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No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain, you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office
— George Bernard Shaw
Fats are one of the macronutrients in food, the other two macronutrients are proteins and carbohydrates.
Fats are important in the diet, not only because they are rich in energy (calories) but also because they help to transport fat-soluble vitamins (Vitamins A, D and E) and they play an important role in the body. Fatty acids are important building blocks of cells and they protect those cells from unwanted invaders. Fat is necessary for your eyes, brain and muscles to work properly, they play a role in the regulation and signaling of cells, they are important in reproduction and they are important for healthy skin and coat.
Fats are subdivided according to their structure:
– Saturated fats
o These do not have a double bind in their structure
– Monounsaturated fats
o These have a double bind
– Polyunsaturated fats
o These have multiple double bonds
– Trans fats
o Trans fats are produced when food is heated at high temperature or by partial hydrogenation of a fat. These fats are unhealthy and should be avoided.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids can be divided into omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
Essential nutrients are substances that a human / animal cannot produce itself and that must therefore be in the diet. For dogs and cats, omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are essential.
Examples of omega-6 fatty acids are Linoleic acid and Arachidonic acid. Dogs can convert Linoleic Acid into Arachidonic Acid but cats cannot. Therefore, for dogs, only linoleic acid is essential, and for cats, both linoleic acid and arachidonic acid are essential.
Examples of omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Dogs can convert ALA to EPA and DHA to a limited extent, cats cannot do this at all. For both dogs and cats, omega-3 fatty acids in the diet are therefore important for good health and the prevention of many disorders. ALA is found in vegetable oils, EPA and DHA are found in fish/fish oil and organ meats, among other things.
Omega-3 fatty acids are sensitive to light, air and heat. They then oxidize, creating harmful oxidants. Giving fresh fats is therefore always better than giving stored / processed fats. A good omega-3 supplement therefore always contains an antioxidant such as vitamin E.
If omega 3 is added to processed food (kibble / can), much of the effectiveness of these fatty acids is lost during production due to, among other things, the heat. And then we also have the oxidation that takes place when the food is stored on the shelf and when it is open at the consumer’s home for a longer period of time.
Both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are essential. The balance between these two is very important. In a diet of a dog or cat, the total amount of fat is important, the presence of the essential omega 6 and 3 fatty acids and the balance between the omega 6 and 3 fatty acids. What this balance should be depends on the situation of the dog or cat. In a dog or cat with conditions such as chronic skin inflammation, osteoarthritis or kidney disease, we want to have the balance more towards the omega 3 fatty acids than in a healthy dog or cat.
Conditions where adding extra omega-3 fatty acids is currently known to be useful include atopy/allergy, brain disorders such as dementia, pregnant animals, aggression, osteoarthritis, heart disease, kidney disease, chronic gastrointestinal inflammation, obesity and cancer.
Do you think your animal can benefit from supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids? Discuss this with your veterinarian. Of course you can also contact me for a nutrition consultation.
