Grain Free = Higher meat content, or sack of potato?

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

idk if this makes sense but ehres myview on why higher quality kibbles have more protein than lower protein kibbles or raw. we aall know that raw is 100 percent meat protein. we all know that 100 percent of that protein is what dogs need. also since its all useful, they need less of it, to thrive.

ok now lets go to low quality kibbles.
low quality kibbles dont care about or dogs, and so they are low percentage. also they are low percentage of 100 percent undigestable proteins.

ok now the big question. why do higher quality kibbles have higher protein eprcentages than raw. lets see how u guys feel about my explanation.

ok, so we all know kibble..no matter how high quality it is..will never be as good as raw. to make a 100 percent meat kibble would cost a FORTUNATE, and thered be no binders. my hypothesis is that, food companies start out with the same amount of veggies as the lower protein foods, so they already have around 20 percent protein....then they add more emat to that..to make the food higher quality. obviously the kibble isnt 100 percent meat as we said. so when uadd the more emat the protein goes to 40 percent. but only 20 of that is actually meat based and the rest is veggies.

idk if im making sense. im just bsing in between doing stats...but it makes sense to me really.

[Ania's Mommy]

I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly.

You are saying that dog food with a high quantity of meat has already maxed out the animal protein. And that anything over and above the protein percentage of actual meat is from plant mater.

Right?

[RCTRIPLEFRESH5]

I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly.

You are saying that dog food with a high quantity of meat has already maxed out the animal protein. And that anything over and above the protein percentage of actual meat is from plant mater.

Right?

idk my brain hurts. i think what im saying is that the reason its higher than raw is not because high protein is good, but because the unneeded plant matter used to drive down costs raises the levels.

[V Crane]

Has anyone associated deleterious effects with a dog diet including nightshades (potatoes)?

[sassymaxmom]

No, the reason kibble has a higher level of protein than raw meat is kibble has 10% water and raw meat has about 60-75% water content. Take away the water from raw meat and it is about the same protein content as those grain free super premium kibbles.

[buddy97]

no, grainless foods (at 35%-40% protein) didnt get to that protein level by switching grains for potatoes. potatoes wouldnt get them from 24% to 40% protein. there is simply more meat content. many of the higher protein foods state right on the bag what % of the protein content comes from animal sources (several state it at 80%)...its not from the potatoes. just because potato is third or fourth on an ingredient list doesnt make it equal in quantity to grains being in the same spots on a grain inclusive foods. the ratios of the meat ingredient at the top of the list have to be entirely different to achieve those higher protein contents.

true, some grainless foods like Natural Balance or a couple of the TOTW formulas (at 24% protein or less) likely have no more meat content than many grain inclusive foods. im confident, however, that foods like orijen, EVO, Instinct, etc.....do.

[SamWu1]

I've contacted the nutritional director at Champion and they claim that both Orijen and Acana uses just the bare minimal amounts of potato just to bind the product and they even won an award for having the lowest glycemic index of any kibble apparently.

Great Life is also a good choice, they do use sweet potato but their primary binding agent is tapioca so it's regular potato free.

[sassymaxmom]

Fresh deboned chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, russet potato, fresh deboned pacific salmon (a natural source of DHA and EPA), herring meal, [/B]sweet potato, peas, fresh deboned lake whitefish, fresh deboned northern walleye, chicken fat (naturally preserved with vitamin E and citric acid), chicken liver, salmon meal, fresh deboned turkey, fresh whole eggs, fresh deboned herring, sun-cured alfalfa, salmon oil, chicory root, dehydrated organic kelp, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, saskatoon berries, black currants, choline chloride, psyllium, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, sea salt, vitamin supplements (vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin C, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12), mineral supplements (zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium), dried Lactobacillus acidophilus, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.

Bolded items potentially add carbs. Underlined items are proteins. Orijen has 20% carbs. I made up a completely arbitrary recipe on ND from the 3 main carb sources of 20 ounces raw potato, 10 ounces raw sweet potato and 10 ounces raw peas. It came to 239 dry grams of which 200 were carb, 30.9 were protein. Works to 83.6% carbs, 15.45% protein by dry weight.

If you add in plant proteins you are also adding in carbs. Lots of carbs. Check the carb level and the types of carbs. If the food has corn gluten meal then the kibble is guilty of plant protein loading. High quality kibbles don't do this. Kibble isn't water where you can add in more and it vanishes. Grams added mean other grams are pushed out.