Organic Chia Seed Powder: The second ingredient in our holistic formula is chia seed powder. Chia is extremely healthy and has three times the amount of Omega 3 fatty acids as salmon!! Chia has a wide variety of health benefits, which is why it is our second ingredient. It promotes healthy cells, a healthy immune system, a healthy skin and coat, healthy joints, healthy brain function and eye health. It also contains excellent amounts of dietary fiber to help promote regularity. Chia also helps to stabilize blood sugar levels and contributes naturally to high levels of energy and supports normal insulin function. It has more calcium than whole milk, more iron than raw spinach and more magnesium than broccoli. It is the ultimate superfood and with no taste or scent, it is particularly well suited and tolerated by dogs. As most dog food is extremely high in Omega 6 and the AAFCO is only concerned about your dogs 6 month short term health, they do not require dog foods to include Omega 3. Many dog foods have an Omega 6 to 3 ratio as high as 20 to 1 and others as obscenely high as 50 to 1; especially those containing corn. Yet a healthy Omega 3 to 6 ratio is vital to the long term health of all dogs! An ideal ratio is in the ballpark of 4 to 1 and even as low as 2 to 1. Too much omega 6 can raise blood pressure and cause a heart attack and even a stroke. High omega 6 to 3 ratios have been linked to heart disease, arterial inflammation, arthritis and even dementia. Unfortunately, even dog foods that do contain Omega 3 still have deficient levels, as cooking the food or even canning it destroys the healthy essential fatty acids our animals need and renders them virtually useless. Even if by some miracle the EFA’s were to survive the extreme heat and pressure of extrusion and drying, the shelf life of the oils that provided the healthy EFA’s to begin with such as flaxseed and salmon oil, are only viable for a few months. In the end, there is really no way to tell how much healthy omega 3 remains in your dogs food by the time you purchase it, much less after it has been sitting in an open bag for several days. The only way you can ensure that your dog is getting enough Omega 3, is to supplement it in your dogs diet yourself. Hence chia seed powder is one of the most important ingredients, in our holistic formula.
