Pets &
Nutrition
by
Nina
Anderson
& Howard Peiper
 During the glacier age,
mineral rich soil was deposited over the Earth. However, erosion and chemical
farming methods have contributed to depletion of trace minerals from our
topsoil, and from the plants grown in this soil. When trace minerals are
deficient in our food and water, the body's defense systems cannot function
properly. Likewise, animals lacking proper amounts of copper, iron, selenium,
etc. have been found to be much more likely to develop disease.
Keeping the
immune system healthy
can reduce the need for constant antibiotic
treatment.
Most people and animals are
usually prescribed drugs — specifically antibiotics and vitamins — at
times when they are ill. However, antibiotics kill germs and rarely discriminate
between good and bad germs. When the 'good' germs are constantly assaulted by
antibiotics, the 'bad' germs can become supergerms which may become impervious
to drugs. Keeping the immune system healthy can reduce the need for constant
antibiotic treatment.
Vitamins are fortifiers and
control the body's appropriation of minerals. However, if there are no vitamins
and no trace minerals, the body has no fusion to perform and therefore the
vitamins are useless. Additionally, replacing minerals in both your diet and
your pet's diet is essential.
Minerals + Diet = Health
An example of this is seen
in race horses in upstate New York who were given crystalloid minerals.
(Crystalloid means that minerals bypass the digestive system and are absorbed
directly into cell walls, strengthening the immune system.) A marked improvement
was seen in the animals' behavior. The horses were much more alert, less nervous
and jumpy. Their coats improved, and one horse with a two year old bare patch of
skin from a prior injury began to grow back its hair. Muscle soreness and
stiffness disappeared, and the horse's racing ability improved.
Proteins may also not be
assimilated well, if trace minerals are deficient. This is important if your
pet's diet doesn't include raw green foods in addition to the meat found in most
pet food. You may be enjoying dinner and feeding your dog a premium food, but
both of you may still be starving nutritionally because the food is unable to be
processed. Properly balanced minerals with electrolytes (the electrical charge
for your body's battery) would be a wise investment to keep the immune system
working correctly. Supplementing diets with individual minerals may help
somewhat. However, you may not be administering the required dose needed, or you
may be upsetting the body's mineral balance. One should add to their diet a
mineral supplement that contains all the needed minerals in the proper amounts.
Enzymes Are Important
Enzymes are
catalysts for many biological functions. Without them life would not exist —
for they are the driving force behind all life processes. Enzymes are
responsible for keeping your internal systems working, and a lack of sufficient
quantities of enzymes may promote degenerative disease. Only raw or uncooked
foods contain enzymes and since almost all pet food is processed with heat, or
cooked, the enzymes are destroyed. Every animal is born with an integral supply
of enzymes. Unfortunately, as generations go by and less enzymes are taken into
the body, those stores are used up.
Dr. Edward
Howell, as early as 1920, discovered this association between enzyme intake and
health. He theorized that, normally, enzymes are present in foods used for the
digestion of that food. If they are not present, then the body's store of
enzymes must be diverted for digestion, leaving fewer enzymes to fight disease
and perform essential bodily functions.
Research indicates that most
animals, including canines and birds, have distinct organs that allow the food
enzymes time to act before initiating the body's own digestive process. This
pre-digestion is important to the body's absorption of nutrients. If it is not
present, the food may pass through the system without benefit of vitamins and
proteins. Your pets may live as long, but their quality of life suffers.
A study of Dr. Francis
Pottenger's cats (over 600 of them) revealed that when the animals were fed only
cooked or processed food over many generations, degenerative disease presented
itself at younger and younger ages. These animals suffered from kidney, heart,
thyroid and gum diseases, as well as allergies, infections and a host of other
maladies. They had fewer enzymes to give their offspring, resulting in minimal
reserves of enzymes in the ensuing generations. We have seen this evidenced in
the early onset of arthritic conditions.
Supplementing Is Wise
Enzymes are normally lost
through sickness, pregnancy, stress, extreme weather conditions, urine and
feces. Unless you replace these, your pet's immune system will be compromised.
Please note that this is the same for humans — as exhibited by our younger
generations developing earlier cases of heart disease, arthritis and
susceptibility to allergies. If your pets depend on canned or dried food, it is
necessary to consider supplementing their diet with nutritional enzymes. If your
diet lacks lots of raw foods, they you may want to take supplements too.
Enzymes are
available in capsule, pill or powder form at health food stores. Powders can
readily be mixed into pet food. An alternative is to grow wheat or barley
grasses in small containers either in soil or hydroponically. Your pet can then
munch to their hearts content or you can chop up the greens and stir it into
their food. Regardless of which method you choose, the addition of live enzymes
to your pet's diet will fortify their immune system and help prevent
degenerative disease.
This
article was
excerpted from "Are You Poisoning Your Pets?"
by Nina Anderson & Howard Peiper. The book is out of print and has been
incorporated into a new book,
Super Nutrition for Dogs n' Cats.
Info/Order the book
(Super Nutrition)
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