There are many masterful explanations that dogs come from wolves and as such are carnivorous animals that should only eat meat. Completely excluding cereals such as wheat, corn or rice.
However, and although the theory is totally correct, dogs have lived with humans for many centuries. During which they have fed primarily on leftovers from human food.
So the dog’s digestive system has also been evolving throughout this time, digesting and assimilating a large amount of food that it could not originally eat. Among them is of course one of the best cereals that dogs can have, rice.
Index of contents
- 1 Benefits of Rice in dogs
- 2 Are dog food containing rice good?
- 3 Is rice better than potato or legumes to feed a dog?
Benefits of Rice in dogs
Far from what you might think that a dog should only be fed meat, some cereals such as rice can be very beneficial in their diet.
Rice is and by far the difference, the best cereal that we can bring to a dog in his diet. It is an excellent source of carbohydrates that provides a high glycemic index, that is, a prolonged energy.
Obviously in the amount and balance with meat protein sources is the secret of a correct use of rice in the nutrition of a dog. We cannot base a dog’s diet simply on rice, or use it as the main source of its food.
Dogs suffering from digestive or assimilation problems, such as inflammatory bowel disease (also known as canine IBD) low fat diets are much better tolerated, where rice can become one of the main ingredients of its diet as long as protein levels are covered with other assimilable meat foods.
A plate of boiled rice with boneless chicken meat and / or a raw egg is a food of high nutritional value for both healthy and sick dogs. Used in the Barf diet for dogs and in many natural diets.
So contrary to what is lately commented by forums and social networks, andhe rice is a great food for dogs. An excellent complement to your basic diet, which must be made up of meat or fish.
However, we should not confuse rice with other cereals such as wheat or corn. Wheat or corn are practically useless cereals for a dog, which hardly provide nutritional value and are simply used as a filler to reduce costs, in (balanced) feed.
Are dog food containing rice good?
Undoubtedly, a feed that contains rice among its ingredients is a high quality feed. Although we must be cautious and look at the list of ingredients, which, by law, must appear in order from highest to lowest quantity.
A feed whose first ingredient is rice is not a good feed, since it indicates that most of the food is rice and that is a big mistake. However, a feed whose third or fourth ingredient is rice is a good feed, as long as the first two or three ingredients are meat or fish.
There is currently an absurd trend in cereal-free dog food, based on the absurd theory that the dog should only eat meat because it comes from the wolf and blah blah blah…. In this way, they are creating ranges of feed (balanced) without cereal benefits such as rice.
What they don’t tell us is that they use tons of legumes to replace the rice. Yes, you are feeding your dog with lentils and beans for the absurd fashion of not adding cereals to feed, beware, good cereals like rice. Corn or wheat we must avoid them completely.
So stop to think for a moment that it can be more nutritious for your dog, feed it with meat and a high quality and very digestible cereal like rice, or feed your dog with meat and a lot of low nutrient legumes to dogs…. Think about it the next time you buy food for your dog.
Is rice better than potato or legumes to feed a dog?
Of course, the use of potato in dog food (balanced for dogs in Mexico, in Spain it is called “I think”) is simply how the use of legumes such as lentil, bean or chickpea.
It is a marketing strategy to advertise grain free feed, implying that they are of higher quality than those that do contain cereals. Something totally FALSE. The feed that contains rice in its proper measure, is more nutritious and of greater biological value than those based on potatoes or legumes.
Obviously we can not include here the feed that uses corn, wheat, etc … this type of cereal if they are harmful, not because they contribute to health problems (which they do) but because they have no nutritional or biological value for the dog.
Wheat and corn are simply used to cut costs in the manufacture of pre-made dog food, they are very cheap raw materials. In this way the manufacturer can obtain more benefits, reducing the amount of meat proteins and using cheap cereals such as wheat or corn.
A good dog food can include rice in an appropriate measure. And it will always be better if you include rice before you include legumes or potatoes for example. Do not get carried away by fashions or marketing strategies.