Welcome And Topic Setting

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Welcome to the Animal Naturopathic Medicine Educatum podcast, specializing in canine, feline, and equine animal health from a biological perspective.

When Fruit Fits A Carnivore Diet

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Today's discussion is the appropriateness of adding fruit to a carnivore diet. Feeding fruits is safe as they do provide nutrients, fiber and vitamins, but they should never replace vegetables. Fruits are naturally higher in complex sugars, so they should be consumed in moderation, no more than 5% of a daily diet at all times. Remember that dogs are carnivores, so all plant-based foods, i.e. fruit comes from a plant. They need to be kept as beneficial additions to the diet, not the main food source.

Preparation Matters More Than You Think

SPEAKER_00 1:17

The way you prepare the fruit is just as important as it is for the vegetables, to ensure the benefits of why you are adding fruit to the diet. For maximum benefits and digestibility, fruit can be blended to a raw puree. Pureing the fruit breaks down the cell walls of the plant material, making it easier for dogs to digest.

Sugar Spikes Teeth And Weight Risks

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Now one major point that is often not discussed in canine nutrition is that once the cellulose wall is broken down by pulverizing or blending the fruit, this action concentrates the natural sugar of the dissipated fiber. The carnivore body then absorbs these free sugars faster, causing quicker spikes in blood sugar, and this can result in weight gain and the development of diabetes. Now this would not be so much of a problem for a herbivore animal. So the dog is and will always be a carnivore designed for raw protein energy, not carbohydrate energy transfer. But also a carnivore's teeth enamel is much weaker than a herbivore and cannot protect the teeth from these sugars. This will lead to faster tartar buildup and possible decay of the canine teeth. If the dog was simply eating a whole piece of fruit, the dog's carnivore digestive system is not able to obtain any nutrients provided by that non-pulverized piece of fruit. And this is why fruit suggestions within the biological diet is considerably low in comparison to adding vegetables to a diet. The inclusion of fruit needs to be truly assessed if it is required at all, or if there is a more appropriate alternative for possible benefits that the nutritionist is wishing to obtain within the diet for that dog.

Gut Flora Kibble And Urinary Issues

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Even though fruits in moderation are good for antioxidants, the too much free sugar aspect ingesting can create issues in the carnivore's digestive tract, as the sugars when fed in excess will change the gut flora and can cause gastrointestinal upsets and diarrhoea. Especially if the diet the pet is currently on already contains high sugars in the form of a kibble diet. Kibble is predominantly formed with a grain andor legume base, and then if fruit is added to this diet, that's a lot of sugar and a lot of starch being consumed by a dog, which can heavily impact various liver, kidney and urinary problems, including increased urination and the high risk of urinary tract infection. High sugar intake irritates the bladder lining and fuels bacteria growth within carnivores, while also causing the body to try to produce more concentrated urine to expel excess glucose. However, sugar also increases thirst in the carnivore, meaning that as the natural bodily responses of creating concentrated urine to expel the excess glucose, it gets inhibited by the alkalizing effects of increased water intake, resulting in the urine becoming too alkaline and preventing removal of the excess glucose. Excess sugar acts as a bladder stimulant, leading to an overactive bladder and can contribute to potential leaks like incontinence, where messages from the nervous and endocrine system are overlapping and getting lost. The long-lasting effects of high sugar diets puts immense pressure on the kidneys. High blood sugar levels from excess intake can damage the kidney's filtering system over time, potentially leading to chronic kidney disease once pets reach adulthood after many years on an inappropriate diet.

Seasonality And Health Warnings

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Vegetables are more biologically appropriate for dogs as they contain less or no naturally occurring sugars. Remember, fruit is seasonal too. It's not a food source that would normally be consumed daily by a domesticated carnivore. A little note of caution here: any dogs that are on blood thinners or have kidney disease should not be consuming fruit due to the increased blood sugar levels when ingested, as this will be contradictive to any medication.

Grapes Raisins And Real Toxicity

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Alright, let's look at some toxic fruits for carnivores. So grapes and the versions of dried grapes, as in sultanas, raisins, and currants. If the pet accidentally eats one or two, it'll be okay. But it must be noted that the dosage range varies dramatically from breed and size. So always keep these fresh and dried grape varieties far away from dogs.

Stones Pits And Choking Hazards

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Next things to think about are seeds, pits and stones that are in fruits. You know, like stone fruits. You have peaches and plums, apricots, cherries. But also don't forget the large stone that's in an avocado. All stones can be a choking hazard as well and could cause a blockage in the small intestine. Generally, all of the fruit flesh is not toxic. Okay, we're only looking at the toxic aspect of seeds, pits, and stones. The fruit flesh, normally good.

Apple Seeds Cyanide And Dose Reality

SPEAKER_00 7:59

There are things like a toxic seed though, so some fruits do contain seeds that can be toxic. For example, apple seeds, they contain cyanide. So yes, cyanide is toxic, however, appleseeds contain a minute amount of cyanide. This means there's only a risk if your dog eats huge quantities of apple seeds, as the amount of cyanide within a few seeds of a single apple is so minimal that it's rarely not a concern. So apple seeds contain amygdalin. So when crushed or chewed, the amygdalin transforms into hydrogen cyanide. At high levels, cyanide is dangerous to both people and pets. But as an example, it would take 10 grams for a 25 kilo dog to have acute poisoning of cyanide, which, when calculated at a rate of 0.4 milligrams of cyanide for every kilo of body weight, this means that it will roughly take 20 apple seeds to create 1 gram. And within that 1 gram of apple seeds, only 0.24 milligrams of cyanide can be made. So this means the pet would have to eat over 833 apple seeds in order to reach the 10 grams of cyanide to cause toxicity in a 25 kilo dog. That is a lot of seeds and a lot of apples.

Moderation Balance And Wrap Up

SPEAKER_00 9:38

So when it comes to healthy diets, moderation and balance are key. As we have learned, preparation and portion control is very important when feeding fruit. And as a reminder in this discussion, the inclusion of fruit needs to be truly assessed if it is at all required or if there is a more appropriate alternative for the possible health benefits that you, the nutritionist, is wishing to obtain for a particular dog. Okay, I hope that was very helpful for you today, hearing it from a different perspective perhaps. And I look forward to helping you again next time. So bye for now, everyone, and thanks again.