Finding the Best Diet for Your Dog with Diabetes

Deciding what kind of food to feed a healthy dog is difficult enough, but when your dog is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease like diabetes, it becomes even more important to pick the right diet plan.
Unfortunately, most pet parents are still feeding their dogs commercially canned and kibble food. While these types of food are extremely popular and can be found in many stores, the truth is commercial pet food is not good for pets and is at the root of the crisis in our pets’ health. According to Dogs Naturally Magazine, feeding your pet commercial dog food is essentially like giving your pet fast food every day. And, as we all know, a constant diet of fast food leads to many health problems down the line.

Why You Need to Avoid Commercial Pet Food

But what exactly is in commercial dog food that makes it so bad for our pets? Starches, for one thing. Not-so-fun fact: did you know that it takes a minimum of 40 percent starches to get kibble to stick together? Almost all commercial dog foods are loaded with high sugar and high glycemic index ingredients like corn, rice, peas, potatoes, and other low-grade non-meat fillers. Sadly, these fillers cause rapid glucose spikes that can contribute to or worsen your pet’s diabetes.

A Diet Low in Carbohydrates

According to Dr. Karen Becker, “… 90 percent of pet foods out there contain totally inappropriate ingredients that are not nourishing and actually create low-grade inflammatory processes, diabetes, and obesity. All the same health issues occurring in the pet world are occurring in the human realm in terms of overall health.
Sugar, of course, causes an insulin release. Insulin then causes blood sugar to drop. Cortisol is then released to rebalance blood sugar. So dogs and cats are dealing with this whole cycle of carbohydrate ingestion, insulin release, and cortisol release.”

Dr. Becker concludes that animals were not meant to eat the high carb diets that most commercial pet foods offer.
Diabetes in dogs is a serious and complex condition, but research has shown that a diet low in carbohydrates can help to normalize your dog’s blood sugar levels and encourage weight loss. This is why it’s so important for pet parents who have a dog that has been diagnosed with diabetes to consider a nutritional intervention using a diet that is low in carbohydrates.

Slowing Diabetes with a Ketogenic Diet

By changing your sick pet’s daily regimen to a diet rich in fats, low glycemic vegetables and medium amounts of high-quality proteins, you will be giving your beloved companion the very best chance to heal and thrive. Many pet parents have seen that disease progression can be slowed and even halted and reversed by feeding their dog fresh and healthy food. This type of diet is referred to as a ketogenic diet, meaning that the body is burning ketones as its primary fuel and not glucose.

Regulating Blood Sugar with Diet

This state of ketosis regulates blood sugar and allows the cells to heal. Glucose is a “dirty” fuel, while fat burns much cleaner in the body. So by replacing carbs with healthy fats, your dog’s cells’ mitochondria, the insides of each cell, are less likely to suffer damage from free radicals and can heal. Carbs, grains, certain high sugar content fruits, starches and starchy vegetables all turn to glucose in the body, which is why these ingredients must be avoided in order to help your dog heal.

The Paradigm Shift

Dr. Harvey’s Paradigm is a specially-blended “green food” pre-mix which makes an ideal base for a nutritionally complete low-carb diet. In addition to considering a low carbohydrate diet for your dog, Dr. Harvey’s Paradigm also includes different herbs to boost the immune system, encourage healing, and help to increase overall good health. These ingredients include turmeric, ginger, red clover, milk thistle, dandelion, slippery elm, and cinnamon.
There is no question that what you feed your dog can change their well-being and their outlook for a long and healthy life. When confronted with health challenges, like diabetes, using nutritional tools can help your dog to heal sometimes from even the most difficult of diagnosis.

Managing Your Dog’s Diabetes

How we look at feeding our companion animals needs a new paradigm and there is now a body of research that concludes that feeding your dog fresh meals that consist of high-quality proteins, healthy fats, and low amounts of carbohydrates can encourage healing and promote wellness.
Transitioning a dog with diabetes to a low-carb diet should be done slowly. Pet parents should always consult with their veterinarian and let them know that they are changing their dog to a low-carb diet.

Paradigm’s unique formulation contains only low glycemic vegetables, and absolutely no starch or grain. As a result, complex carbs are digested more slowly, and glucose level increases are safely spread out over time vs. delivered all at once in an unhealthy and dangerous surge.
Managing your dog’s diabetes means constant care, but there is growing evidence that diabetes can be managed and your pet can live a happy life if dietary changes are made.