Category Archives: Food

Feeding a Dog Commercial Vs Homemade Foods

To a great many of us our Dogs are special members of our family, where they become our loyal and reliable companions. We realize how much they depend on us as caregivers to take good care of them and feed them a healthy and safe diet.

All dogs, whatever their breed, love to eat and will usually eat anything offered to them. So, you need to be very sure that the dog food you offer to your dog provides him or her with all the nutritional benefits they need for health, vitality and longevity.

Commercial dog food may have all the necessary ingredients that your dog requires listed on the label, including the minerals and vitamins. But, these foods may not be the best choices if they contain unhealthy preservatives and additives that can impact your dog’s health and lifespan.

Because of this many caregivers may decide to make their own homemade dog food.

Although this may not be an absolutely perfect solution for your dog, it’s the closest thing there is to ensuring your dog gets a balanced, safe and healthy diet.

If you plan to begin feeding homemade dog food recipes, you should be aware of the pros vs the cons of giving these to your dogs.

Pros:

* You can choose whatever ingredients you want to use in the food. Therefore, you’ll know exactly what goes into your dog’s dish every day.

* Like human recipes, these have healthy, all natural ingredients and will even cost less in the long run than commercially manufactured dog food.

* Your local grocery store or supermarket should carry all the ingredients you’ll need to make most of the homemade dog food recipes.

* You’ll be able to prepare healthy, nutritious, as well as delicious foods for your dog without any fear it contains harmful preservatives and additives that are contained in the commercial products.

* The beneficial nutritients found in homemade meals can make your dog far more energetic and provide him or her with a much healthier existence.

* Homemade meals can even be prepared from healthy leftovers of human meals, and therefore nothing will be wasted.

Cons:

* Shopping for, choosing, deciding what to feed your dog and then preparing the meals can be a time consuming activity, opposed to just going for the easy option and buying ready to eat commercial dry or canned dog food.

* Preparing the right foods to feed your dog can also take quite a bit of knowledge. Figuring out the right balance in your dog’s diet can be kind of tricky and can take a good deal of research in order to find the healthiest ingredients you should be using, and which foods you need to avoid.

***PLEASE NOTE: You’ll need to be very careful with the ingredients you use because there are certain foods that can be extremely toxic for your dog.

The Answer:

There are a great many benefits of homemade dog food and an excellent choice to help keep your pet in optimal health.

And even though there are some disadvantages, if you do some research on how to correctly prepare the healthiest meals for your dog, and spend the necessary time doing so, you can overcome them.

You’ll be very happy you did!

This can be accomplished, provided you have a strong desire to ensure your dog is happy, healthy and long-lived.

Merits of Having Healthy Food

In the modern era of having everything at the touch of a fingertip, a diet plan has become a trend to reduce weight. Having a healthy diet food is important to have proper and controlled diet. Basically it’s necessary to stick to a particular diet chart when on a diet. Diet chart is a plan to meet up with proper nutritional requirements. Healthy diet food is the key to having a prosperous lifestyle and staying away from diseases. It is difficult to achieve a healthy lifestyle if we do not consume healthy food.

Healthy diet may be followed for reducing weight or gaining proper weight. Also in case of certain health problems such as hypertension and diabetes, doctors recommend a diet plan. Diet food is mostly comprised of:

  • Fresh fruits/Dry fruits- They have a great supply of energy, vitamins and minerals. Also provide refreshment to the body.
  • Vegetables- Essential for providing proteins and carbohydrates, Vegetables are the main constituent of any dietary meal.
  • Dairy products- For supplying the energy and providing certain nutrients.
  • Grain products- Rich sources of proteins and nutrients.

We may as well define the healthy foods into three categories:

  • Healthy protein diet food- This category includes the protein rich food. Fish, poultry products, dairy products; dry fruits etc are the main components of this category.
  • Healthy carbohydrates food- It comprises of sources abundant in carbohydrates. Mainly rice, sweet potatoes, beans are the main sources of it.
  • Healthy fat diet food- Though having much fatty food can cause obesity, having fats in a limited manner can be healthy. Oil supplements, seeds, peanuts, butter, ghee are a rich source of fats. Fats if consumed in a controlled manner can be classified as a part of healthy weight loss food.

A balanced healthy diet food must contain food from all the above three sources in a harmonious way. It helps in maintaining a proper and smooth lifestyle if we stick to healthy food. Many people follow a particular diet for a small period of time and then leave it. It’s important to note that healthy diet foods must be consumed continuously to maintain a fit body.

Most people think healthy diet food is quite bad in taste and there is no variety available to eat from. Weight loss food is quite savoury and has lots of items as well. Oily and junk food is not a part of healthy food. These food items are likely to cause many diseases and hazardous illnesses. For having a healthy diet one needs to avoid them. People who enjoy unhealthy diet food are likely to suffer from dangerous diseases such as cancer, hyper-tension, heart diseases and diabetes.

One must consume the correct amount of calories as calculated according to the diet plan. Each food item carries particular calories. It’s necessary to consult a nutritional expert regarding the amount of calories a particular food item provides. Consuming healthy food is one way to stay away from illnesses and staying fit. It is the key element for staying fit!!!