The Many Benefits of Rice

In recent years, there has been a surge in dog diets that exclude (grain-free) or limit (low-grain) the presence of grains in our four-legged friends’ diets. Why this trend? Is it just a fad, or are there genuine health reasons behind it? Allevastore is here to answer your questions and address your concerns.

Should you feed your dogs grains?

Unlike cats, which are obligate carnivores (or strict carnivores), dogs are omnivores, although they still need a meat-based diet to stay healthy and get the nutrients they need. Including grains in their diet is therefore possible, but with the right precautions—first and foremost, avoiding dry dog food and wet food where grains are the first ingredient. This would make their diet deficient in the nutrients they need and put them at risk of gaining weight, especially if Fido leads a sedentary lifestyle. Canine obesity is, in fact, a serious problem that negatively impacts the animal’s health; there are even breeds that are genetically predisposed to gaining weight (a good reason to thoroughly research a breed’s health risks before purchasing one), so paying close attention to your pet’s diet is essential.

From a nutritional standpoint, dogs are able to metabolize carbohydrates and use them for energy, so going crazy trying to recreate the wolf’s “ancestral diet” and feeding it to your pet is pointless and sometimes harmful, because while dogs do need a meat-based diet like wolves, 10,000 years of evolution have taken their toll, and a wolf’s ideal diet may lack the nutrients necessary for our domestic dog. So, unless your veterinarian advises you to eliminate carbohydrates from your dog’s diet, you can continue to feed them kibble containing grains.

Which grains should you choose?

While it is true that our dogs can metabolize the carbohydrates in grains and convert them into energy, it is also true that there are certain grains that are better choices for their diet.

Wheat, for example, is easily digested by their digestive system, leading to an increased supply of energy that, if not used, is converted into fat—an energy reserve; for this reason, it’s best to avoid it if you have a dog that doesn’t get much exercise.

It’s best to choose whole grains, which release energy over a longer period of time, helping your dog use it gradually throughout the day.

Brown rice, in particular, is an excellent choice for your dog’s diet: it has a low glycemic index. This results in a slower release of glucose in the intestines compared to traditional starch sources, which means sustained energy and a greater sense of fullness for your dog.

Thanks to its nutritional properties, this grain is well-suited to meeting a variety of dietary needs in dogs and is a key ingredient in several Allevastore dry food lines. In fact, it is found in the Allevastore Natural line, designed for a more traditional yet“low-grain”approach, and the Allevastore Equilibrium line, which is further divided into the Weight Control and Sensitive categories, designed respectively for overweight dogs and those with sensitive digestive systems.

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