Balancing HPS Raw

Our raw food is unbalanced. And that’s a good thing! We chose to make a product with all the bare bones of a diet, no pun intended. This gives us a majority of the macronutrients and some micronutrients that we need in a food while giving you the flexibility and freedom to feed as a topper or at-home balanced meal. With the option to balance at home, this opens up endless possibilities to achieve a balanced diet in the ingredients used. You can source them from local producers, find them in the discount section, at the farmers market, or in your own backyard! The world is your oyster, again…. no pun intended. All of the nutrients listed can be fed as balanced over time, meaning you can feed your pets weekly zinc requirements for instance all in one day or spaced out over the week period. Puppies however should be fed a balanced diet every meal. We partnered with our in-house nutritionist to give us a rundown of the deficiencies found in the food so we could give you a leg up on balancing at home.

When choosing whole foods to balance your at-home diet, we should choose animal based ingredients as much as possible. Many plant sources of these nutrients are chemically bound in such a way that makes it difficult or impossible for our pets to get that nutrition. To learn more about the problem with plant based nutrition read more here. Some supplement sources of these nutrients can too be impossible for our pets to utilize, so researching the specific supplement to use for dogs or cats is important.

Vitamin D

Canned Sardines, 1.33 mcg per 1 oz (28g), Atlantic Mackerel, 4.5 mcg per 1 oz (28g), Pink Salmon, 3.1 -3.72 mcg per 1 oz (28g) are all wonderful fish sources of Vitamin D. All wild caught fish should be kept frozen for at least 2 weeks to kill of parasites or cooked prior to feeding, especially pacific caught fish. Chicken keepers rejoice because pasture raised chicken eggs are good sources of Vitamin D at 0.23mcg-2mcg per 1 egg (50g). Vitamin D3 supplements may be used with close attention to dosing.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) & Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)

Fresh fish like Atlantic Mackerel, EPA:0.25g per 1oz (28g); DHA: 0.4g per 1 oz (28g), Atlantic Herring, 1oz (28g): 484 mg DHA+EPA, Salmon, EPA: 0.05g per 1 oz (28g); DHA: 0.09g per 1 oz (28g), and Sardines, EPA: 0.15 g per 1 oz (28g); DHA: 0.24g per 1 oz (28g), provide EPA & DHA. Supplements like fish or krill oil can also be used to achieve EPA & DHA needs. Pasture -Raised Chicken Eggs are yet again a great source of these nutrients at EPA:  0.058; DHA per 1 egg (50g). DHA and EPA may be found in Goat’s Milk as well.

When feeding whole food sources, be mindful of the whole nutritional balance as these food items are rich in Vitamin D and overdosages can be quick. Upside, you can use these sources to achieve both Vitamin D and EPA & DHA balance.

Zinc

Canned or fresh oysters are good sources of zinc at 25 mg per 1 oz (28g). Oysters should be cooked and not fed raw. Red meat diets will likely not need zinc supplements. Zinc Picolinate supplement can be used, but pay special attention to dosing as it can be too much quickly.

Manganese

Blue-Lipped Mussels, at 1.9 mg per 1 oz (28g), and Green Tripe, 0.37 mg per 1 oz (28g), are both good sources of manganese.

Iodine

Kelp powder is an excellent source of iodine, but again paying close attention to iodine content is important. Prolonged iodine deficiencies or excess can lead to thyroid problems.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is really only attainable through supplements like D-alpha-tocopherol vitamin E supplement.

alpha-Linolenic acid (ALA)

Flax seed, 6.5g per 1 oz (28g), Chia seeds, 5.09g per 1 oz (28g), and Hemp seeds, 2.60g per 1 oz (28g), are all great sources of ALA. Seeds should be soaked for 6-24 hours and blended or nutrition is unavailable and can block protein absorption.

There are plenty of different ways to get the nutrition needed, these are only some suggestions. We are excited to watch this product grow with our needs as a store and our communities needs. We hope to soon offer nutritional consultations on both our food as well as completely at-home diets that you may already be making.