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The new ProPlanBright dog food promotes itself as nourishing a dog’s aging brain. Am wondering if there are specific ingredients that could just be added to any dog food that would offer the same benefit?….Darsie
Fish oil is suppose to be a brain and eye benefit for dogs, the EPA and DHA are the active ingredients to be concerned with.
Hi Darlene-
You may want to go over to the review side of this site and look at the Bright Mind review. There was a very interesting debate about this exact question. What was determined was that the levels of MCT’s in Bright Mind could in fact NOT be achieved through supplementation. I know quite a few people with dogs on Bright Mind and all have said it’s been working great to help their older dogs cognitive function. Definitely worth a shot!
I got curious and looked into this. They are pretty vague with “Antioxidants, B Vitamins, and Arginine to Support a Dog’s Cognitive Health Throughout Adulthood” – no doubt partly due to proprietary issues. I looked up Arginine and found it is used for humans for a variety of things like preventing tooth decay, treatment of peripheral neuropathy, and treatment of herpes simplex. The neuropathy is the only thing for arginine that gets close to brain function.
“DHA” & “EPA” are compounds in fish oil that is beneficial for brain function (Omega 6, and Omega 3 fatty acids).
When you look a little closer, you find out they’re using salmon for their fish oil source which sounds great but isn’t as good as it could be. Most of the salmon used in dog food production is farm-raised salmon and isn’t as high in Omega-3’s as it would be if wild caught. Also, there are other wild caught fish that higher in Omega-3’s than salmon – for example, Menhaden fish, which is a small, cold water fish that is very high in the essential fatty acids needed for healthy brain function. **One great thing about Menhaden fish is that they breed like fleas so it’s nearly impossible to over fish them, unlike salmon.**
VeRUS (my personal favorite dog food) has 2 formulas that utilize Menhanden Fish as their base. You can get samples of this food from VeRUS if you contact them & ask (which is how I got started feeding it.)
For more on menhaden fish – http://www.chesapeakebay.noaa.gov/fish-facts/menhaden
https://www.britannica.com/animal/menhaden and for more on VeRUS: http://www.veruspetfoods.com/whyverus.html
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