Some Really Bad Nutrition Info From Susan Thixton

http://truthaboutpetfood.com/big-heart-really

Check out this link about how vulnerable we are, scares me and I am sure you.

Mars Petcare Continues To Have Its' Problems

Mars Petcare is now being sued by 12 former employees at the Joplin MO. plant because of using dangerous insecticides to fumigate grains that went into pet food.

"Problems continue to mount for Mars Petcare as more people come forward alleging that Mars compromised their health by exposing them to a lethal pesticide used to fumigate grains and other pet food ingredients.
An attorney from Kansas City, Missouri says he’s already representing eight former workers of Mars Petcare. Another four people might soon be transferred to him from a Joplin attorney, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to twelve.
But there’s one other former employee who says he’s been forced to pursue legal action on his own. The news reports say that his lawsuit stems from the same plant for the same problems, but at the time he worked there it was owned by Doane Pet Care. Doane was purchased by Mars in 2006, shortly after the man stopped working there.
According to his family, his health rapidly began to deteriorate; symptoms his family believe were caused by exposure to aluminum phosphide, a dangerous pesticide used by Doane and Mars to fumigate grain. He’s since been diagnosed with several benign tumors, affecting his memory, cognitive skills, and his ability to walk.
His job at the former plant? Checking grain as it was unloaded; grain that had been treated with a deadly pesticide: aluminum phosphide.
After Doane was sold to Mars, exposure to aluminum phosphide continued. Eight (now possibly twelve) former employees claim they too were exposed to the same fumigant at the Mars plant in Joplin, Missouri.
Both lawsuits accuse the pet food manufacturers of exposing workers to a highly toxic pesticide used to fumigate grains and other commodities used in pet food manufacture. Government documents show pesticide chemicals used at the facility, like aluminum phosphide, have been linked to serious health issues."
-from Mollie Morrissette at poisonpetfoods.com

Raw Dog Food Misbeliefs

Build A Better Dog has been doing some online market research in some dog food chat rooms and some amazing ideas came out of that.  Amazing in the line of total fantasy.  Here are some of the statements:

1.  "Raw meat diets contain carbohydrates because cows eat grain and those carbs are stored in the meat."  (Not true, beef, poultry, and fish contain no carbohydrates unless you count what is in the digestive system which is discarded at slaughter.  Carbs are burned and are only stored after conversion to fat or meat and soft tissue.  It is no longer a carbohydrate and offers no benefits of carbohydrates.)

2.  "My dogs get plenty of fiber from their raw meat diet.  There is meat fiber in raw beef."  (Not true, fiber comes in three forms-cellulose, hemi-cellulose, and lignen, it is the parts of the cell wall in plants and has many digestive benefits for dogs in a diet[up to about 10%] but, there is none of this in any meat products.)

3.  "I don't give my dogs any vaccinations and their immune system has surged."  Way too crazy for the term "not true".  Remember polio and rabies.

Keep a look out on this blog site, there are many more to come.

Growing Diabetes In Dogs

I have run into a number of people in the last few years in which the discussion turned to what has usually been conversations regarding human disease but the talk has veered off to include canine situations, like diabetes in dogs.
In a report written by Amy Campbell she discusses some new angles on diabetes and I cannot help but connect these to canine diabetes with this report.
Now I must again warn you, she is discussing human diabetes and the two maladies are not identical but, they are similar and I cannot help but wonder about their similarities.
Please read further:

Z is the last letter in the alphabet, which means it often receives little or no attention. Yet Z is the first letter in the word “zinc.” How much thought have you ever given to zinc? Maybe some, if you take zinc supplements for a cold, for example. But new research indicates that zinc is something else that people with diabetes should think about. Why? Read on.

In case you’re wondering what the heck zinc does, it’s helpful to know that it’s an essential mineral that plays very important roles in the body. The body can’t make zinc, so we must take it in from food sources. Zinc is stored in the muscles, blood cells, retina of the eye, skin, bone, kidney, liver, pancreas, and in men, prostate.

What does zinc do for us? Primarily, zinc helps the immune system function properly. It’s also needed for cell growth and division, wound healing, and the breakdown of carbohydrate for energy. We need zinc to maintain our sense of taste and smell, too. Finally, zinc is an antioxidant, protecting our cells from free radicals, or molecules that can wreak havoc and possibly lead to heart disease and cancer.

Zinc is found in many foods. The main sources of zinc in the American diet are red meat, poultry, and seafood, but it’s also found in legumes, whole grains, nuts, and dairy foods. Zinc is better absorbed from animal foods than from plant foods, since compounds called phytates that are found in plants can hinder its absorption. Daily zinc requirements are 11 milligrams for adult men and 8 milligrams for adult women. Symptoms of zinc deficiency include stunted growth (in children), hair loss, diarrhea, decreased appetite, eye and skin lesions, delayed wound healing, and weight loss. People with chronic gastrointestinal disorders, such as Crohn disease, are at risk for zinc deficiency.

How does zinc relate to diabetes? Interestingly, zinc has long been an ingredient used in “older” insulins, such as Regular, NPH, and Lente. Zinc is also necessary for the formation of insulin in the pancreas’s beta cells. For these reasons, researchers have looked at the role of zinc supplementation in the prevention and treatment of Type 2 diabetes—unfortunately, without success.

However, new light has been shed on the role of zinc in diabetes. In this month’s issue of Diabetes Care, Finnish researchers followed 1,050 adults with Type 2 diabetes for seven years. During that time, 156 participants died from heart disease and 254 had fatal or nonfatal heart attacks. Blood zinc levels were lower in people who died from heart disease compared to those who survived; also, zinc levels were lower in those who had heart attacks. The authors of this study speculate that, possibly because zinc has antioxidant properties, supplementation may be useful in warding off heart disease in people with Type 2 diabetes.

Don’t start popping zinc pills just yet (unless it’s under the supervision of your health-care team); we still need to learn more. Too much zinc can upset the balance of copper and iron in the body, can weaken the immune system, can lower levels of HDL (”good”) cholesterol, and can cause nausea and vomiting. Zinc supplements can interfere with the absorption and function of many medicines, including ACE inhibitors, some antibiotics, hormone replacement therapy, and corticosteroids. To be on the safe side, aim to get your zinc from food sources, as mentioned above. You’ll also get zinc if you take a multivitamin/multimineral supplement.

These same conditions and effects also apply to canine diabetes. When dealing with nutrition at the cell level, things are generally very similar between humans and dogs and cats.

I am of the firm belief that supplementing minerals is most effective with metal amino acid chelates like are found in Triad Performance Supplement and that feeding a balanced chelated mineral supplement is a part of the magic of opening the doors to longer life and a better quality of life for dogs and cats.

For additional nutrition information for your pets go to Build A Better Dog or the blog page