It was the whole food claim on the sign that made me stop in my tracks.
I’ll admit to being a bit of a fanatic about preferring whole foods like fruits, veggies and whole grain products. The concept of pulverizing and modifying nature’s creations to improve nutrition has always been a bit of a stretch to accept.
Sure, there’s a place for supplementation to replace or enhance missing vitamins and minerals in food. But why are they missing in the first place? Chances are, it’s a result of processing.
Pet foods are prime examples of this deficiency
The best quality kibble may start with ingredients that we’d welcome as part of our own meals. By the time the manufacturing process is finished, those ingredients have been sliced, diced, beaten, squeezed, heated, stripped and robbed of much of their nutritional value. A prepared synthetic vitamin/ mineral supplement premix is then added to replace many of the nutrients destroyed by processing.
Many raw diets for pets are notable exceptions to this. Most raw formulas do not use, or require, the addition of a synthetic premix to ensure their formulas meet the daily nutritional needs of our pets. They use whole foods, minimally processed, which allows nature to do its own work without human “improvement”.
Raw diets come with their own challenges
For many pet owners, there are hurdles to overcome before choosing to feed raw. First is the cost of the food. If the budget does not allow this approach, the many benefits of raw feeding become irrelevant.
The second challenge is convenience. Feeding raw is not as convenient as feeding kibble. Advances in the types of raw food available have closed this “convenience gap” considerably. A daily raw regimen can now be managed within a few minutes, as compared to the few seconds it takes to dump kibble into a bowl. And there’s also the responsibility of proper cleanup following meals.
Freeze dried or dehydrated formulas address some of these same convenience concerns, but still remain pricey and less convenient alternatives to kibble. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the option of a minimally processed, whole food based diet that could just be served from a bag on your shelf?
No mess, mixing, refrigeration or yuck factor
Enter Carna4. This is the food that triggered the double take at a recent trade show. And you can see it at Woofstock next month.
This is not an inexpensive food. It is comparable in cost to feeding raw. But if convenience, also known as the “yuck factor” is the main hurdle for you to overcome, Carna4 merits a closer look.
Carna4 is a baked product, made with table grade ingredients and sprouted seeds. The gentler cooking process and addition of sprouted seeds eliminates the need for the addition of a synthetic vitamin/ mineral premix. All vitamins and minerals needed are met with the nutrients provided from the whole food ingredients.
The nutrient profile of Carna4 exceeds the standards set by AAFCO
Most kibble manufacturers must add a synthetic premix to meet these nutrient levels. Carna4 exceeds them through the bioavailability of the live ingredients in its formula.
Yes, some nutrients in Carna4 are also are damaged or destroyed during the manufacturing process. But independent testing of each small batch produced reflects the extraordinary benefits of the spouted seeds and whole food ingredients in the formulas. This testing reinforces the belief that whole foods provide superior nutrition to “enriched” products.
Interested in Carna4 and want to learn more about sprouted seeds? Click on over to the Sprouted Seeds section of the Carna4 website to learn more.
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