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Providing your dog with a balanced diet of nutritious dog food will ensure they get adequate amounts of protein, fat and fiber. All three are essential to your dog’s health and happiness — and all three can be found in every IAMS™ product we produce. Learn more about how these three vital elements can support your dog’s whole-body health.
Protein Protein helps keep your dog’s muscles strong.
Protein helps keep your dog’s muscles strong. It also provides the amino acids necessary to build and repair proteins in their body. Many of these amino acids must be acquired through a dog’s diet.
Recipes contain animal-based proteins that provide the essential amino acids dogs need. Plus, we conduct special refining and quality assurance tests to ensure we only use high-quality, highly digestible protein sources for increased digestibility.
Fat gives your dog energy and helps nourish their skin and coat.
Fat provides energy. Your dog needs two types of fatty acids: omega-6 andomega-3 fatty acids. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in chicken fat and corn.Omega-3 fatty acids are found in ingredients such as canola, fish meal or oil, andflax. Both types help nourish and support your dog’s skin and coat.
Fiber and prebiotics help support your dog’s digestion.
IAMS™ dog food recipes feature a tailored blend of natural fiber from ingredients like beet pulp, as well as prebiotics to help support your dog’s digestion. Research has shown that moderately fermentable fiber, such as beet pulp, enhances intestinal health.
Feeding your dog a balanced diet that contains the right amounts of protein, fats and fiber is one of the most important ways you can care for and nourish them. To see the di!erence a healthy diet can make in your dog, feed them an IAMS recipe that’s tailored to their unique dietary needs, such as their size, age and breed. Are you ready to See the Wow?
Fiber is important to your dog's health, providing bulk to move food through his intestinal tract. Some types of fiber can be fermented (broken down by bacteria) in the intestinal tract. This process creates short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), which are a key energy source for the cells lining the intestinal tract.
Most people are aware of fiber and its role in their diet. The beneficial effects of higher fiber levels in humans influence the way many people think about their own food—and their pets’ food. As a result, some pet-food manufacturers began to think like human nutritionists and make high-fiber diets for dogs. But high-fiber diets and the shorter digestive tracts of dogs don't always mix well. High fiber levels in dogs can cause digestive problems and interfere with proper nutrient absorption. Unlike humans, dogs are carnivorous, meaning their nutritional needs are better satisfied with meat rather than with plant materials.
For more than 60 years, pet nutritionists at IAMS™ have been studying diets to better meet the special nutritional needs of dogs. IAMS research shows that the optimal crude-fiber level for healthy dogs ranges from 1.4 to 3.5%. At these levels, nutrient digestibility is maximized.
An important characteristic of fiber is its fermentability, or how well it can be broken down by the bacteria that normally reside in the dog's intestine. This breakdown of dietary fiber produces SCFAs that provide energy to the cells lining the intestines. Different types of fiber vary in fermentability.
Fiber sources used in pet foods include cellulose, which is poorly fermentable; beet pulp, which is moderately fermentable; and gums and pectin, which can be highly fermentable.
Research has shown that moderate levels of moderately fermentable fiber, such as beet pulp, provide the benefits of energy for the intestinal lining and bulk without the negative effects of excessive stool or gas.
High levels of poorly fermentable fiber are used in some weight-reduction pet foods to dilute the calories in a serving. IAMS research found that this is not a good practice because high fiber levels can decrease the digestibility of other nutrients in the food and, therefore, can reduce the nutritional quality of the diet. You might also see more poop piles in the yard because of the indigestible fiber.
The key thing to remember about dietary fiber is that your dog's needs are not the same as yours. A moderate level of moderately fermentable fiber, such as beet pulp, provides proven nutritional benefits for dogs. Diets containing high levels of poorly fermentable fiber to dilute calorie content do not provide these nutritional benefits.
All IAMS products, including IAMS™ ProActive Health™ Adult MiniChunks, are formulated with optimal levels of moderately fermentable fiber to promote a healthy intestinal tract and enhance the well-being of your dog.
