Feed your pets the foods that work to protect their bodies from disease. They are certain fruits, vegetables and enzymes that have antioxidant properties.
Oh no, there’s that word, antioxidant. Perhaps you’ve heard it mentioned in TV commercials as well as hearing them talk about free radicals, blah, blah, blah. 
Who knows what they are anyway? Do we care…….?
I didn’t….. UNTIL, I learned what they really are, and I bet you will too. It’s simple – antioxidants are foods that help protect the cells from disease.
The backstory about them is actually pretty cool.
Yay oxygen! Right?
So besides keeping us alive, oxygen interacts with other substances in our world in a process called oxygenation.
It’s what causes the apple you cut open, to turn brown after a short while.
It’s what causes metal to rust, and, in both ours and our pets bodies (simply put,) it causes the formation of unstable molecules. Because of their instability, they can affect the cells leaving them more susceptible to illness or disease.
These unstable molecules are called……. free radicals. Ahhhh, now you’re getting it. Who named them that anyway?
Now, oxygenation is a natural and inevitable process. Cant stop it. A number of external things cause oxidation – like sunlight and air pollution but also internal things, like aerobic respiration, (your bodies use of oxygen in the breakdown of foodstuffs to create energy,) or when you are sick.
The great news is when you or your pets eat certain foods, such as apples, red berries, blueberries and sweet potatoes (to name just a few) they counteract the damages of oxygenation in our bodies. They stabilize or reduce those pesky free radicals. Antioxidants to the rescue. TA DA!!!!!
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Cranberries and cherries.
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This is why doctors tell you to eat fruits and veges and feed them to your children and this is why some of these fruits and veges are added to our pet foods. All of the NutriSource pet foods brands have antioxidant ingredients in them, but we’ve especially added more in the Pure Vita line.
Here is an example of one ingredient panel from the back of the bag – our Pure Vita salmon, grain free dog food. Look for the names of fruits and veggies. You’ll find them in the first four lines.
From Pure Vita Grain Free Salmon dog food.
Additional antioxidant fruits and veggies used in other Pure Vita protein flavors are carrots, apples, pomegranates, cherries, and apricots.
Since our typical pets don’t forage for their own food in the wild, it is up to us to provide food with the ingredients that will help them stay as healthy as possible.
You can see all the available Pure Vita flavors of food for your cats and dogs here.
We have a podcast you can listen to! It’s called “Raising Your Paws” – with quick tips and practical solutions for caring for your four-legged family members. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher or Google play. To easily do this, go to www.raisingyourpaws.com
Here are the resources for podcast episode 8.
The link to the complete article from the Humane Society on how to crate train your dog of any age.
Call Genie Buer, the Director of Customer Service, at NutriSource Pet Foods to ask your questions about pet food ingredients.
Her phone number: – 218-346-8312 Her e-mail address: gbuer@klnfamilybrands.com
A clarification: Regarding talking about what beet pulp is and is not, during the interview with Genie, we want to clarify that beet pulp is only used in the Regular NutriSource dog and cat food, it is not in the grain free lines.
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