Grain and Potato Free Dog Foods

[InkedMarieMember]

Darford Zero-both turkey & chicken and sardine, whitefish & shrimp
Nature’s Variety Instinct-all including raw boost
Canine Caviar-all grainfree’s
Nutrisca-all grainfree’s
Brothers Complete-all
Back to Basics-all grainfree’s
NutriSource grainfree-all except the large breed chicken & large breed lamb
The Honest Kitchen-Zeal only
Earthborn-Meadow Feast and Great Plains
Great Life-all
Wysong Epigen-fish formula
Nature’s Select grain free-all
Precise grain free-both
Avoderm-their revolving menu only
Spring Meadows-all
Zignature-all
Nutripe-all
Victor grainfree-all
Evo weight management
Evo herring & salmon
Innova Prime-all
California Natural grain free-salmon & peas, kangaroo & lentils, chicken
Horizon Legacy-all
Horizon Pulsar-both
Horizon Amicus-all
Grandma Lucy’s Pureformance-all
Evangers grainfree-both
Sojos grainfree-all
NRG-Maxim
Ziwi Peak-all of the air dried
DNA-all
Freehand-Energize only
Great Life Pioneer Naturals grain free-all
Red Moon-high protein chicken, moderate protein chicken only
Grandma Mae’s Country Natural-grainfree only
Pet Botanics-Healthy Omega only

[InkedMarieMember]

Mike, I sent you an email in the “contact us” form, asking you to make the above a sticky. Thank you!

[Mike SagmanAdmin]

Great job, Marie! This will be an invaluable addition to our community reference material. Thanks for posting it.

[InkedMarieMember]

if you only knew how often I’ve typed most of that up….

[mcaponigroMember]

You need to watch sweet potatoes if your pooch has any issues with yeast. The sugar contant can wreak havoc. One of the things I don’t like about grain free foods is that the binders are either tapioca, white or sweet potatoes. These are very high is starch and/or sugar.

Mike

[InkedMarieMember]

Mike, thats why this list is here, it is potato free

[Hound Dog MomMember]

mcaponigro –

I agree. I think some are led to believe a grain-free or grain-free/white potato free food is automatically superior or “species appropriate”, which isn’t the case. There are some wonderful grain-free and white potato free foods, but many more that are low protein, high carb and in no way species-appropriate. Whether the binder is grain, potato, tapioca or legumes – one must keep in mind that none are appropriate foods for a dog (carnivore) to be eating. The most important thing when feeding dry food is – in my opinion – focus more on maximizing meat content and protein content rather than picking a food based on which binder it uses. It’s also important to remember that just because a food contains an ingredient that is high glycemic doesn’t necessarily mean that the food is high glycemic – for an example, Orijen – which contains white potato – is one of the few foods certified low glycemic by the glycemic research institute. I think the only way one can truly avoid these high carb fillers is to go with an all meat or all meat and non-starchy vegetable canned food or feed a homemade diet free from grains and other starches.

[ShawnaMember]

Hi Mike ~~ I know of (actually recommended to them) several people who have successfully won the battle with candida feeding their dogs foods, like The Honest Kitchen, with sweet potato in it.

If you look at Nutritiondata.com — sweet potato has a lower glycemic load at 17 then long grain white rice at 24. The glycemic load of oats is 57 and barley is 19. Also note that the “inflammation factor” of both rice and oats is “strongly inflammatory”, barley is “moderately inflammatory” while the sweet potato is “strongly anti-inflammatory”. Plus, sweet potato doesn’t bind with minerals and prevent their absorption like grians. None of the other pitfalls of grains either. I’ll take sweet potato over grains and white potato any day.. However, I agree with HDM that any binder that is used in excess is not species appropriate and can be detrimental.

I don’t know what type of tapioca is used in the dog foods that use it but…. The following research was done on mice so may not be relevant to dogs and humans but guessing it is. “High-hydroxypropylated tapioca starch improves insulin resistance in genetically diabetic KKAy mice.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19397723

Sweet potato http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2667/2
Rice http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5712/2
Oats http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5708/2
Barley http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5680/2

[InkedMarieMember]

Mike,
I think you’re the only one who can edit the list….can you add Orijen Regional Red Whole Prey to the list?

thanks!

[GSDsForeverMember]

InkedMarie,

Is your list intended to exclude white potatoes only, or both white potatoes (high glycemic) and sweet potatoes (low glycemic)?

If it doesn’t exclude sweet potatoes, you might add Timberwolf’s Platinum line also. All of their foods, both lines, are low glycemic, but the Platinum line specifically excludes grains and the carbs are chickpeas, sweet potatoes, etc. no white potatoes. The foods are high protein/low carb, nutrient dense & high calorie, all high Omega 3, and explicitly designed to be species appropriate.

Others may disagree, but I favor foods with sweet potatoes in them for the numerous nutritional and health protective benefits they offer. I also especially like to see lentils, for similar reasons.

[Hound Dog MomMember]

Well because Sojo’s and Brother’s are listed and they contain sweet potato, I’m assuming she’s including foods that contain sweet potato but don’t contain white potato.

[InkedMarieMember]

Gsds: I will change the heading to say white potato free. When I’m on my computer, I’ll add the Timberwolf, if it indeed is grain/potato free.
Thanks!

[GSDsForeverMember]

Hey thanks HoundDogMom & InkedMarie.

InkedMarie, thank you for your work on that list & sharing it with others!

I never knew such a list was anywhere to be found when I had to search on my own for lowest glycemic foods (plus in my case, ~35-45% protein foods, moderate to high fat w/ low carb AND chicken-free). This was about 1 1/2 yrs ago, and I felt like I had very few choices and they were hard to track down. Potatoes were a big issue.

I’m still not sure how I feel about tapioca, which caused me anxiety looking at foods, because I’ve read conflicting things. (The “jury’s still out” in my own head, lol.) Lentils & such were easier for me to grasp as being low glycemic (as in Innova Prime & Horizon Pulsar), have added health protective effects (like anti-cancer), and I knew from homemade feeding experimenting that my dog digests them well. Any of the starchy carbs, even sweet potatoes, I don’t want to see make up a big part of the ingredients.

I liked Natura’s product line before, but I really hate Proctor & Gamble and it was killing me to purchase Evo or Innova Prime, both on ethical/moral grounds (unrelated to the food) and because I don’t trust their commitment to quality standards in the best interest of our dogs. Other brands manufactured by Diamond, like Solid Gold, I felt unsafe using. Nature’s Variety I felt so so about buying, in terms of the ingredients & pricing — though I liked the company better. Anyway, some brands here I knew about, but others like Darford Zero and DNA I’d never seen or heard of before this site. So I’m sure your list will help people a lot as a resource.

Oh, my Stella & Chewy’s (Duck Duck Goose) does not include any grains or starchy veggies of any kind. So it could go on the list as well. Love that brand. I *think* that may be true for all the freeze dried medallion formulas. Seeing Honest Kitchen’s Zeal on the list reminded me. (My dog far prefers S&C to HK, and I like S&C’s ingredients & use of organic items better).

[GSDsForeverMember]

HoundDogMom,

I’m really enjoying your posts, here and elsewhere. They are super interesting, well expressed, & I’m frequently finding myself agreeing with them and always finding them good food for thought. Just thought I’d say so, since I’ve been reading them!

Cindy
(I’m not sure why it makes me use two different names, one for forums & one for the reviews and articles)

[InkedMarieMember]

Cindy, HDM knows more about animal nutrition than I’ll ever know. Still on my iPad, will jump on the computer later and change the title. Why I made this list is because dogs with yeast issues tend to do better on foods without white potato or grains.

[GSDsForeverMember]

InkedMarie,

Dogs who have or have had cancer ALSO desperately need low glycemic foods without simple carbs, because cancer feeds selectively, preferentially off sugar vs. fat or protein or fiber. After a cancer diagnosis, diet is an incredibly important part of the most successful recommended *treatment*.

Given that an incredibly high percentage of all dogs and cats suffer at some point from cancer, you are also really helping those dogs and their guardians with the list. By one statistic, half of all dogs and cats now die of cancer.

(Protein needs in dogs affected by cancer are higher because the body competes with the cancer for the protein, with the cancer robbing some from the healthy body, while dogs’ healthy bodies need protein for muscle & tissue repair and building.)

[InkedMarieMember]

Hey Dr Mike,
Can you change my list above, add Timberwolf: Platinum line only and change the title of the thread to grain and white potato free?

thank you!

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