Does your
dog suffer from allergies, itchy skin, chewed up feet or gooey ears?
Then he’s
in good company! Allergies are one of the most commonly diagnosed health
issues in dogs. And they’re one of the hardest issues to treat.
That’s
because conventional medicine only looks at the dog’s skin and not the root
cause. And as researchers are starting to spend more time looking at
something called the microbiome, they’re finding out why most conventional
allergy treatments are doomed for failure.
Good Health
Starts In The Gut
Inside
your dog’s digestive tract (and yours), is something called a microbiome. The
microbiome is a colony of bacteria that live throughout your dog’s
body. But the largest – and most important – colony lives in your dog’s
intestines and gut.
The
microbiome might not seem like a big deal, but it’s a vital part of your dog’s
body. In fact, those bacteria outnumber your dog’s own cells by 10 to 1. And
there are 100 trillion of these organisms in the gut alone.
You might
have heard that 70% of the immune system resides in the gut. That’s because the
microbiome in the gut plays a key role in your dog’s immune system function.
It’s like a virtual organ that plays a massive role in your dog’s health and
immunity.
But if your dog’s microbiome isn’t healthy, your dog
can’t be healthy. This is why most allergy drugs, diets and
treatments won’t work in the long run – they all harm the delicate balance
in his microbiome, which makes him more likely to suffer from allergies and other
autoimmune diseases.
The Key
Functions Of Microbiome
The
bacteria in your dog’s microbiome have a few key functions in your dog’s body:
1. They
help manufacture important nutrients.
For example, the bacteria in your
dog’s gut are responsible for producing much of your dog’s vitamin K as well as
some of the B vitamins.
2. They
help with the absorption of nutrients.
The gut bacteria help absorb
vitamins and other micronutrients that are critical to your dog’s health.
3. They
regulate the immune system.
T cells are an important part of
the immune system and they can either increase or decrease inflammation in the
body. When your dog is a puppy, the bacteria in his microbiome will help
train the T cells to differentiate between friendly and harmful bacteria.
This primes his immune system for the future.
4. They
strengthen the gut lining.
Gut bacteria produce fatty acids
to keep the intestinal lining strong.
If all is
going well with the microbiome, all will be well with your dog. But if the
colony of bacteria gets out of control, then they’ll start attacking your dog’s
body for their own survival.
And
that’s when your dog’s health will suffer.
A Delicate
Balance
There are
two kinds of bacteria in your dog’s microbiome: friendly and harmful. And the
balance between these bacteria is critical – and easy to disrupt.
6 Causes Of
Microbiome Damage:
1. Antibiotics
The problem with antibiotics is
that they indiscriminately kill both harmful and friendly bacteria. This not
only disrupts their balance, but can wipe out the entire colony, leaving
only the resistant germs, which can grow and multiply. Even if your dog hasn’t
taken antibiotics before, if he’s eating food from conventionally raised
animals, he’ll be consuming the antibiotics the cows or chickens he eats were
given.
2. NSAIDs
Drugs and Chemicals
These all inhibit the growth of
friendly bacteria.
3. Steroids
Steroids inhibit many important
gut functions, suppress the immune system and can lead to a proliferation of
harmful bacteria.
4. Vaccines
Disrupt the immune system and
inhibit the growth of friendly bacteria.
5. Stress
If your dog spends long hours
alone or suffers from other chronic stressors, this will make him more
susceptible to an imbalanced microbiome.
6. Diet
Dogs eating processed diets or
diets high in carbohydrates (and any kibble on the market will be high in
carbohydrates) will have unbalanced gut flora. Carbohydrates, especially those
with a higher glycemic load, are the preferred food for many harmful bacteria.
Grains and carbohydrates will also cause an overgrowth of fungus and
yeast. Dairy products, genetically modified (GMO) foods, preservatives,
coloring and chlorinated water can also harm the microbiome.
When the
bacteria in the microbe become unbalanced, the result is called dysbiosis. And
dysbiosis can create or worsen allergies through something called leaky gut.
Leaky Gut: A New Epidemic
When
harmful bacteria are allowed to proliferate, they can cause leaky gut. Leaky
gut is just what it sounds like – holes can develop in your dog’s gut lining,
allowing the intestinal contents to “leak” into the bloodstream.
The
lining of the gut, called the mucosal lining, becomes irritated and
inflamed when dysbiosis occurs. This inflammation causes the cells
lining the intestines, called enterocytes, to separate. When this happens,
bacteria, fungus and undigested food start to leak into the bloodstream.
Undigested
proteins are not supposed to be in the bloodstream. When they do enter it, the
immune system ramps up and attacks and neutralizes them. Sometimes, the
antigen from the foreign protein can look like the structure of one of the
body’s own tissue proteins. This is called molecular mimicry and can
cause the body to create antibodies against itself, which is the
cause of autoimmunity and allergies.
Leaky
gut can also result in bacteria passing through the gut lining, as well as
bacterial neurotoxins called lipopolysaccharides. These definitely don’t belong
in your dog’s bloodstream and they circulate to the liver, kidneys, heart and
other organs where they cause chronic inflammation and disease.
So
leaky gut doesn’t just cause allergies and the hypersensitivity disorders – it
creates autoimmunity, which is the root cause of a myriad of common health
issues including:
·
Joint pain
·
Thyroid disease
·
Heart disease
·
Nervous system and eye disorders
·
Inflammatory bowel disease
·
Collapsing trachea and laryngeal paralysis
·
Liver, gallbladder and pancreatic disorders
·
Behavioral issues (your dogs gut and brain actually
communicate via the endocrine system)
·
Cancer
As
researchers are learning more about the microbiome and its delicate
balance, it’s becoming clear that leaky gut is one of the most
significant and preventable diseases in dogs (and humans).
Getting To The Root Cause
If
your dog’s allergies are caused by leaky gut, it’s short sighted – and
ultimately dangerous – to treat his skin conditions with antibiotic creams and
steroids. It’s also a terrible idea to feed your dog prescription allergy diets
because they’re loaded with carbohydrates and preservatives, which will only
harm the microbiome and worsen the leaky gut.
If
you really want to rid your dog of his allergies for good, stop treating
his skin and immune system – and start treating his gut
1. Stop the drugs and medications: Find a
good holistic or homeopathic vet who can get your dog off the toxic flea meds
and drugs. They all damage your dog’s gut.
2. Never give an unnecessary vaccine: Once an
adult dog has responded to a vaccine, research shows he doesn’t need any more.
Instead of revaccinating, ask your vet to run a titer test first to see if he needs
that vaccine (chances are, he’s already protected and doesn’t). Click here for more informationon titer testing.
3. Reduce your dog’s stress: If he’s home
alone, get him a companion or take him to daycare.
4. Stop feeding kibble: Kibbles require at
least 30% carbohydrate to hold them together. Carbohydrates fuel harmful
bacteria, so a fresh, raw diet is a better option. Grains also contain lectins,
which irritate the gut. If you must feed grains, make sure they’re sprouted
grains (but only once your dog’s gut is healed and his allergy symptoms are
gone).
5. Stop feeding processed foods: Processed
foods contain preservatives, genetically modified ingredients (such as alfalfa,
soy, corn and canola oil) and colors that harm the microbiome.
6. Feed your dog organic foods: Organic
vegetables will be free of harmful pesticides and organic meats will be free of
antibiotics.
7. Avoid anti-nutrients: Many kibbles contain mycotoxins, which are molds that can cause severe gut and
autoimmune reactions. Peanut butter also contains mycotoxins.
8. Give your dogs probiotics: Help your dog
recolonize the friendly bacteria with probiotics. These can come from foods
such as kefir and fermented foods, and from store-bought probiotics. Be careful
because many probiotics actually contain allergens that can worsen your dog’s
symptoms. Avoid dairy based probiotics or those containing Lactobacillus
casei, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus.
9. Give your dog prebiotics: Prebiotics
help the gut bacteria produce fatty acids that protect the mucosal cells in the
intestinal lining.
10.
Give
you dog digestive enzymes: Digestive enzymes help break food down so its
nutrients can be absorbed. Leaky gut causes these enzymes to stop working so
they need to be added back into the diet. Grains and legumes also inhibit
digestive enzymes so remove those from your dog’s diet (and stop feeding kibble
because the enzymes in the food have all been killed during the processing,
making your dog enzyme deficient).
So
if you’re frustrated with your dog’s allergy treatments, start treating his gut
instead. As long as those undigested proteins and harmful bacteria leak
through your dog’s gut, his immune system will be kicked into overdrive and his
allergy symptoms will remain.
Those
allergy drugs, anti-itch creams and fancy allergy kibble do nothing but kick
the beehive – so treat your dog’s leaky gut today and fix his allergies at the
source.
