probiotics in foods

Originally Posted by mschauer

??? I've never done any nutritional research human or otherwise. Why do you ask???

Click to expand...

I ask since the human sites are quite indepth on this topic and the research carries over to supposedly "lesser " animals... I often forget many havent done the research.. I was a nutritional science major way back when ///

Originally Posted by beandip

I honestly haven't researched this have only very limited knowledge on the subject. But...

On the surface, it seems that if we (and our pets) were only eating "appropriate" foods, we (and our pets) would not need probiotics under normal circumstances. "Appropriate" varies from person to person and pet to pet, depending on sensitivities and other individual issues. I have yet to see a dry cat food that I consider "appropriate"...so I can see why they are added to those. Now, wet food...I don't know....are they commonly added to wet food too? I honestly don't know offhand.

Click to expand...

Wet food should also have them, not many do ... I put them in homemade and raw since the foods we get today are well leached of nutrients and enzymes ...

From the responses here and what the store employee said it seems the probiotics may be added for the same reason as other supplements (vitamins, minerals..). That is, because a processed diet is lacking some of what would be found in a cats "natural" diet. Maybe it isn't for the nefarious reasons as I suspected.

Originally Posted by mschauer

From the responses here and what the store employee said it seems the probiotics may be added for the same reason as other supplements (vitamins, minerals..). That is, because a processed diet is lacking some of what would be found in a cats "natural" diet. Maybe it isn't for the nefarious reasons as I suspected.

Click to expand...

Your right .. I have yet to here a tiger state hey where my bidaphilous( spelled wrong) .... Yeah anything cooked it LACKING in feline , canine or Human diets

Originally Posted by sharky

Wet food should also have them, not many do ... I put them in homemade and raw since the foods we get today are well leached of nutrients and enzymes ...

Click to expand...

I just got here and am late to this whole discussion. What should one look for on a wet food label to indicate that probiotics are added? If there are none what would you suggest adding and in what amounts? Thanks for any suggestions.

By the way, I didn't know that beet pulp was an aid to digestion. I know I've seen that on some labels. That's good to know.

Originally Posted by Jean44

I just got here and am late to this whole discussion.

What should one look for on a wet food label to indicate that probiotics are added? If there are none what would you suggest adding and in what amounts? Thanks for any suggestions.

By the way, I didn't know that beet pulp was an aid to digestion. I know I've seen that on some labels. That's good to know.

Click to expand...

I always did half a human cap ... Canned likely doesnt have them since MOST cans are contents cooke din the can thus few probiotic formula s would survive the "steaming" process

aspergillis , acidophlis , bidophlis are a few examples

Here's a good starter article about probiotics for people that was posted on my Cystic Fibrosis forums if anyone is interested :

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/ar...ntid=100163274

Here's a page on the Eagle Pack web site that addresses the use of probiotics in pet foods to treat digestive problems. Further down on the page it talks about the "science" behind using them:

http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/EP_Pe...html#allergies

Originally Posted by mschauer

Here's a page on the Eagle Pack web site that addresses the use of probiotics in pet foods to treat digestive problems. Further down on the page it talks about the "science" behind using them:

http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/EP_Pe...html#allergies

Click to expand...

That is the not the best decription ... but it sufices ... I dont use them to treat rather to prevent issues... LOL at the corn issue .. they use a study of
ten??..

Great easy read Catallover

Originally Posted by sharky

That is the not the best decription

... but it sufices ... I dont use them to treat rather to prevent issues... LOL at the corn issue

.. they use a study of
ten??..

Click to expand...

Personally I find using the results of 10 studies to be quite suffient to use in reaching a conclusion.

Originally Posted by mschauer

Personally I find using the results of 10 studies to be quite suffient to use in reaching a conclusion.

Click to expand...

A conclusion reached by a manufacturer that skews the statistics to support promotion of their own brand of products. (As would any given company.)

Yeah...that really isn't objective enough for me, personally.

Originally Posted by mschauer

Personally I find using the results of 10 studies to be quite suffient to use in reaching a conclusion.

Click to expand...

10 studies of how many dogs and what controls ... see only 10 % of dogs have food allergies and of the independant studies( ie not paid for by a food company)... 75% of dogs with allergies are allergic to corn , wheat and beef .... thou newer ones show soy lamb and chicken and potato on the rise .... There are NOT any conclusive cat studies that I have found other than a few holistic minded sites... there data is simliar but cats are less likely to have a corn or beef instead it is fish , wheat and dairy...
Oh and food allergies also seem to have a regional connection ..My vet see s more corn and wheat allergies..thou the next town see more beef and chicken . Yes I have studied this ALOT but only cause I wanted my girls happy and healthy
I also try to look at only independent info as that is LESS likely to be swayed ( not fool proof but closer

Originally Posted by GingersMom

A conclusion reached by a manufacturer that skews the statistics to support promotion of their own brand of products. (As would any given company.)

Yeah...that really isn't objective enough for me, personally.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't just accept what I read on a manufacturer sites either. But the information on that site pertaining to digestive issues supports what I have read elsewhere including in this forum. It just does a better job of explaining the reasons for using probiotic supplements than what I have gotten from elsewhere.

It helps to think of probiotics as you would about humans eating yogurt. They're both just nice additions to the diet, because they help digestion. So you don't need to have digestion problems or a poor diet to consume them. They're healthy additions to the diet and can only help... so they're added to cat food for the same reason as vitamins, minerals and other supplements.