How My Dogs Helped Me Get Healthy

The healthy fats post reminded me that I'm putting ground flax seed on my greyhound Gracie's food, and I wanted to share how I started paying attention to my own food.

It began about 12 years ago with my two beloved greyhounds, Gatsby and Whisper. I belonged to a very active Greyhound E-List where I eagerly absorbed as much information as possible. One of the members mentioned two books: Food Pets Die For by Ann M. Martin, and The Nature of Animal Healing by Martin Goldstein.

Both books gave me a very different perspective on how to care for animals. The pet food industry has us so brainwashed that we believe dogs and cats should eat nothing but dry kibble or canned meats. Forget the fact that a mere 50 years ago, animals were fed table scraps and hunted for their food. They lived short lives because people rarely took pets to the vet, and besides, veterinary medicine was a far cry from what it is today. Pets can now be treated for almost every sickness that humans can, and there are several insurance companies to help pay in emergencies and long term illnesses. (Whisper's insurance company paid through the nose for two years after she developed a brain tumor).

But back to the main point: dogs and cats can survive--and thrive--without eating an ounce of pet food. In fact, many foods are downright harmful to pets. Recall the melamine fiasco with some very popular commerical brands. In addition, the cheaper brands use ingredients that, if on hand, we would never dream of feeding our pets: slaughterhouse scraps, the remains of euthanized animals (sometimes including their flea collars), cancer-linked chemicals BHA and BHT as preservatives.

Martin's book helped me understand how to read pet food labels should I want to buy commerical food. Goldstein's book alerted me to the overmedicating and overvaccination common in many vet practices.

My holistic vet helps me use nutrition as preventative medicine. Today, I cook a mixture of ground turkey, Basmati rice and vegetables for Gracie. I do use a high quality dog food for filler--Merrick's. It has human-grade ingredients and helps the cooked mixture last much longer. I also give her vitamins, and occasionally throw in flax seed, pumpkin, yogurt and fish oil capsules. I did the same for Whisper, and she lived to a ripe age of 13, even with a brain tumor diagnosed at age 11.

As I was learning how to help my dogs become healthier, I thought Why not me, too? One resource that helped me untangle the web of confusion around food is a source I still use today. The Center for Science in the Public Interest publishes a newsletter called Nutrition Action Health Letter. This is where I learned about trans fats, misleading labels, and how American food is laden with sodium. It also reports on popular restaurants, uncovering the truth about the amount of fat, sugar, and sodium in seemingly innocent meals.

Of course, a good diet goes hand in hand with exercise. As for how I got up off the couch, that's another blog post for another day!