I found this newsletter in my email box....now acc to this article is sounds like you should stay away from acidic stuff......this woman is accessible and has helped a friend of mine in florida w her boxers....it may be worth emailing her or giving her a call on the 800 number.....sorry the following is so long but maybe something in the article will trigger something w you.............
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From:
DoniaSea@aol.com [mailto
oniaSea@aol.com]
Subject: April Health Tips E-Newsletter for Dogs: Healthy Diet Principles
Healthy Diet Principles for Healthy Liver and Kidneys
More than ever, dogs need to have a healthy liver and kidneys to break down the chemicals that have crept into their foods and environment. Liver and kidneys are your dog's detoxification system.
The liver is the gateway to a dog's body and in this chemical age their detoxification systems can easily be overloaded. The kidneys are the filtration system that eliminates wastes and excess water, and just like the liver, they can also be easily overloaded.
How can you protect your dog’s detoxification system? And if your dog already has a compromised liver and/or kidneys, is there anything you can do to improve the function of their detoxification system?
The good news is that there is a lot you can do to help your dog live a healthy and long life even though their liver and kidneys may currently be dysfunctional. Diet plays a vital role in supporting the health of their liver and kidneys. Most vets agree that the most important factor in holistic treatment of compromised liver and kidneys is a low protein diet. However, the following principles will help protect their detoxification system beyond just giving them a low protein diet.
A Healthy Digestive System Leads to Healthy Liver and Kidneys:
I have read many books on the topic of health and the one book that made more sense to me in terms of how to heal the body naturally was Henry Bieler's book Food Is Your Best Medicine. What stuck in my mind is the logic Dr. Bieler used to explain how degenerative diseases develop. He said: "The ...body, a chemical engine, accepts all the food it is fed. Some it discards violently by vomiting or diarrhea; some, from the large economy-size package fed to it, it stores in fat reservoirs, a cushion against leaner times; some it gratefully uses to fire its countless tiny cell furnaces, after painstaking and marvelously complex biochemical treatment." The food goes into the digestive system, "...a chemical refinery which manufactures its own fuels and delivers energy from the raw materials provided it: proteins, fats, carbohydrates....vitamins and minerals." (Bieler, pgs. 53-54). Therefore, the digestive system is the first line of the body’s defense against harmful foods and toxins.
If the digestive system becomes congested from harmful foods and toxins, then its able allies, the liver and kidneys take over the burden of breaking down the nutrients from foods and filtering out toxins that come in from the gut. Therefore, the liver and the kidneys are the body's second line of defense against disease (p.61).
It then makes sense that the liver and kidneys will become congested and dysfunctional because the digestive system malfunctions. Digestive system malfunctions can be in the form of indigestion, acid reflux, intolerance to foods, nausea and vomiting attacks, bloating, constipation, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, etc., all symptoms that may occur first, leading eventually to liver and kidneys dysfunction.
It would make sense that to support the health of the liver and kidneys, the digestive system must first become healthy.
Besides probitics and enzymes as supplements that will aid the health of the digestive system, I often recommend juicing celery and zucchini for dogs with compromized kidneys and liver. Sodium helps with the digestive system. Sodium is found in abudnance in celery and zucchini. Since the liver and kidneys take over added detoxification jobs when the digestive system is not functioning properly, getting the digestive system to work better will relieve any stress from the liver as it processes food and the kidneys as it eliminates toxins. Here's further explanation:
Balancing digestion by adding more sodium to your dog’s diet:
Sodium plays a vital role in digestion. Sodium or salt is necessary for balancing fluids and pH in the intestinal tract. I’m talking here about organic sodium or salt as found in green and sea vegetables and NOT commercial salt (sodium chloride) or sea salt. Both commercial salt and sea salt are inorganic (ionic) minerals. The animal's body does not possess any enzymes strong enough to break the ionic bonds found in inorganic minerals.
Sea vegetables (i.e., kelp, blue green algae) or juicing green vegetables daily offers dogs organic minerals required to help digestion. Sufficient sodium enables their body to manufacture watery bicarbonates used to neutralize overacid stomach contents. Foods can then be well digested.
In addition, the production of hydrochloric acid is often extremely low causing symptoms such as indigestion and allergies. Low stomach acid can be addressed with sufficient daily intake of organic sodium.
One of the best and quick ways of making sure your dog is getting sufficient sodium in his/her body is to juice celery and zucchini every day for them. These two vegetables give the body a natural diuretic effect and aid in the elimination of carbon dioxide. The sodium content will neutralize acid ash residue of acidic foods in their body.
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