Why You Want to Rotate Your Proteins
Rotating proteins is essential in achieving an overall balanced diet and providing the furry guys all of the essential amino acids they need to be healthy! 👍
Dogs and cats require 22 amino acids in their diet to thrive! Dogs manufacture 12 of them on their own while cats only manufacture 11. They rely on animal protein to acquire the amino acids they are unable to manufacture. 🥩🍗🍖🐟
Different proteins provide different amino acids, as well as different vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Rotating our proteins is a sure fire method to ensure we're including all of the required amino acids to allow our furry guys to thrive! 🐾
Rotating proteins not only benefits our furry guys regarding getting sufficient amino acids, it also helps prevent food fatigue. Food fatigue occurs when we eat the same thing over and over and over again...who wants to do that? Nobody! Especially not the furry guys! 😉
Rotating proteins and brands or serving a combination of food types, also helps to improve and strengthen the furry guys gut health! Their health, just like our health, starts in the gut! When we can get and keep the gut healthy, we can keep the animal healthy. Providing a consistently diverse diet with lots of variety strengthens the gut and promotes diversity in the diet. ✅
Many folks may say, "Well hold on a second, whenever I change my furry guy's food, they get an upset tummy". This could very well be because we've been feeding the same food for an extensive amount of time. If you and I ate nothing but chicken and broccoli for the next six months, then on the seventh month we sat down to eat a steak, it would hurt! It would hurt because our bodies have become accustomed to only having to process chicken and broccoli, we've essentially weakened the strength of our gut. The same thing happens to the furry guys when they eat the same thing day in and day out for extensive periods of time. 😬
Now you may be asking, "how often should I rotate proteins?" Which is a really great question! Once your furry guy is used to rotating, you can rotate or combine proteins every meal! If your furry family is used to only one protein, you can start gradually introducing different proteins and over time, they'll be able to process a different protein every meal and everyday! Gradually usually makes up about 25% of the entire bowl. Typically you could replace 25% of your pet's existing meal with a different protein or a fresh option. You'll make sure there's no upset tummy and each day you can gradually increase the amount of new food! 😀
Rotating proteins, brands, supplements and fresh options as well as creating that diverse buffet in the bowl is the best thing we can do to keep our furry guys healthy with a happy, strong gut! So next time you're shopping for your furry family, be sure to grab a variety of protein options to gradually introduce and get a diverse diet for your furry family! 💙