Fitness Quotes

Vet Quote: It's not the quantity of protein in food that's important, it's the quality?

I'm a student Vet Nurse, we're currently covering the importance of good nutrition. My Lecturer (Veterinary Surgeon) Said a lot of people when buying dog food say things like "Well it's got X% protein, so you know it's good." But she disagrees, she says it's not the quantity, it's QUALITY of that protein that's important. Your thoughts on this? How can you be sure it's of good quality? And before I get bombarded- I'm WELL aware of the natural, raw and BARF diets. I just want your thought on this particular question.

Public Comments

1. She's right. It's always about quality. Protein is made of many amino acids. Some of them are not as good as the others. There is such things as low and high-grade protein.
2. Good quality protein comes from pure meat sources: whole meats, whole eggs, etc. If it says "chicken" or "beef" or "lamb" as the first ingredient, it's a good thing. By-products, corn, and other protein "fillers" are not good nutrition for dogs. It may raise the % score, but a food that's mainly corn obviously isn't healthy regardless of how much protein they've gotten out of it. The quality of meat meals is still under debate- some people say it's good because it includes bones, which are good. Others say it contains too much inedible material and is therefore bad. I think as long as there are several whole protein sources listed BEFORE the meal, it doesn't take away from the quality of the food. However, I would never use a food that used meat meal as the primary protein source.
3. She's right! People these days seem to think more is automatically best. It's not so!
4. For quality you need to look at the protein sources. There's protein in corn, but it's not as good a quality or as complete a protein as the protein in meat. Similarly, there's meat protein in less-than-desirable ingredients like meat and bone meal or poultry meal (both of which can come from dead, diseased, or dying animals and are not required to come from slaughtered animals...and may even include roadkill or euthanized animals) but it is not as good as the protein from a quality meat source such as a specified meat meal like turkey meal or lamb meal (which is simply the muscle meat with most of the moisture removed before processing and IS required to come from slaughtered animals meaning that animals which are dead or diseased when they arrive at the slaughter house are off limits).
5. My thoughts? A loud and hearty AMEN !!! It is Music to my ears to hear a lecturer Finally speak about the quality of protein! All proteins are not alike and it is absolutely wonderful to hear this being taught to other professionals in the industry. Finally! How you can be sure of the quality of the protein is to do the research. There are labelling laws which prevent a manufacturer from using anything along the lines of "human grade" so we have to go back to the manufacturer's website and literature to read their claims about the quality of protein. Unfortunately, calling on the phone no longer works because they actually do lie right there on the phone. Sad, but true. Claims are a lot more likely to be true when they're written down which is why I always refer people back to websites and written literature. Quality manufacturers are very free with the information with regard to where their proteins come from. Less than reputable manufacturers will not tell you (they have a host of excuses). I'm just so happy that someone is finally talking about this! Yay!
6. Something that needs to be taken into consideration is water weight. A meat source may be the first ingredient listed, meaning that there is more of that than anything else. However, if water is a significant contributor to the weight of that meat, it is not as much meat as they claim. Without the water content, the meat source will usually be 3rd or 4th down the list. Some foods, like Nature's Variety, will make clear statements about how much of the food is actually meat content.
7. I have to agree with that philosophy. Quality in almost anything is better than quantity. As far as knowing you are getting good quality, you have to educate yourself. What is listed as the protein source, meat/meat meal=high quality Grain, fillers, by-products, (remember melemine???!!!)=low quality. The best tool for assurance of high quality is your own brain! Add; you also have to look at the nature of the animal you are feeding. Corn is a high quality protein source for cattle, herbivores. It is NOT a high quality protein source for canines, carnivores.
8. Personally I know my dogs are getting good sources of protein because I select the highest quality ingredients for my dog food, I home cook, I have carried out a lot of research into what you need to add to a dogs diet and cook my own food, I do not feed raw, I know exactly what they are eating because I select the food and put it there. I have read many books, spoken to vets and other people. My dogs health has improved a lot since I started home cooking.
9. I would agree with your Lecturer. In kibble there are many things that can give the food the protein content but not are all good protein sources for the dog that is eating it. Kibble is made to make feeding dogs easy and convenient for owners and many owners have no idea what is in the kibble and many more don't care. I feed BARF, know the source where the food comes from(which is not a processed supplier) and also some kibble, however it is named products (not 'cereals' which can be any cereals whichever is cheapest when manufacturing the next batch or 'meat' which again can be any meat which can include euthanised animals and any inedible bits of slaughtered animals including horses), and it is human grade food. Advertising encourages people to believe the product they are buying is great for their dog and many people never look into what is in the food they feed because of laziness, for fear of really finding out what obnoxious contents they are really feeding or only when they get health or behaviour problems with their dog....and 'Natural' is just an advertising word, there are lots of things that are natural that a dog should never be fed!
10. To answer your question about why some proteins are better quality than others: It's basically to do with how much of the protein in a pet food is (1) readily available to the animal, and (2) which amino acids it provides. (1) A high quality protein is easily digested and absorbed, with little wastage. This means that the higher the quality of a protein, the lower the amount required to be eaten (or to be in the pet food). (2) Good quality proteins also have the right balance of amino acids - for example, gelatin is very easily digested but is deficient in the amino acid tryptophan, so it is not a good quality protein. Others may have too much of the amino acids that aren't used so much, so there is again wastage, and excess nitrogen waste for the liver and kidneys to deal with. Some meats, e.g. chicken, are recognised as containing good quality protein. You can get plant proteins that are good quality too - so it isn't really accurate to say automatically that meat=good and plant=bad. Using plant matter as a 'filler' is common - this is separate entirely from the protein stuff. Once the protein and energy and other nutritive values have been met, a filler is important to give the dog (or cat) satiety - so they feel full when they've eaten what they should. This is even more important in reduced fat diets, as fat also contributes to satiety. In the UK, 'labelling laws' do not prevent the use of human grade food - in fact, over here all pet food *has* to be fit for human consumption by law. No roadkill or rotten animals or anything that would make a human sick allowed.