January/February 2011 - Dogs Naturally Magazine

y: Beth Lowell
ALGAE
food FOR life
Your dog – loving companion or money pit?
I don’t know about you but it really bothers me when people talk
about how much money they’ve sunk into their dog. You might sink
money into a dilapidated fixer-upper home or a boat, but to reduce a
living being to a money pit is, well, inhumane!
It strikes me as odd that people think that dogs and other animals
should be practically expense free and to never have health problems.
Many of these people of course are setting their pets up for a poor
future by paying as little as possible for food and probably more than
they should on vaccines.
It shouldn’t surprise me though, considering that our health care and
insurance system here in the United States sets people up to believe
that health care should be free and that we don’t have to take much
responsibility for our own well being. We subsidize costs for prescription
drugs that treat a myriad of symptoms and illnesses, but don’t
support holistic methods that can benefit the being as a whole. The
danger that this mentality poses is that it fosters a sense of entitlement
when it comes to health, and at the same time encourages a
lack of personal responsibility when it comes to making health related
choices. Though the economy has hit people hard, many would
still rather pay for things they want, like a flat screen TV, a vacation,
a haircut, or new shoes, rather than investing in their own health and
the health of their animals.
There’s also the misguided notion among the public that pet owners
will spare no expense when it comes to their pets. One person I spoke
with seemed amazed that his neighbor would gladly shell out $500.00
for his dog’s surgery but grumble about a $15.00 co-pay at his own
doctor’s office. This makes me wonder what it is that drives people
to be penny-wise and pound foolish when it comes to the health of
their pets and themselves. One simple way to maintain health and
save on medical costs is through what we eat. This of course, applies
to dogs too.
Food vs. Supplements
Food is fuel. The better the fuel, the more mileage we get out of our
bodies. Sometimes the food we eat just doesn’t seem to be doing its
job. Consequently, we often supplement our food intake with vi-
tamins, drugs and supplements intended to help the body function.
But “helping” the body through the use of “supplements” poses risks.
Here’s why.
Both prescription and over the counter drugs, as well as supplements,
are taken to target the symptoms caused by underlying larger issues.
The body becomes dependent on the drug or supplement over time
and can eventually lose the ability to function on its own. For instance,
feeding your pet (or yourself) digestive enzymes over a prolonged period
can make for a lazy pancreas that soon comes to depend on these
outside factors to do important digestive work. Putting an animal on
Prozac to steady her nerves will have long lasting side effects, and in
many cases, be a life-long protocol, rather than a temporary measure
while the dog is taught to cope with stress.
If you’re already feeding the highest quality of food you can plus expensive
supplements your veterinarian may have recommended, how
are you able to identify which foods to feed your dog that will benefit
her most, especially as her needs change through time?
Forget the symptom and look at the big picture
Matteo Ferraro
The first thing you need to do is to adjust your mental picture of what
health really is. Health is not the absence of disease, it is overall wellbeing.
By feeding food that supplies every system in the body what it
needs to function at its best, symptoms can fall away and good health
can happen. The immune system is something we don’t really think
about too often until it’s compromised. Using a food that supports
the immune system, (and all of the other systems in the body), is just
good planning and can only result in good health.
The body’s systems work together to keep the body running. These
are:
• The immune system that fights disease
• The circulatory system that transports blood
• The digestive system that processes food and helps the body
function at its best
• The endocrine system that affects hormones and glands
• The lymphatic system that produces white blood cells, carries
fluids and helps clean out toxins
26 January-February 2011 | Dogs Naturally Magazine