and How to Fill in Nutritional Gaps with Real Foods
Congratulations! You’ve taken the plunge and are now preparing your dog’s food. You want your dog getting nutrition from real food. The one concern many raw dog food chefs have is that the diet is complete and balanced. Following are 6 nutrient deficiencies in DIY raw diets, along with whole food sources that can easily be added to your dog’s dish to achieve balance.
The Importance of a Balanced Diet
Our dogs thrive on a balanced diet, with nutrients from fresh, whole-food sources just like we do. While kibble dog food is complete and balanced, many dogs do tend to develop issues after eating the same thing for every meal, day in and day out over the course of many years.
Issues sometimes show up in kibble fed dogs whether or not the dog ate a complete and balanced diet. This is simply from lack of variety and living nutrition that would otherwise support your dog’s gut health with whole food sources. Heating and extrusion processes to make kibble dog foods essentially sterilize the food. Good for profit margins, but not the best for our canine friends’ health.
Following amounts vary, but are based on a healthy, adult 50# dog and a 1000 kcal/day diet. Additionally, this assumes you’re feeding a variety of proteins and that your dog’s diet already has enough calcium and macronutrients. This is for a Prey Model 80/10/10 raw diet or a BARF 70/10/10/10 diet. Rotate through these foods to achieve balance over the course of a week. I used NRC requirements for daily amounts.
6 Nutrient Deficiencies in DIY Raw Diets: and Real Foods to Supply Them
1. Magnesium
Magnesium is needed for proper metabolic function, enzymatic systems, and metabolism. Moreover, if your dog is stressed or anxious, she burns through a lot of magnesium in day to day life. Therefore, it benefits anxious and stressed dogs to get 100% of their magnesium requirements. Most raw diets provide 60%-70% of your dog’s magnesium requirement.
A 50 pound dog requires 45mg of magnesium per day.
- Pumpkin seeds
- Spinach and Chard (serve steamed)
- Barley Grass: You can buy this at natural food stores.
- Fish: Sardines, herring, mackerel or other small fish
2. Iodine
Another one of the nutrient deficiencies in DIY raw diets is iodine. Iodine helps support thyroid health and overall glandular function in the body. Additionally, your dog’s skin and coat health will suffer if iodine is lacking. This will be evident in dry, flaky skin, and a dull coat. If your dog has hyperthyroidism, talk to your vet before adding iodine to the diet. Iodine is lacking in most raw diets.
The daily iodine requirement for a 50 pound dog is 175 micrograms (mcg)
- Kelp: This is the best source for iodine in a dog’s diet. There are many optimal, canine-specific kelp supplements on the market. Simply add the recommended amount to your dog’s meals.
- Spirulina: This sea vegetable offers a host of benefits from being an anti-inflammatory and strong immune support. 1/4tsp per pound of food is safe to feed your dog. This means about 1/2 teaspoon of spirulina per day would help fill this gap.
3. Manganese
Magnese is important for joint health, bone and cartilage health, supports enzyme function, and fatty acid production. Manganese is a one of the common nutrient deficiencies in DIY raw diets. All raw diets are low in this mineral.
The manganese requirement for a 50 pound dog is 1.2mg/day.
- Mussels: 1oz is needed for a 50 pound dog each day. Mussels are also relatively inexpensive at the grocery store frozen food section. You can use blue mussels or green lipped mussels.
- Ground Ginger: Use actual ginger spice, not fresh ginger. 2-3tsp/day fulfill the requirement
- Pumpkin Seeds: 1oz/day meet requirement (that’s about 1.5tbsp)
- Spinach: This is rather low in spinach, about 4 oz fills the requirement. If you’re adding spinach for other nutrients, this helps.
4. Zinc
Zinc is vital for enzymatic function, thyroid health, and protein synthesis. Zinc is also fairly low in raw diets. Chicken and pork diets tend to have less zinc then beef or other red meat diets. Zinc deficiencies show up rather quickly. Generally, within 2 weeks you’ll notice a dull coat and dry, itchy skin. This is likely due to a zinc deficiency.
A 50 pound dog needs 15mg of zinc/day.
- Oysters: 1/2oz (about 2 oysters) cover this requirement each day. Canned oysters are wonderful and reasonably priced. Make sure to rinse them first! You can steam them first as well.
- Organs like eyeballs and testicles are also great sources. However, these are pretty hard to find unless you’re close to a farmer! Odd organs like this can also be ordered online from purveyors of specialty products. I hear that Raw Feeding Miami has all kinds of exotic parts, sourced specifically for our Best Friends!
- Wheatgrass: 1tsp/day supports zinc requirements. You can even grow wheatgrass on your kitchen counter!
5. Vitamin E
Vitamin E is an antioxidant and protects immune health. Also, vitamin E supports eye, skin, and heart health. Vitamin E is one of the common nutrient deficiencies in DIY raw diets.
The daily requirement for a 50 pound dog is 7.5mg or 11.2iu.
- Nuts and Seeds: Almonds, sunflower seeds. 1oz/1.5TBSP meet daily requirement. Like other fatty foods, these should be fed in moderation. It is also advised to soak and puree them first so the nutrients are more bioavailable. You should NEVER feed whole almonds. If supplying vitamin E with nuts, I recommend keeping these as part of a rotation, and not an all-the-time supplement.
- Sprouts: Microgreens rock! Use your sunflower seeds to grow these on your counter, snip off a small amount, and toss it in your Best Friend’s dish at mealtime.
- Wheatgrass: You can grow these microgreens as well.
- Cod Liver Oil: This contains vitamin D as well. Follow dosing recommendations.
- Eggs: Feeding eggs 2-4 times a week supports vitamin E requirements.
6. Vitamin D
Vitamin D is beneficial for bone health, growth, immune system support, and cell, muscle and heart health. Vitamin D is also one of the common nutrient deficiencies in DIY raw diets. Kibble diets are also quite low in vitamin D.
The daily vitamin D requirement for a 50 pound dog is 3.4 micrograms (mcg) or 136 iu/day.
- Fish: Small fish like sardines, herring, and mackeral are good bets. These don’t grow and accumulate heavy metals and toxins like fish who are higher on the food chain. Remember, you can also feed these small fish to cover magnesium requirements. A two for one!
- Mushrooms: These need to be cooked before sharing them with your dog. To share mushrooms sautee them first or make a broth to pour over food. Simmer mushrooms in water for about an hour. This freezes well too!
- New studies are finding that mushrooms exposed to sunlight are shockingly high in vitamin D. If this is the case, the package will say “UV Exposed” or “High in Vitamin D”. If you can’t find these, just put your regular mushrooms out in the sun with the gill (underside) facing up for 15 minutes. 3 ounces/day fills the requirement.
Tips with Seed and Nut Preparation
Seeds and nuts contain phytic acid and compounds referred to as “anti-nutrients”. Antinutrients block the absorption of other minerals. To rid them of these, soak your seeds and nuts in warm water overnight. In the morning, drain, rinse and, puree them. I add a small amount of water to make a thick nut paste.
Then, add measured tablespoons of the amount your dog needs into silicone molds and freeze them. Viola! A rich source of vital vitamins and minerals to drop into your Best Friend’s dish!
Of course, if you’re this far into a raw feeding journey, you are aware that Macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans, and pistachios are off limits for our Best Friends.
Since nuts are so high in fat, they are a small portion of our vitamin E rotation and aren’t fed on a regular basis. We prefer to stick to the plant and microgreen sources.
You’ve Got This!
Remember, by choosing to feed your dog a DIY raw diet, you’re not taking the easy route. Raw feeding is a committment, and most certainly not for everyone. That’s OK!
Rest assured that it doesn’t have to be perfect! If you’re researching, learning, and rotating through a variety of foods, you will fill nutrient gaps before they become problematic. While there are nutrient deficiencies in DIY raw diets, if you’re following the process, you will fill them.
A well-respected raw diet advocate once told me, “It’s much easier to create imbalances and nutrient deficiences by feeding the same thing for every meal over years and years than it is by feeding a fresh, species appropriate diet.” Keep at it! Your Best Friend thanks you!