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+--- Thread: Popular grain-free dog foods may be linked to heart disease (/thread-5832.html)
Popular grain-free dog foods may be linked to heart disease - C C - Jul 27, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/health/grain-free-dog-food-heart-disease.html
EXCERPT: . . . Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it is investigating a link between these [grain-free] diets and a common type of canine heart disease. The condition is dilated cardiomyopathy, or D.C.M., in which the heart weakens and becomes enlarged. Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty breathing, coughing and fainting. Some dogs can abruptly go into heart failure.
[...] The common factor was a diet heavy in peas, lentils, chickpeas and potatoes — carbohydrates typically intended to replace grains. [...] The possibility that expensive food, lovingly chosen, could make one’s adored pet devastatingly ill is sending shudders through dog owners. “Don’t panic,” said Martine Hartogensis [...] There are no recalls yet, she said. [...] “We don’t want to be alarmist [...] But,” she added, “this is a real signal.” Researchers do not know why these diets may be problematic — whether it’s the absence of grains, the presence of legumes or something else.
Lisa Freeman, a veterinary nutritionist and researcher with the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, sees this moment as an opportunity to view grain-free diets skeptically. “Contrary to advertising and popular belief, there is no research to demonstrate that grain-free diets offer any health benefits over diets that contain grains,” she said. Grains are an important source of protein and other nutrients in many meat-based pet foods, she continued. “Grains have not been linked to any health problems except in the very rare situation when a pet has an allergy to a specific grain.”
MORE: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/health/grain-free-dog-food-heart-disease.html