One thing is for certain: Our pets’ lives are far too short.
Dogs and cats age exponentially compared to us, and on top of that, many pet owners make simple mistakes that can hasten their pet’s rate of cellular aging even further.
Factors like eating a commercially prepared processed diet, drinking chlorinated or fluoridated water, exposure to toxins in the home and outdoors, and excessive vaccinations lead to the production of free radicals that can damage healthy cells and tissues and contribute to faster cellular aging.
One of the most important things you can do to help protect your pet from oxidative free radical damage is to make sure they receive adequate antioxidants each day. Antioxidants help gobble up and neutralise free radicals in your pet’s body before they can damage your pet’s brain, heart and other organs.
Research shows that by supplementing antioxidants, you can increase the level of circulating antioxidants in your pet’s bloodstream and help protect cellular materials from oxidative damage. This plays a key role against the effects of excessive cellular aging.
Don’t expect commercial diets to provide the high-quality antioxidants your pet needs for a long, healthy life. Food manufacturers typically add synthetic antioxidants to their products to help preserve the ingredients, not to meet your pet’s antioxidant needs.
Seven Simple Steps You Can Take To Help Protect Your Pet Against Excessive Cellular Aging
The good news is you can also influence these same factors to help protect your pet against some of the potentially negative effects of aging. Some simple steps you can take include:
Make sure your pet gets enough antioxidants in his or her diet
Maintain your pet’s ideal body weight and keep your pet active throughout her life
Supply drinking water that’s been filtered through a high quality water purifier
Use an effective air purifier in your home to reduce airborne toxins
Avoid toxic home furnishings, synthetic air fresheners, and harsh chemical-laden cleaners
Minimize unnecessary vaccinations (request antibody titer tests to determine your pet’s true need)
Avoid shampoos and treatments such as flea and tick treatments that contain potentially hazardous ingredients and harsh chemicals
Keep in mind, your dog or cat’s environmental toxic load is much greater than yours for several reasons. She’s smaller in size, doesn’t take daily showers, and her body is in direct contact with toxins on the ground outdoors and in your home.
Plus, your pet ingests more toxins in the food they eat every day, especially if they are eating a commercially prepared processed diet. Of the seven steps I outlined above, getting enough antioxidants may be the most important thing you can do to protect your pet.
The Wonder of Antioxidants and How They Help Protect Your Pet Against Damaging Free Radicals
Free radicals are unstable molecules that travel throughout your pet’s body, searching for electrons to steal from stable molecules to stabilise themselves.
When they succeed, they spur new unstable molecules – and create more free radicals. Free radicals can alter how genes express themselves, and not in a good way. Plus, they can damage cell membranes, leading to oxidative stress and inflammation which contributes to cellular aging.
Stress, pollution, poor diet, and all the other factors that speed up the rate of cellular aging produce free radicals. But so does all the normal cellular and metabolic activity inside your pet’s body...
By taking the steps I outlined above, you can help control the amount of free radicals your pet’s body produces.
Antioxidants play a significant role in controlling the effects of free radicals. They help gobble up and neutralise free radicals in your pet’s body before they can damage healthy cells and tissues in your pet’s brain, heart and other organs.
Your pet’s body needs more antioxidants to help combat all the everyday dietary and environmental stressors and to slow down the effects of excessive cellular aging.
Examples that Antioxidants Play a Role in Cellular Aging, Longevity, and Quality of Life in Your Pet
There is no question that antioxidants are important for your health. Antioxidants work in a similar manner in your pet's body as they do in yours. Antioxidants appear to provide cellular support for the brain, heart, muscles, skin, eyes, liver, kidneys, and other organs. Here are just some of the studies that highlight the benefits of antioxidant-rich diets in both dogs and cats:
In a seven-year study of 90 cats aged 7 to 17, the group receiving an antioxidant-rich diet showed less decrease in lean muscle mass, improved body weight, skin thickness and red cell quality, significantly longer life span, and improvement in quality of life
Several studies on older dogs show that a diet enriched in antioxidants reduces cognitive dysfunction and may result in significant improvement in cognitive function and memory
A group of mixed adult dogs fed an antioxidant blend showed higher levels of circulating levels of antioxidants, a decrease in cellular DNA, and improved immunological performance
A group of adult beagles had higher antioxidant blood levels when fed a mixture of antioxidants from fruits and vegetables
A study of 62 Alaskan sled dogs confirmed that dietary supplementation with antioxidants resulted in in higher blood levels of antioxidants and decreased DNA oxidation and increased resistance of lipoproteins to oxidation
And it’s not just middle age or older pets who can benefit from antioxidant supplementation. Some younger pets may also need more antioxidants. A recent study suggests that cell damage from excessive free radicals can start at an early age in some animals. Large breed puppies have faster metabolism and growth rates than smaller breeds. Researchers suggested that this increased metabolic activity results in more free radical production and that cellular damage starts accumulating at a young age in larger dogs.
Why You Can’t Depend on Commercial Diets to Provide the High Quality Plant- and Fruit-Based Antioxidants Your Pet May Need for a Long, Healthy Life
You will find some antioxidants in commercially prepared pet foods. Food makers add antioxidants to their products to help keep food fresh and to help protect fats and fat-soluble vitamins like A and E from oxidation. While they may use both artificial and natural antioxidants, they prefer to use synthetic and potentially toxic antioxidants like ethoxyquin, BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), and BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole).
Manufacturers claim synthetic antioxidants keep food ingredients fresher longer and provide a longer shelf life than “natural” antioxidants like tocopherol or vitamin E, ascorbic acid or vitamin C, citric acid, and rosemary. Synthetic and even many so-called “natural” antioxidants are not from the plant and fruit-derived sources which are preferred. In addition the synthetic nutrients used in the vast majority of commercial pet foods are laboratory-made and come from China.
Phone:
01565740777
Email:
hello@healthfulpets.co.uk
Location:
12 Dalby Court Gadbrook Business Centre Northwich Cheshire CW9 7TN
Northwich
CW9 7TN
