Meeting the nutritional guidelines set by AAFCO is nearly impossible with whole foods only. Synthetic vitamins and minerals may need to be added. But is it really necessary? AAFCO guidelines have been formulated using kibble-fed dogs only. Guidelines for raw-fed dogs have not been established because no food manufacturer wants to take the time or the money to do the food trials. However, as the big kibble companies purchase more raw food manufacturers, there may be a need to create new guidelines that reflect the increased bioavailability of whole foods compared to ultra-processed kibble.

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, bioavailability and digestibility are not measured similarly. A food component can be digested without completely bioavailable nutrients, resulting in many nutrients in the urine and feces.

Digestibility refers to how food is absorbed in the animal body as it passes through its digestive tract. Bioavailability refers to the extent to which a food component, such as the vitamins and minerals within the ingredients, becomes entirely available for its intended biological target or destination. Bioavailability measures the rate and fraction of nutrient that successfully reaches the point within the body that will utilize it.

The digestibility of kibble diets tends to be lower than raw diets because animal-based products are more digestible for dogs than plant-based products. However, some starches and vegetables are more digestible in cooked than raw form. 

Nutritional balancing over time is an approach to ensuring a balanced diet for dogs that involves offering a variety of ingredients and recipes over time rather than relying on detailed nutritional analysis and spreadsheets for every meal. This method considers that individual meals or recipes may not be perfectly balanced. Still, by providing a variety of ingredients and recipes over time, the overall nutritional needs can be met.

Here are a few considerations regarding nutritional balancing over time versus using spreadsheets:

Variety of Nutrients: By offering a variety of meats, organs, vegetables, fruits, and other ingredients, you are providing a broad spectrum of essential nutrients. Different ingredients have varying nutrient profiles, so feeding a diverse range of foods helps ensure your dog receives a wide array of nutrients.

Natural Nutrient Variability: Natural foods have inherent nutrient variability. Nutrient levels can differ based on factors such as soil quality, ripeness, and processing methods. Nutritional balancing over time takes this variability into account, relying on the collective nutritional content of various ingredients to provide a balanced diet.

Practicality and Simplicity: Nutritional balancing over time can be a practical and simpler approach for many dog owners, as it doesn't require constant tracking, calculations, and adherence to precise formulations. It allows for more flexibility and easier meal preparation while aiming to provide a balanced diet.

Monitoring and Adjustments: While nutritional balancing over time provides flexibility, monitoring a dog's health and well-being is essential. Regularly assess your dog's poop consistency, body condition, energy levels, coat quality, and overall health. If you notice any clinical signs of nutritional deficiencies or imbalances, consult a veterinarian to determine what diagnostics should be run. 

Ultimately, the choice between nutritional balancing over time and using spreadsheets depends on the dog parent’s preferences, available resources, and the dog's individual needs. Some dog owners find success and confidence in the nutritional balancing over time approach, while others prefer the precision and control provided by spreadsheets and nutritional analysis.

Using spreadsheets and detailed nutritional analysis can benefit those who prefer a more precise approach or have specific dietary concerns or health conditions to address. It allows for a more controlled and calculated diet formulation, ensuring exact nutrient ratios in each meal.

Online formulation software allows the dog parent to input the ingredients they use for their dog’s raw bowl to determine if the meal meets AAFCO guidelines. The report will list all the nutrient levels, highlighting any deficiencies according to AAFCO standards in red. The dog parent can then tweak the ingredients and see if the results are closer to the AAFCO guidelines.

As the formulators are manipulated, it becomes evident that various foods, over time, are critical to meet all required nutrient levels, even with synthetic vitamins and minerals. However, the problem with the formulators is the limitations in ingredient choices and the inability of any software to really know the bioavailability of the nutrients in any whole food source or synthetic supplement. 

The formulators can be used to satisfy curiosity, but are they providing helpful information when the only way to meet the AAFCO guidelines is by adding supplements? Each dog parent must make that decision for themselves.

Listed below are samples of food ingredients commonly used for raw-fed dogs. By shifting the source of each component, the formulators reveal the different nutrient levels. The results also demonstrate that to meet AAFCO guidelines, supplements must be added. But the supplement choices within the software are often artificial and have not been included in these examples.

Total food in pounds: 1.25 lbs (20.00 oz) per day. Feeding the Real Ancestral 6X Diet™at 12% bone content and using 60% raw meat cuts, the bowl would include:

The sample above run through a diet formulator reveals the following:

These two simple examples demonstrate that the formulators are very limited in choosing raw meaty bones and fiber sources. There are no options for fur or feathers, which are both excellent sources of fiber and minerals. Since minerals and vitamins are the two areas showing deficiencies, there need to be more options to use in the formulations.

The inherent fault of formulators is that they are based on the USDA database. It is impossible to quantify all the variables in the samples. The age and health status of the animal at the time of slaughter is not considered. The living conditions are not always listed. 

Working within the confines of the available software can create a lot of anxiety for many dog parents. With such a cumbersome process to create spreadsheets for multiple meal plans, many people are likely to abandon using raw food. 

Alternatives to Using the Formulator Software

Pulse-dosing whole food supplements or using a variety of foods with known vitamin and mineral profiles over a few days will aid in balancing the Diet. Balancing the total Diet over several days, not for each meal, is essential. The six nutrients most commonly found deficient in raw diets are iodine, magnesium, zinc, manganese, vitamins E and D, and EFA Omega-3. This is especially true in the 80-10-10 diet comprising 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, and 5% other secreting organs. 

Fur-on items such as rabbit feet, sections of pelts, and cow and pig ears are excellent sources of fiber, manganese, and prebiotics.

Green-lipped mussels are excellent sources of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, glucosamine, and chondroitin.

Brain tissue is an excellent source of iodine. 

Blueberries and mushroom powder are excellent sources of antioxidants.

Golden Paste combines ground turmeric, oil, water, ground black pepper, and other spices such as ground cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger, which act as an anti-inflammatory. There are many recipes and commercial products available.

Salmon contains vitamins D and E and Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.

Seaweed contains numerous nutrients, such as vitamins A, B1, B2, B9, B12, C, E, and K. calcium, iodine, potassium, iron, manganese, and copper are also plentiful in many species of seaweed.

Another way to ensure that a dog consumes the proper nutrients is by measuring its clinical health markers. Annual veterinary visits with complete panels of blood tests, urinalysis, and a physical examination will provide relevant information on the dog's health status. Commercially available tests can be run to reveal how well a dog's body is processing the food it is eating. A Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) is a comprehensive analysis that tests for 15 minerals and 17 elements, 7 of which are toxic. A fecal examination to analyze the contents of the gut microbiome will provide valuable information on the gut's health.

Balancing dogs' raw Diet does not mean that every meal must be balanced. The key is to provide a balance of nutrients over a period of time, several days to a week.

Formulation software can be a helpful tool but is restrictive on the ingredients listed. This makes it very difficult to assess nutrient levels truly.

Clinical health markers should be evaluated annually for all dogs to ensure they consume the proper amount of all nutrients.

Articles from future units will be accessible once you have completed that unit.

Unit 3 - AAFCO And NRC: Why Were Standards Established? 

Unit 2 - Raw Meaty Bones: Safety And How To Add 

Unit 2 - Adding Fur And Fiber To Your Dog's Bowl 

Unit 5 - Shopping Guide: Ancestral, BARF & PMR Recipes 

Unit 4 - Putting it All Together Using the Feedreal Calculator 

Unit 6 - Testing Your Raw-Fed Dog's Health 

Meeting your dog's nutritional needs can feel overwhelming, especially when considering the guidelines set by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials). These guidelines are primarily designed for kibble-fed dogs, which makes them challenging to achieve with whole foods alone. Synthetic vitamins and minerals are often added to raw or fresh diets to fill the gaps. But is this truly necessary for your dog's health?

It's important to note that AAFCO guidelines were developed with ultra-processed kibble in mind, not fresh or raw diets. The nutrient bioavailability, the ability of nutrients to be fully utilized by the body, is often greater in fresh, whole foods than in kibble. However, no official guidelines have been established for raw-fed dogs because food trials are expensive and time-intensive. As raw food gains popularity and large pet food companies expand into this market, we may see a shift toward standards reflecting fresh diets' higher nutrient bioavailability.

The distinction between digestibility and bioavailability is crucial here. Digestibility measures how much food is absorbed as it passes through the digestive system. At the same time, bioavailability indicates how effectively the nutrients are delivered to their intended destinations within the body. Food may be digestible but not entirely bioavailable, as some nutrients are excreted rather than absorbed. Fresh, animal-based ingredients are generally more digestible and bioavailable for dogs than plant-based or processed foods. Certain cooked vegetables and starches may become more digestible after cooking.

For many dog parents, nutritional balancing over time is a practical way to meet their dogs' needs. This approach focuses on feeding a variety of whole foods across multiple meals rather than achieving precise balance in every meal. A mix of meats, organs, fruits, and vegetables can provide a broad spectrum of essential nutrients. 

Grass-fed and sustainably raised livestock, for example, yield meat with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants than grain-fed livestock, contributing to a more nutrient-dense diet for your dog. Additionally, natural variability in whole foods, like differences in nutrient content based on soil quality or ripeness, is accounted for when using a balanced approach over time.

This simple and flexible method makes it accessible to many dog owners. It eliminates the need for constant calculations while aiming to provide balanced nutrition. However, monitoring your dog’s overall health is key. Monitor your dog’s stool consistency, coat quality, energy levels, and body condition. If you notice any signs of deficiencies, consulting a veterinarian is essential to address potential concerns.

For those who prefer a more detailed and precise approach, tools like online formulation software can help. These platforms allow you to input ingredients and assess whether your dog’s meals meet AAFCO standards, flagging any deficiencies. While helpful for understanding nutrient profiles, these tools have limitations, particularly in accounting for the bioavailability of nutrients in whole foods or synthetic supplements. Often, the software emphasizes that meeting AAFCO standards requires supplementation, which can leave some dog parents questioning its practicality.

Choosing between nutritional balancing over time and detailed meal formulation depends on your preferences, resources, and your dog’s needs. For some, the variety and simplicity of whole foods over time are enough. For others, the precision of spreadsheets and formulation software offers peace of mind. Whichever path you choose, the focus should always be on your dog’s health, happiness, and thriving life.

Below are samples of food ingredients commonly used for raw-fed dogs. By shifting the source of each component, the formulators reveal the different nutrient levels. The results also demonstrate that supplements must be added to meet AAFCO guidelines. However, the supplement choices within the software are often artificial and have not been included in these examples.

These two simple examples demonstrate that the formulators are very limited in choosing <a href="https://feedreal.com/glossary/raw-meaty-bones">raw meaty bones</a> and fiber sources. There are no options for fur or feathers, which are both excellent sources of fiber and minerals. Since minerals and vitamins are the two areas showing deficiencies, there need to be more options to use in the formulations.

Formulators' inherent fault is that they are based on the USDA database. It is impossible to quantify all the variables in the samples. The age and health status of the animal at the time of slaughter are not considered, and the living conditions are not always listed. 

Many dog parents experience anxiety when working with the available software. Creating plans can be cumbersome, and many will likely abandon using raw food.

Pulse-dosing whole food supplements or using a variety of foods with known vitamin and mineral profiles over a few days will aid in balancing the Diet. Balancing the total Diet over several days, not for each meal, is essential. The six nutrients most commonly found deficient in raw diets are iodine, magnesium, <a href="https://feedreal.com/glossary/zinc">zinc</a>, manganese, vitamins E and D, and EFA <a href="https://feedreal.com/glossary/omega3">Omega-3</a>. This is especially true in the 80-10-10 diet comprising 80% muscle meat, 10% bone, 5% liver, and 5% other secreting organs. 

Another way to ensure a dog consumes the proper nutrients is by measuring its clinical health markers. Annual veterinary visits with complete panels of blood tests, urinalysis, and a physical examination will provide relevant information on the dog's health status. Commercially available tests can be run to reveal how well a dog's body is processing its food. A Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) is a comprehensive analysis that tests for 15 minerals and 17 elements, 7 of which are toxic. A fecal examination to analyze the contents of the <a href="https://feedreal.com/glossary/gut-microbiome">gut microbiome</a> will provide valuable information on the gut's health.

Unit 3 - <a href="https://feedreal.com/articles/aafco-and-nrc-why-were-standards-established">AAFCO And NRC: Why Were Standards Established?</a> 

Unit 2 - <a href="https://feedreal.com/articles/raw-meaty-bones-safety-and-how-to-add">Raw Meaty Bones: Safety And How To Add</a> 

Unit 2 - <a href="https://feedreal.com/articles/adding-fur-and-fiber-to-your-dogs-bowl">Adding Fur And Fiber To Your Dog's Bowl</a> 

Unit 5 - <a href="https://feedreal.com/articles/shopping-guide-ancestral-barf-pmr-recipes">Shopping Guide: Ancestral, BARF &amp; PMR Recipes</a> 

Unit 4 - <a href="https://feedreal.com/articles/putting-it-all-together-using-the-feedreal-calculator">Putting it All Together Using the Feedreal Calculator</a> 

Unit 6 - <a href="https://feedreal.com/articles/testing-your-rawfed-dogs-health">Testing Your Raw-Fed Dog's Health</a> 

Variety is Crucial

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