Friday, August 3, 2012

Health benefits of Broccoli to Dogs

By Jerry Welsh


People know about the healthful benefits that can be gained from eating vegetables. Dog owners wanting to ensure optimum health of the pet would include vegetables in the dogs diet. Dogs will surely relish the taste of vegetables as dogs are happy eaters. Vegetables would enhance the taste of the dog's dry foods. Aside from this fact, vegetables would provide the pet with essential nutrients that are not contained by commercially prepared pet foods.

Broccoli is listed as one of the human foods unsafe for dogs. Broccoli has isothiocyanate, a powerful gastric irritant. The toxicity of this vegetable is dose dependent. Broccoli will be safe for the dog as long as the dog owner makes sure that the amount of this veggie ingested by the pet is not more than 10% of its daily food intake. Stomach upset that will cause the dog severe pain will occur if broccoli is more than 10% of the dog's diet. Isothiocyanate's effects become fatal if the amount of broccoli ingested by the dog is more than 25% of the daily food intake.

Broccoli is a very nutritious vegetables. Broccoli is a good source of vitamins A and C. Vitamin C promotes the absorption of protein thus dogs that consume this vegetable can fully get the protein from their foods. Broccoli has high levels of calcium and folic acid. Dogs will always be exposed to potentially harmful substances from the food and also from the environment. Broccoli has high levels of antioxidants that help repair the damage done by toxic substances to the dogs cells.

Broccoli contains sulforaphane, the substance that helps in the detoxification process. Broccoli has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxifying components that eliminates free radicals in the dog's body thereby lowering the risk of development of cancer and other health concerns. The phytochemicals found in broccoli is a powerful cancer cell fighter thus the risk of cancer development in the dog is reduced. The inclusion of broccoli in the dog's diet promotes bladder and intestinal health of the dog because this veggie is a good source of soluble fiber.

Dogs are voracious eaters and because these are well loved pets, owners would find it hard to resist when the dog pleads for second helping. The owner can give the pet all the vegetables it can consume without fearing that the pet will get obese. The dog owner has to be careful in feeding the dog broccoli lest it causes the dog more harm than good.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment