Article on the adaptation of domestic dogs to starch-rich diets.

[pstinard]

Hi,

I came across a research article from March of this year that studies how genes changed during the course of dog domestication to allow them to digest starch better. This article doesn't mean that you should change your Yorkie's diet to include more starches--you should feed your Yorkie what works best for him or her. It just describes how dogs in general were bred to be able to handle more starches in their diet than their wild wolf ancestors.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture11837.html

Since this article is probably behind a pay firewall, I will quote the two concluding paragraphs, including a couple of my own comments in brackets:

In conclusion, we have presented evidence that dog domestication was accompanied by selection at three genes with key roles in starch digestion: AMY2B [this gene breaks starch down to maltose and small oligosaccharides in the dog's intestine], MGAM [this gene helps break down maltose and small oligosaccharides into glucose] and SGLT1 [this gene helps the body's cells absorb glucose]. Our results show that adaptations that allowed the early ancestors of modern dogs to thrive on a diet rich in starch, relative to the carnivorous diet of wolves, constituted a crucial step in early dog domestication. This may suggest that a change of ecological niche could have been the driving force behind the domestication process, and that scavenging in waste dumps near the increasingly common human settlements during the dawn of the agricultural revolution may have constituted this new niche6. In light of previous results describing the timing and location of dog domestication, our findings may suggest that the development of agriculture catalysed the domestication of dogs.

The results presented here demonstrate a striking case of parallel evolution whereby the benefits of coping with an increasingly starch-rich diet during the agricultural revolution caused similar adaptive responses in dog and human. This emphasizes how insights from dog domestication may benefit our understanding of human recent evolution and disease. Finally, by understanding the genetic basis of adaptive traits in dogs we have come closer to unlocking the potential in dog and wolf comparisons to decipher the genetics of behaviour.

[Wylie's Mom]

Totally fascinating, thanks for posting this. I love proof.

I only hope the dog food companies don't abuse this / take it out of context in order to 'cheap out' and start claiming the awesome benefits of 'high starch' diets for dogs...boy that would make me mad, but I could see it happen. I still believe that higher protein diets are best for canines.

Btw, does the article mention at all what % of starch they think a dog's diet should be?

[Verbena]

Interesting. I was wondering the same thing

[chattiesmom]

Very interesting. During the domestication of the dog was the ability to utilize starches evolve because humans fed the a more starch laden diet - perhaps human table food scraps - and only the the who could survive on this type of diet live?

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Totally fascinating, thanks for posting this. I love proof.

I only hope the dog food companies don't abuse this / take it out of context in order to 'cheap out' and start claiming the awesome benefits of 'high starch' diets for dogs...boy that would make me mad, but I could see it happen. I still believe that higher protein diets are best for canines.

Btw, does the article mention at all what % of starch they think a dog's diet should be?

I agree, I hope too that dog food companies don't use this research as an excuse to add starchy "filler" to their foods. They should base their dog food formulations strictly on what is most nutritious for each individual breed.

The article doesn't explain what percentage starch a dog's diet should be. All they did was look at the genes that were selected for during the domestication of the dog, and they found that genes that allow a dog to digest starch better were selected for. They speculate that this came about because wild dogs were foraging around in piles of discarded human food, and also early dog domesticators lived in agricultural areas and tended to toss starchier food scraps to the dogs they were domesticating. The dogs who handled the change in diet the best were selected for.

[gemy]

I think first is that wolves found a free meal in the garbge dump. They would certainly supplement their need for food when prey was scarce. Then mayhap humans started to note this behaviour. And if they were agro farmers
The wolves rumbling in the trash would serve as a detrimEnt to the crop eaters(some at least) So they could encourge that behaviour

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by chattiesmom

Very interesting. During the domestication of the dog was the ability to utilize starches evolve because humans fed the a more starch laden diet - perhaps human table food scraps - and only the the who could survive on this type of diet live?

Yes. The wild dogs who survived eating human food table scraps and dump food lived and were bred.

[mimimomo]

I read about this awhile back: http://www.petmd.com/blogs/thedailyv...s#.Uch-Z9gg4oE
This article was easier for me to understand (I'm not that smart loll!)

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

I read about this awhile back: Genetics Prove Dogs Evolved Beyond Meat-Only Diets - The Right Foods for Dogs | petMD
This article was easier for me to understand (I'm not that smart loll!)

Yes, that's a review of the same article. However, the person who reviews the article for PetMD goes on to justify adding starches to a dog's diet. That's not what this research was about at all. Just because a dog CAN eat starch doesn't mean that it SHOULD eat starch. It is up to canine nutritionists to determine this, not geneticists. As Wylie's Mom so wisely stated above, I hope that dog food companies don't use this research as an excuse to add starchy fillers to their food. Such decisions should be based on nutritional studies, not genetic studies.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by pstinard

Yes, that's a review of the same article. However, the person who reviews the article for PetMD goes on to justify adding starches to a dog's diet. That's not what this research was about at all. Just because a dog CAN eat starch doesn't mean that it SHOULD eat starch. It is up to canine nutritionists to determine this, not geneticists. As Wylie's Mom so wisely stated above, I hope that dog food companies don't use this research as an excuse to add starchy fillers to their food. Such decisions should be based on nutritional studies, not genetic studies.

The ability to utilize some starch does not indicate at all that starchy diets are good

I think intelligent home cooking Is best! I never have to worry about dog food recalls

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by pstinard

Yes, that's a review of the same article. However, the person who reviews the article for PetMD goes on to justify adding starches to a dog's diet. That's not what this research was about at all. Just because a dog CAN eat starch doesn't mean that it SHOULD eat starch. It is up to canine nutritionists to determine this, not geneticists. As Wylie's Mom so wisely stated above, I hope that dog food companies don't use this research as an excuse to add starchy fillers to their food. Such decisions should be based on nutritional studies, not genetic studies.

@ the bolded part, I understand now. I didn't comprehend it that way, that the author was justifying adding starches...told u I'm not smart loll! I feed my guys a grain free diet bc they don't do well w/certain grains like oatmeal & incorporate fresh protein like boiled chicken breast & salmon sometimes. But don't the food companies already add a lot of starches in some of the kibbles already...

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

@ the bolded part, I understand now. I didn't comprehend it that way, that the author was justifying adding starches...told u I'm not smart loll! I feed my guys a grain free diet bc they don't do well w/certain grains like oatmeal & incorporate fresh protein like boiled chicken breast & salmon sometimes. But don't the food companies already add a lot of starches in some of the kibbles already...

Yes they do. That's why you need to read the labels carefully and read dog food reviews. I like to see meat labeled as to which animal it comes from as the first ingredient in Bella's food. Each dog is different though. That's why it's best to find out what works best for your dog.

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

@ the bolded part, I understand now. I didn't comprehend it that way, that the author was justifying adding starches...told u I'm not smart loll! I feed my guys a grain free diet bc they don't do well w/certain grains like oatmeal & incorporate fresh protein like boiled chicken breast & salmon sometimes. But don't the food companies already add a lot of starches in some of the kibbles already...

To be fair, the reviewer took a cautious, balanced approach and recommended starches only in moderation (30% or less of the food volume), but that wasn't part of the article that he was reviewing, that was his own conclusion:

Even though today’s dogs can digest grains and starches, I don’t recommend that such nutrients form the majority of a dog’s diet. Any grains or starches made to be consumed by our pets should be whole-food based, cooked, and included in a small to moderate quantity (30% or less of the volume of a particular meal), complementing the larger percentage of meat, vegetable, and fruit ingredients.

Although commercially available and home prepared diets that are 100 percent free of grains and starches are popular, there are nutritional benefits stemming from their inclusion. Whole grains like brown rice, barley, etc., are good sources of minerals (Selenium, Manganese, etc.) and can even serve as substrates (pre-biotics) on which beneficial bacteria (pro-biotics) grow. Starches like russet and sweet potatoes, banana, etc., are rich in vitamins (A, B6, E, etc.) and minerals (Potassium, Manganese, etc.).

[mimimomo]

Oh yeah, I understood it as his own conclusion...I like that he added the little info about aflatoxin, potential harmful toxins in low grade feed grains.

Even tho the named meat protein is the 1st ingredient, many pet food companies do what's called ingredient splitting. That's when they divide the certain non meat proteins (like peas or corn, etc.) into flour, fiber, protein, meal, etc. So the bulk of the food is actually made up of these non meat proteins & they're split up to push the named meat protein further up on the ingredient list. Very deceptive! Sawwie, getting way out of topic but here's a good read on ingredient splitting: Ingredient Splitting -- The Pet Food Industry's Dirty Little Secret