Nutrient Ramping |
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Nutrient ramping is the scientific technique of combining the individual nutrients within the food at specific proportions to one another, and at a fixed ratio to the energy content of the food. Once these proportions or ratios have been decided, various raw ingredients are added or subtracted from the mix until the correct nutrient balance (or ratios) are achieved. | ||||
The old technique (and most commonly used by dog nutritionists) is to formulate diets to what is called "daily minimum requirements". For example, you may have noticed a chart on the side of your breakfast cereal box which advises you that "one serve of this food provides an adult with half the daily requirement of iron" or whatever. Daily minimum requirement formulating is simply that... adding enough of each of the raw foods in the mix to make sure there is enough of each nutrient to satisfy the average daily requirement regardless of energy content or requirement. | ||||
So what makes nutrient ramping better? Simply this. In all animals, nutrients are used in the body at a rate that is relative to the rate of energy use, and relative to one another. In other words, if your dog runs around like a mad thing and burns up the equivalent of a cup of energy in two seconds flat, he would also use a teaspoon of one nutrient, a pinch of another plus a dash of a third. If he then went and lay down for a doze, it may take the next three hours to use another cup of energy, during which time he would also precisely use a teaspoon of the first nutrient, a pinch of the second and a dash of the third! Thus, feeding this type of food means there is much less stress on your pet because it doesn't have to sort out the nutrients; storing some which may be in excess whilst searching for others and even discarding the surplus of others. This means that with a nutrient ramped food, more of the food is used in the body, so increasing the efficiency of use whilst reducing the overall feeding cost. In other words, dogs fed a nutrient ramped diet will eat less, will be healthier, should have improved natural disease resistance and should expect to live a longer, happier life. |
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Natural
Balance has nutrients added proportionally to one another. This means that
total level of nutrients is balanced to your dogs requirements giving peak
performance (no deficiencies) together with maximum economy (no waste). |
Other
brands of dog food may have nutrients added to "daily minimum requirements"
which means no attention is paid to the relationship between nutrients.
Over supplementation is wasteful whilst under supplementation means food
is nutrient deficient. |
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Not all nutrient ramped foods are the same. Each nutrient ramp is specifically calculated for the class of the dog. This means the nutrient blueprint for a pup is different to that of it's mother whilst the nutrient blueprint for an older dog is totally different again. And it is this difference that is so important with the Natural Balance range. Because each class of dog requires a different nutrient ramp, you can be confident that each time you use this food you are feeding your dog the very best nutritional technology science can provide. | ||||
The main difference between products is the nutrient density relative to the energy level of the food. For example, a puppy requires a large supply of essential amino acids (the components of protein) relative to energy, whilst an old dog has a lower requirement of amino acids relative to energy intake. | ||||
All in all, we believe the Natural Balance technical advantage offers you the best available program for enhancing the quality of life of your pet... hopefully your dog agrees! | ||||
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For more information, phone for a chat any time because we just love talking about healthy happy dogs! |