Which dog food is best for your dog? How does Formula K
compare with other brands? Below we look at Eukanuba Special
Care - Excess Weight.
Eukanuba Ingredients |
What We Think |
| Maize |
Maize is a particularly high GI carbohydrate
and hence will be converted very rapidly to glucose in
the body once digested. |
| Chicken (>14%) |
|
| Wheat |
Contains wheat, which is the main
cause of nutritionally related allergies in dogs. |
| Barley |
|
| Sorghum |
|
| Fishmeal |
|
| Dried beet pulp |
|
| Animal fat |
This allows
the manufacturer to amend the type of fat according
to availability, price, etc. |
| dried whole egg |
|
| Chicken digest |
|
| Poultry meal |
|
| Brewers yeast |
|
| Potassium chloride |
|
| Salt |
|
| Linseed |
This is only listed 15th, and below
salt. |
| Sodium hexametaphosphate |
|
| DL-methionine |
|
| |
|
Eukanuba Ingredients |
What We Think |
| The
Eukanuba recipe contains wheat, which
is the main cause of nutritionally related allergies
in dogs. Obese dogs are also often burdened
with impaired immune systems, and so are prone to dietary
sensitivities to a number of ingredients. Wheat is also
a major cause of these sensitivities. |
The
Formula K recipe is free from wheat and wheat gluten.
|
Maize
is the primary ingredient in Eukanuba. Maize
is a particularly high GI carbohydrate and hence will
be converted very rapidly to glucose in the body once
digested. This has 2 effects:
- Insulin cause the excess glucose to be converted
to fat, perpetuating the weight problem
- This “spike” in insulin causes
the body to become less sensitive to the
hormone, and hence can lead to type-II diabetes
|
In
Formula K
all grains have been listed, and have been selected for their low GI levels,
and included at minimal levels. |
| The
generic term “animal fat” allows the manufacturer
to amend the type of fat according to availability, price,
etc. However, a number of animal fats are very
saturated, e.g. tallow and lard, and would not be suitable
for a dog with a weight problem, as this would promote
fat lay-down and circulatory issues. The purchaser cannot
make an informed choice from this declaration. |
Refined chicken oil
and fish oil are the main sources of fat. They are highly
digestible, declared openly for consumer information,
and provide very high levels of omega-3 oils. |
| Linseed
is the only ingredient rich in omega-3 oils.
However, it is only listed 15 th, and below salt. It
is unlikely that the salt content will be above 1% therefore,
the linseed content will be no greater, and hence the
omega-3 contribution is negligible. Omega-3 oils are
very important for cardiac and circulatory health and
my expectation is that this diet will have a very low
content. |
The
Formula K
recipe contains 1% fish oil, which is the best source of the omega-3 oils
DHA & EPA. |
| Sodium
hexametaphosphate is most likely to be included as
an aid to reduce tooth decay. It is an industrial chemical that is commonly
used in the metal and ceramics industries to chelate
(bind) other minerals. There is a suggestion that it
might also chelate essential minerals in the diet and
hence cause deficiency issues. |
In Formula K the texture
of the kibble lends itself to teeth cleaning, so no industrial
chemicals are necessary. |
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