Vary Your Proteins
Rotate Your proteins on the Volhard Diet
Canines require a diverse diet to fulfill all their nutritional needs for optimal health.
Diverse diets play a pivotal role in canine nutrition by fostering a rich array of nutrients crucial for gut health and a balanced gut microbiome. These factors are intricately linked to the immune system, promoting resilience against illnesses and allergies. Without dietary diversity, dogs may face challenges such as imbalanced gut flora, compromised immunity, and heightened susceptibility to digestive issues like food sensitivities and nutrient deficiencies.
Stay Out Of The Rut! Vary Your Dog’s Proteins.
We tend to talk about doing 80/20 beef for 5 days, a Day of fish, a meal of dairy (whole fat yogurt or cottage cheese) and a fasting day or meal for most dogs. We won’t fast a puppy or an unwell pet. In this protocol, we also do Raw Meaty Bones a couple of times a week.
Even within that protocol, it’s ok to vary your proteins more often. Occasionally a day, a meal, or even a few days of turkey, pork, eggs, rabbit, duck, or venison is ok. Maybe even chicken — ideally organic.
Remember we don’t choose chicken often as it’s such a common inflammatory and allergen source. So I tend to not recommend it often — but some dogs will do fine on chicken. You just have to know your dog.
In the “typical” protocol listed above,
Beef is a neutral food that most dogs will do well on. It’s “neutral” in terms of 5-Element theory of warming and cooling foods.
We chose 80/20 ratio of beef because it gives us a good protein to fat ratio for your take. When prepared with the mix, we come in around 17% fat.
Friends I have periodically done the 73/27 from time time — especially for my seniors. Not often, but once in a while.
If you find yourself using 90/10 — it’s fine for a few days, but if you’re doing it regularly you will need to add fat to bring it back to and 80/20 ratio :-) So save the budget…. but if you find yourself in a bind and 90/10 is in the freezer — a meal or two is no big deal.
Taking a day or two off from rich muscle meat is beneficial to the kidneys. So move into alternate proteins a couple of times a week.
We choose whole fat yogurt and cottage cheese again, because your dogs is getting protein and fat in his diet. Kefir may be a good option on dairy day if you want to add even more variety and a bump in probiotics.
We choose a days of fish to help balance the Omega 3 needs of your dog. If your dog has a fish allergy - we have to find a source of Omega 3 for your dog. Camelina oil can be a good one. Chicken for example only gives Omega 6 (inflammatory).
Kefir, yogurt or cottage cheese (dairy day) are used to give the digestive system a chance to take a break for a couple of days from processing all that rich muscle meat, and to get some essential nutrients that are more readily available in these dairy products. It’s all about letting the digestive system try to mimic more of what would happen in nature.
If you end up feeding fish (or any leaner meats ) a lot more often or instead of the beef — you may find that you need to add a source of fat. We often us a small pat of Grass Fed Butter or unrendered beef fat from the butcher. How much is based on the total amount of food you’re feeding at that meal. Fish is much leaner than the 80/20 beef and could lead to weight loss.
You still want to stay within about 15-20% Fat for the meal
The calculation is generally as follows
(# lbs x 16 oz x .18) — where pounds is the pound of food not your dog’s weight.
Ground turkey is fine. So is ground pork, bison, etc. On an occassional basis, I don’t sweat the fat content. But if you use it regularly and it’s lean you may have to add back a fat just like we do for the fish.
You can even do an egg or two in your meal as a protein on some days, perhaps mix that with your dairy day.
If your dog has a dairy allergy, we can look at other options there as well
Consider Fasting a meal or a day. Many of you will struggle with the idea of a fasting meal. Using that time for a Raw Meaty Bone usually satisfies most dogs. But, if you can’t or won’t fast your dog — it’s ok :-) Fasting is about giving the digestive system time off the clock. The bone is good for cleaning the teeth! And enjoyment for your dog. (Don’t fast puppies and pregnant mamas. Fasting your senior is most usually fine — but might be worth discussing).
If you don’t do the fasting meal — try bone broth, kefir, raw goats milk, yogurt and honey, or cottage cheese.
By now you might be even more confused. Don’t panic. Be sure to schedule your first wellness review with me to make sure we review any unique considerations for your dog to help maximize the nutritional benefits. We can discuss the 5-Element theory, which proteins make the most sense for your dog and if any special considerations are needed when you do make a rotation.
You see we are trying to help get the diet optimized for your dog’s needs and to address underlying health issues if they exist. Customizing the food plan can help you do that!
Occasional variance and protein rotation is encouraged! It’s when you start making it your normal or only source of protein you need to consider more detail.