Food Lessons from Our Dogs
You may already know that we have two Wheaten Terriers (terrorists as we fondly call them). We’ve had them since they were puppies. Coco is 10 and Brick (brick house, brick head, colored like bricks as a baby) is 3. Here is what they’ve taught us, especially lately…
Brick has a bad habit of inhaling his food (any fast eater’s here??). At times, he will give himself a stomach ache when eating too fast, and especially because dogs don’t grind their food like us. So he proceeds to help himself vomit by eating grass, mulch, leaves, fake moss — basically anything that will help him gag.
One such time, after he’d had a mass of grass the size of a softball removed from his stomach, he was doing it again. The vet kindly (without charging) told us to give him a bland diet of cooked hamburger and white rice. I wasn’t about to feed Brick one thing and Coco another, and they both ate it up.
At this same time, Coco had become decreasingly interested in eating her expensive kibble, so when she got the chance to eat real food, she took it. In fact, she began trotting to her bowl rather than ignoring me as I prodded her to eat with much cajoling.
Lo and behold, both dogs improved so much in their digestion and behavior over a few days, that I decided to keep feeding them this bland diet with the addition of a nutritional supplement for joints and skin.
Brick soon resolved his digestive upset and was soon back to eating burger, rice and a little kibble but Coco only got human food. She has a long history of skin and ear infections, cysts (2 removed surgically) and as her vet affectionately describes her as hyper sensitive. Her immune system, much like ours, has been on overdrive since we got her. Consistent antibiotics, skin meds, ear meds and food changes were very normal. And even though we walked her daily, she was always overweight.
However, as I stopped feeding her dog food, she started losing weight. She was more energetic, alert and feisty. But she still had skin bacteria overgrowth that could not be tamed.
I began researching and experimenting with their foods from cooked beef to raw, no grains or fruit, to some veggies and probiotics, back to raw, back to cooked.
Finally, with a little help from our vet, we were able to find a consistent diet and topical oils that continues to improve her symptoms and energy. AND, she’s down 15 pounds!
Both dogs now eat a combination of meats and fish, rice, raw and cooked veggies, fruit, yogurt, coconut oil/butter, beef stock and dried beef liver (for treats). We walk 2-4m/day and they still have time for long naps, chasing rabbits and squirrels or watching the wind blow. What a life!
Now, here’s why I’m belaboring the details of this story to you, if you’re still reading: like my dogs, our food is either improving our function or slowing infecting us.
You may not be completely on board with food science but if you’ve never experimented with what you eat, I would strongly encourage you to do so!
Not only will improving your food quality increase your life expectancy, it will improve your outlook and digestion. And, if you’re not aware, your digestion is home to your immune system, mental health, energy storage and usage systems, elimination and absorption. Your gut is your second brain, and usually more communicative that the one in our heads.
I’m currently doing some experimenting based on the Bulletproof Diet, by Dave Asprey, along with about 25 other people. We’re testing out the convenience, quality and outcomes of eating foods that have low levels of inflammation, toxicity and sensitivities to most of us.
Why?
Because like Coco and Brick, our ability to feel our best, lose weight and live a disease-free, long life depends on how our body uses food, or even if it can. When we eat low-grade food with loads of supplements or preservatives, over-exercise, under-sleep, stress out, over-drink and under-nourish, it’s no wonder that we don’t feel amazing.
We can no longer ignore the reality that food is medicine. How we prescribe to it will either toxify us or heal us. We get to choose.
The lesser known result of intermittent fasting is increased interest in meal quality, cooking and nourishment. When we don’t eat randomly and start to pay attention to hunger and fullness, and then even adjust how often we eat to improve our digestion, meals suddenly become more valuable. We’re willing to invest in good food and prepare it so it tastes amazing since it’s not something we do every 2 hours without thinking.
Who would have guessed that decreasing meal frequency would increase meal quality? Not me, but it happens everyday with me and my Formula3 clients.
The food lessons from my dogs certainly aren’t unique but they are informative and applicable to us.
If you’re ready for some experiments of your own, reach out to me ~ kristen@klivfit.com
