ingredients". This vet was by my side through five years of home cooking for my last dog with IBD, with the support of a vet nutritionist. I have spent the past 8 months since my dog passed, working through the trauma of her disease and deep diving into nutrition has been a big part of it. I was just petrified of feeding a new dog the wrong thing. Your videos have been a great help, so thank you so much for the great information you share with the public.
That’s great! Thank you!
I must say I fell down the ‘ingredient list’ rabbit hole and boy it never ended. I was constantly fearing I was not feeding my kitten the best. I tried raw food, even cooked my own food, yet it never sat right with me, the ingredients didn’t make much sense and confused me even more when raw food beans weren’t open with the amount of taurine, phosphorus and calcium levels. THEN I found you channel! I must say you are a life saver. I’m happy and confident now with what I feed her, which is Hills. And she loves it ! Dare I say more than any of the home cooked or raw food. The other day I even gave her some of the left over home cooked cat food I have. She turned her nose up😂.
Another great video, Glen! Thank you so much for taking the time to create these and educate us! I've learned so much from you!
I recently went back down the dog food rabbit hole after feeding Nutisource to my girl for several years and so glad to have discovered both your and Dr Rea’s channels, I’m finding them both so helpful and informative! I originally chose Nutrisource after hours of online reading, mostly on dog food advisor and analyzing ingredients (sigh), it was a local to me company in MN, and ultimately my vet at the time said that’s what she fed her dog. I wish information about how to truly assess dog food, read labels, and understand the nutrients was information that is more readily available to pet parents who are just trying to do the very best for our babies! Looking back I had no idea what to look for or where to even begin, and definitely had negative bias toward the “big” brands. I’m strongly considering switching to Hills because the science and research done to back it up is very important to me and of course the nutrient levels- from the info I’ve seen it seems that in general Hills is closest to the recommended nutrient levels than other brands by far. I’m wondering about the AAFCO statements- in reviewing some Hills varieties it seems like many of them do state “formulated” vs tested. With Hills having such a reputation for research, is it safe to assume that the evidence is there to back it up even if the AAFCO statement says formulated?
Also, I’m interested in your thoughts on why calcium and phosphorus levels aren’t printed on bags or at least more readily available on company’s websites, given how vital they seem to be to a pet’s health?
Thank you so much for your videos!
Glenn I have spent weekend listening to your and Dr. Rea and your arguments are making sense. I have been watching your videos on kibble brands evaluations looking for a good one to get off raw feedings. One of my concerns is even small bags last a long time and I worry about them becoming rancid. My little 5 year old Rudi is only 14 lbs. Do you think I can put it in a freezer to keep fresh? Silly question perhaps as are these foods preserved somehow?
@@pixgirlie I appreciate you devoting time to my and Dr Rea’s videos! You don’t have to be overly concerned about rancidity. The food is preserved well with safe preservatives. Not much BHA or ethixoquin used much anymore. You can put the food in an air proof container if you’d like. When I had big dogs I did that but now with little dogs I just buy small bags. Thankfully, rancid food smells awful and most animals won’t eat it, and it is very rare. Again, thanks and welcome!
You say don’t listen to someone who is not a veterinarian or a board certified nutritionist. Ironically, that includes you. I was a math tutor at a community college. I worked for the professor who taught me. I could teach her class. I had students tell me that I made things easier to understand. That did not make me a professor. Happy Mewsday!
@@edschulhof6303 that’s a good point! But the point is don’t listen to people playing the ingredient game vs discussing nutrients, no matter their credentials!
I give my dog Gus Adult Science Diet. His ideal weight is 44-50 lbs. so he is medium breed.
What is the nutritional deference is regular adult and large breed adult other than kibble size. Can I feed him either.
He is not calling himself a nutritionist but he has worked with them and is more knowledgeable than most so called nutritionists
@@clareferris5048 I'm just kidding around with Glenn, so he doesn't get bored. LOL Happy Manic Monday!
Have you reviewed the new Hills Adult salmon? If not can you please?
@@Thetoad738 I have not! I’ll try to get to it.
A friend says her dogs eat raw that there vet put them on raw and dogs are healthy they are sport and protection dogs they say no vet has said anything bad about it?
Hi Glenn, I am curious when do ingredients matter plus the nutrients of a food. For example, my choice of food is royal canin for my pup. Established company, employs nutritionists etc but a lot comment and say that they use cheap ingredients and are very carb/grain heavy vs the high cost they are charging for food. When does the ingredients panel actually matter and are there some ingredients in a food that you really should stay away from other than the obvious like artificial dyes?
It’s an overstatement to say ingredients don’t matter, just nutrients. But the whole point of the ingredients chosen is the final nutrient profile delivered. Marketers don’t discuss nutrients, just promoting certain ingredients and demonizing others, mostly just bs. Your thinking is right and I try with my videos to show why you shouldn’t trust the people demonizing food companies or calling ingredients low quality fillers.
Love your podcast. Learned so much from you and Dr Rea. Put my dog on Science diet Dental and Adult chicken. Lost a few pounds and great teeth. Looks greet. Nice to know he is getting best nutrition.
You both are great. I let all my dog and cat owners to watch you both.
Gus is healthy and happy.
@@warrenhorowitz-vp6ul awesome! Thanks!
I wish I would had found your channel sooner. I totally relate to all the pet parents who have been left so confused with all the voices on social media . My girl with early kidney disease and urinary issues was just put on Hills c/d multi stress. She loves the food! Now, I'm strongly considering putting them on an early kidney disease diet. I looked into farmina vet life renal, and the Protein is 29% with good mineral content. Your opinion on this formula would mean the world! It does make me nervous to think of giving them such low levels of protein when they are not there yet. Which brands do you recommend for renal? Thank you for your knowledge.
@@UniQ77775 I have not looked specifically at Farmina renal diet but I trust it’s pretty good. I am biased with Hills kd because of knowing the nutritionists and I trust the newer innovations. You should have your vet call the Hills vet line and go over your cats blood work and urinalysis because CD Stress is very renal friendly but not a renal diet per se. it just depends how early. The key is that she eats! RC and Purina also make renal diets if taste becomes an issue. And canned is best too! Let me know how she does!
@PetFoodPuzzleGuy Her bloodwork in April looked good, but there was some protein in the urine. The problem is her anxiety that causes her urine PH to go up. Everything is downhill from there, so her vet decided to address this issue first by putting her on c/d for 2 months and re-doing bloodwork along with urinalysis. Does Hills have a formula that addresses both? I've noticed that not even Hills has such a low percentage of protein in their renal formula like farmina. Thank you for the tip. I'll be sure to bring that up to my vet when we go in to see her!
I know that nutrition is the most important, but I’ve heard to avoid food made in China because it can make the pet sick. Trying to check where it comes from usually leads to ingredient market. What is your opinion on this?
@@JampsonBB China has a horrible record when it comes to importing food for animals or people. It shouldn’t even be legal to enter the states.
@@PetFoodPuzzleGuy Thank you for your response.
What would you say about “Peas” being an ingredient in dog food?
I have a 1 year and 16 year small breed. They are always eating each other food? What food can i feed them safely?
Controlling excesses for the older pet is more critical. The 1 year old is fully grown so unless extremely active could handle a diet more geared for the 16 year old. Of course bloodwork got the senior will show if any diet changes are needed immediately.
Another great video Glenn.
why do these "ingredient-ists" still harp on about dogs being carnivores? It drives me crazy every time i hear that.
Dogs are NOT carnivores (this is a fact) they can get all necessary nutrients from both plant and animal matter. They do not need meat.
So this makes them a Omnivore NOT a carnivore. so it always irritates me when people are so bent on how much meat is in the first 5 ingredients, Plus the fact they can only utilise so much protein before it gets flushed anyway.
Then the next thing they target are carbohydrates, yes both dogs and cats can digest grains not only are they a good energy source, but they are excellent for gut health. The fibre that comes from those carbohydrates fuel prebiotics which is excellent for a good microbiome.
Basically everything Ingredient-ist say can be debunked and dismissed.
Some good news, The Aussie facebook group i moderate has a few more hills converts!
These were people that have in the past heavily criticized hills, However they actually took a chance and tried it and are completely amazed by the results.
I'm stunned everyday when i look at my 9y/o beagle mix who has the energy of a pup and her coat and gut have never been so good... she's fuelled By Hills!!
Danielle, I always enjoy and appreciate your comments! And I know folks benefit too!
9:59 - you're kind of avoiding the elephant in the room that a lot of the "ingredient-sts" are just petite bourgeois complaining about being oppressed by haute bourgeois, and when pet parents already don't trust corporations, reading the ingrdient panels is tthe only control they feel they have over the food production.
Most pet parents don't know small pet food companies are not required by AAFCO or USDA/FDA to provide a more accurate nutrient profile.
I mean Canada and Finland have more small businesses than big corporations who routinely break the laws, so people already know small companies are just as evil, if not worse, than the big ones
@@ZaryaTheLaika well said!
@@PetFoodPuzzleGuy Yeah, my mom used to be into the whole "alternative medicine" thing and it's because she feels like she has more control over her life when misogynistic doctors didn't believe women about the symptoms they were experience.
She's a bit better about going to see a medical doctor these days now that younger ones are trained to listen to their patients.
So, it's the same thing here. The ingredient panels make pet parents feel like they have control over something, when in actuality they don't.
I’ve never heard anybody defend meat meal, sorry no. If there was anything quality about it, it wouldn’t be listed as mystery meat.
Yet people eat pemmican and meatt floss all the time.
But aren’t meat byproducts in most pet foods?
And Nanai people and other coastal groups in Far East Russis feed their dogs ground, dehydrated fish paste for hundreds of thousands of years after the annual salmon runs, and their dogs are the closest genetically to the original domesticated wolves.
Just because you don't like the idea of meat meal being utilized in industrial butchery doesn't means other cultures don't eat or use meat meal. If you have a problem with industrial agriculture, say it and name the process instead of assuming the ingredients are the problem.
I only feed dog food that %100 organic and grass fed organics meats yumwoff is what I feed
From the wiki: "Five kilograms (11 lb) of meat will usually yield about one kilogram (2 lb) of floss." And that's for human consumption.
This is what Glenn means you as a consumer don't know if the company is being honest about the quality of the fresh meat rendered into kibbles versus chicken meal rendered into kibbles. There's no requirements from AAFCO for companies to disclose the quality of the ingredients
Please just stop
Explain. I feed homemade, but enjoy these videos. And I usually learn something I did not know before.
I agree, he's not doing his intelligence any favours, it just makes him look more pathetic
@@KarenmitchellANI Is there one thing in particular that makes you say that? Neither of you has explained why you feel as you do. You don't have to agree with everything he says, but some context would help others understand your comment. Happy Mewsday!
@@edschulhof6303 I think the original poster is trolling because one of their previous comments told Glenn to talk to Susan Thixton. But if that person reads Susan's blog, she and Glenn already have an open channel established and are on friendly terms.
@@ZaryaTheLaika I realize most of these types of comments are trolls. But I like to give them at least one chance to reply. They never do. Oh well.
If someone had told me years ago I'd be feeding my dog Hills Science Diet wet canned dog food, I would have looked at them like they had two heads. But, after doing my own research, talking with the company, listening to "real" pet nutritionists and how our dog went after this canned wet food and his stools are the best they've ever been, I was won over as is our dog on how much he loves it.
I have watched several of your videos so far and I do like what you have to say about the marketing of kibbles and the "Certified" dog nutritionist out there. I have been trying to perfect my dog's diet for the last year and a half and it is EXTREMELY hard to find basic nutrition information that would make it easy to cook for her. I feel like it should not be harder to cook for her then it was to cook for my daughter and the kibble companies are doing their best to keep that information from the general public. That is just some background on how I ended up on your channel because I really believe that kibble is one of the worst things you can feed your dog.
Yes, kibble is formulated by PhDs that are board tested, absolutely scientifically sound for the AVERAGE nutritional requirements dogs. BUT, as we know just like every person is different, every dog is different, my dog is a large breed at 75lbs, but the same food is also sold to someone with a 200lb mastiff, and I cannot believe that they have the same nutritional requirements. Weight is one of the broadest traits, what that dog was bred to do, or their body type, the amount of exercise they need, etc. etc. etc. are all going to have an effect.
With your experience and knowledge, you could help people feed their pets properly, and I would really like to see that happen.
P.S. I feel like we could have some excellent disagreements.
@@chefbus2537 well, maybe we will have some good disagreements but I agree with most of what you said. My only disagreement is your statement that all kibble is bad. I have never seen any real evidence of any form of food being bad, just bad formulas! The variety of quality in kibble is just as true in canned and even more so in homemade cooked or raw. It’s not the form but the nutrients provided. As far as specific needs, you’re absolutely right. RC and Hills were researching large breed puppy nutrition back in the 70’s, research that gave us Large Breed Puppy Foods. Hills just finished building a $22 million research facility dedicated to small breed nutrition. And again, you’re right there are different needs based on activity and even individual metabolism, just like people. And certain brands cater more to certain needs. Hills makes a high energy food but only for police and military so the Purina Sport is a great option, among others. Hills excels with geriatrics and disease management. So there’s plenty of specific diets, even among price points. I was surprised and pleased to see Purina One Urinary Care has excellent mineral levels for cats prone with stones. Who knew? The reason it is so difficult to figure out what’s healthy or not is because of all the folks who know nothing of nutrients filling peoples heads with BS they “learned” from the pet food marketers. But I hope my videos help and would love to get into those great disagreements in the future!
he was (85lbs). He no longer gets tables scraps because I won't let him go near my dad. He's finally losing weight but needs to go down to 65lbs. He's an English Cream Golden Retriever that eats Purina Sensetive Skin and Stomach (3 cups per day). I want to give him the best dog food avilable. What do you recommend? He broke his leg when he was young so he also eats vetriflex vitamins to help his joints and gets a greenie but I'm starting to brush his teeth. Also, he has allergies. I really just want to give him the best and help him have the best life. I found you because I keep hearing that Carna4 is great as well as Orijen and Essence. If there is anything you suggest can you please tell me why I want to learn but i really need help. Thank you!
I appreciate you writing! You didn’t mention the age of your pup. That would matter since that broken leg will most likely be arthritic in later years. Depending what you want to spend, the very best food is Prescription Diet Metabolic Plus Mobility. It’s a concoction of two diets that actually change gene expression to reduce the damage and pain process of arthritis and activates metabolism so the animal starts burning calories instead of storing them. As a former veterinary rep I saw amazing results with it. If money is an issue Hills makes a copycat dirt, Science Diet Perfect Weight and Joint. It seems to work just as well and is far less expensive. My 10 year old Bichon mix is in it and is trimming down now. I don’t recommend the brands you mentioned, especially being overweight.im also not a big fan of joint supplements…. Little regulation and little clinical research.
Isn't there an ethical piece to the puzzle that keeps being thrown around? I'm a new cat owner and a happy West Coast kinda guy. The "fresh meat-only" marketing makes me cringe. We shouldn't use animal byproducts thus making use of the whole animal? We need to kill separate animals for our pets? We can't use vegetable protein? Gotta keep killing animals? Is that sustainable on a large scale or even ethical? These new hippie pet ethics are asking for a bloodbath of animal death to feed millions of pets worldwide. I'm not a vegetarian but I find this disturbing. Science has hopefully given us new answers other than a constant trip to the butcher. Just my thoughts....
@@carltonblackburn2746 it is a bit strange how the marketers have been so successful pushing meat. The fact is we can use alternative protein sources like plant, egg and insect and greatly reduce the use of feed animals. With all the evidence showing how animals used for food have feelings more like us than we ever realized and how the industry can’t help producing so much suffering, you would think more people would want the alternatives. The Scuence is there. This need for meat is almost a cult, based on emotion, not nutrition. Ironically, for many animals the excess meat protein will in fact shorten their lives.
A sales rep, you did the same job as drug reps at doctor offices. You’re a sales person, not an expert.
@@lolz-f6c good provocative comment! Thank you! I will assume you have a pet and you feed that pet. How did you come to the decision on what and how to feed her? Experience and feedback of others? Pet food company websites? Social media celebrities like Dr Becker, Dr Judy, maybe Rachel F? Your veterinarian? Did you look for experts? I consider a board certified veterinary nutritionist an expert. That’s it. And there’s less than 100 of them.( And they get things wrong sometimes). So who is the expert in your opinion. Sounds like you know some drug reps, salespeople who make great money but put up with a lot of abuse I hear. lol! I suppose sales reps, like every field, have their good and lousy examples. I know both. Some reps knew nothing, weren’t interested in learning, and had no problem lying to get the sale and then some were like me and had an insatiable desire to learn and share. Can’t speak for drugs but now that I’m retired, I realize it was the diets that kept the business going. I knew one RC rep that lied about everything to get a diet in the clinic. But when docs had time to learn about how that diet compared to hills or maybe Purina, vets would choose which one to recommend. And if the diet didn’t perform and help the animal, it eventually was gone. So even though most vets aren’t experts in nutrition they see and observe and get a pretty good idea of good and bad. My success was simply I knew more about all the diets in the clinic than anyone else in the room so vets trusted me. So am I an expert or even a silly so called Certified Pet Nutritionist? Nope! But I came along at the right time and was trained by those board certified nutritionists, got to know and respect them, and was tasked with taking that info to the clinics. I quickly learned how could I tell them to use the food if I couldn’t compare it to other options. I think that’s why to this day I always compare foods. Every day for 34 years I learned, got asked lots of questions, followed up with the nutritionists at Hills, observed what worked, what didn’t, evaluated the criticism we’d get from other food companies, sometimes even peer reviewed studies. I loved it all. And of course over three decades watched the various marketing gimmicks and trends and showed them to my vet teams. And it’s still a passion of mine so here I am on TH-cam sharing what I know. So please ask any questions you think an expert should know and I’ll do my best. But again, my question to you is Wjo are the experts you are trusting with the health of your pet?
Thank you for all your videos as well as trying g your best to educate the people watching your videos.
My dog just turned 15 months old and the vet couldn’t be happier with his health.
I’ll continue to trust my vet and trust the science.
Thank you sir!
Good luck with that. Your dog is only 15mths old.. time will tell. When your dog suddenly becomes sick, look at what your feeding
Thank you for sharing🎉
Thanks Glen for another great video. Have u ever done an analysis of kibbles and bits. I know you have done some of the cheaper brands. I've always thought of this to be one of the worst but must taste one of the best bc lots of picky dogs will only eat this as I learned from my senior dog who became very picky after age 15 which I've shared w you before. I recently found out she likes tiki brand fish variety so I'm glad she likes one of the supposed healthier brands although after your analysis with nutrition maybe it's not. The dogs don't only eat kibble but I do incorporate into diet along with can, dehydrated , some cooked stuff and raw frozen so Idk what these foods would be like solely feeding. But the kibbles n bits makes me feel guilty however many animals eat this regularly as their only diet but idk how many have allergies, poor coats etc off that. My dogs typically eat about 25% to 40% kibble on a daily basis and my picky girl has to have can mixed in and not every can she likes...feeding can be a big process but she eats all her meals once it appeals to her so not skipping any which is most important esp now she has some dementia at 16 years. So this has been going on for a year and I'm grateful for your videos. Bc I thought most brands WERE dangerous to feed prior to watching your channel.
There’s probably no way to get around the fact that there are NO companies who make a kibble which is not on the high to too high amount of carbs. So that changes the conversation to how much carbohydrate do cats and dogs need. I’m not sure about dogs but have learned enough about cats to try as best I can to give my “kids” mostly canned…and I know what % carbs on “as fed” basis are in each can.
I think many of the people you hear talk about urinary diets potentially causing urinary problems in cats could be because they are thinking about the dry prescription foods. Or in some cases, the prescription foods pushing the phs values too extreme in the other direction, causing crystals again.
There's already a fair amount of research on sled dog performance. They do not need more than 35% protein for muscle repair, and once you start going under 5%-10% carbohydrates, the dogs start having vitamin malasorption issues.
Since fats have too much calories per gram or 100 kCal, carbohydrates are preferred for inactive dogs and sprinting dogs.
It is so confusing 😢trying to decide what is best for my best friend who has been on a raw diet for two years. His blood work is perfect and he has never been on flea
meds or had a flea I have been listening to three of the people you mentioned in videos. After my last boy died from cancer I began an internet search to find a better kibble but opted for raw diet. I have yet to find a Vet who agrees with it. I find your discussion of ingredients list a total new take. I appreciate your work and your kind responses. I plan to look at Dr REI next. I
@@pixgirlie well thank you so much for your kind words. I hope my videos are helpful! One thing to consider is, whatever you’re feeding, if the blood work is normal, how bad can it be? As soon as things start to elevate it’s time to reconsider. It is confusing!