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Dog Walks & More
California Pet Care Newsletter
"Cool Tips for Hot Pets"
Developing Lifelong Good
Health for Your Pet
You may wonder to yourself, “If money is tight and we can’t afford the different health supplements that are recommended for our pets, what is the most important supplement that we can give to our pets that will impact their health quickly and positively?” Our answer to that question is, “Enzymes.”
Click here to review our pet enzyme suggestions.
Your pet’s bodily functions and the production of energy to fuel all of these functions are impacted by enzymes. Enzymes are one of the most studied substances scientifically, and yet many of us do not know their incredible value for our pets as a food supplement. Researchers have identified over 2700 enzymes in an animal’s body so far, and each one produces one type, and only one type, of chemical reaction (Cickoke, p. 5). As amazing as it seems, the absence of a single type of enzyme can cause death. “Without them, many of the body’s chemical reactions would never take place. Without enzymes, there would be no breathing, no digestion, no growth, no blood coagulation, no perception of the senses, and no reproduction.... No person, plant, or animal could exist without them.” (Cickoke, p. 6).
What is an enzyme?
Enzymes are chemical catalysts that are made up of proteins. A catalyst is something that helps a process work more efficiently. Many of the chemical processes in an animal’s body could take place without catalysts at much higher temperatures, temperatures which would damage their bodies. In the presence of enzymes, these chemical reactions can take place at low temperatures and allow the animal’s body to safely convert large amounts of energy for growth and development. Enzymes also provide their bodies with the ability to sustain long periods of movement while giving resistance to illness.
By now, you’re probably convinced that enzymes are rather important to the health, vitality and the proper functioning of your pet’s body. Although not all health counselors are in agreement, we believe the following:
Every day when pets wake up and start to
walk, run and play, their bodies use enzymes
to carry out life functions, as it burns nutrients
from food to create energy. Therefore, their
bodies need to replace these enzymes daily.
How can their bodies replace these enzymes?
If pets eat plenty of raw foods every day, their
bodies will receive a good supply of enzymes.
How much raw food is needed to supply their bodies with its daily needs of enzymes? Dr. Ted Morter in his book, Health and Wellness, believes that at least 80% of an animal’s diet should be made up of raw foods to supply their bodies with its enzymatic needs. A 100% raw food diet will be ideal, but an 80% raw food diet is still going to keep your animal in excellent health.
However, the majority of domesticated pets today are fed cooked and processed foods without any raw foods. Some pet owners give their pets a few pieces of raw vegetables for snacks, but that’s not even close to the recommended 80% daily raw food intake. It’s convenient to feed pets already prepared canned and dried commercially purchased foods but these foods have no enzymes. (There are no enzymes in these store bought foods because the enzymes in raw foods are rendered inactive when foods are cooked and processed). Even if pets are fed some raw foods, they may not have sufficient enzymes because most of these foods have been treated with pesticides which may inactivate enzymes (Cickoke, p. 48).
Pets might be fed the best of store bought foods, but if they are cooked, no matter the amount of vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, and essential fatty acids they have, these nutrients will not be readily available for their bodies to use because the enzymes are no longer in the food. In a healthy pet there are sufficient digestive enzymes to handle the breakdown of foods for a period of time but often this ability begins to wane as they age and sufficient “self-made” enzymes are no longer available to do the job of breaking down their processed and cooked foods into digestible nutrients. In order to unlock the nutrients within food, it becomes essential to add enzymes to their diet. In fact, many vets believe that chronic diseases are the result of lack of enzymes (Cickoke, pp. 113-114).
What type of enzyme supplement
should you consider?
Of all the enzymes available in the market today, plant-based enzymes are preferred by most vets because of their ability to function optimally at body temperature with all four food groups: protein, fat, carbohydrate, and fiber. In addition, plant-based enzymes function in both acid and alkaline conditions (pH ranging from 2 to 12) (Cickoke,pp. 18-21).
If you’re looking for a noticeable difference in your pet’s health and vitality, give it enzyme supplements with its cooked and processed foods and also on empty stomach. Enzymes are truly “genies in a bottle” that can help your pet’s body make available all of the nutrients in its diet instead of just a few.
Click here to review our pet enzyme suggestions.
References:
Anthony J. Cickoke, D.C. (1994). Enzymes and Enzyme Therapy. New Canaan , Connecticut : Keats Publishing, Inc.
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