Are grain-free diets becoming more common?

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Whether or not pet owners should feed their dogs grain-free diets has been a hot topic in veterinary clinics nationwide. In her session, “Against The Grain: Where Do We Stand, Should We Still Be Afraid,” Danielle Conway, DVM, CVA, VSMT, CCRP, discussed the origin of the grain-free diet for pets, in addition to an overview of grains and their nutritional benefits.

“So, grain-free is growing, and it [will] continue to grow,” Conway said in her lecture. “It’s projected that, by 2032, [the grain-free pet food industry] will jump to reach $53.2 billion in the US alone.”

According to Conway, the grain-free pet food market saw a 4.8% growth in sales over the last 13 months and is expected to increase 6.4% from 2022-2032. She attributes this significant growth to a number of beliefs held by clients. Included in these theoretical benefits of grain-free diets are the fact that they’re more similar to ancestral diets, it lessens the risk of food allergies (and some pets have allergies to gluten), grain-free foods are more digestible, and they contain less carbohydrates.

What does a grain-free diet consist of?

Carbohydrates are 1 of the 3 main sources of energy. In veterinary medicine, dogs and cats do not require dietary carbohydrates (CHO), but they do require cellular glucose. Dogs are able to utilize as much as 65% dietary CHO, but cats can only use up to 40% dietary CHO. Conway notes that all grains are carbohydrates, but not all carbohydrates are grains.

Conway defined grains as the seeds or fruits of various food plants, including the cereal grasses and other plants. Grains can be divided into 2 classes: True grains (grasses) and pseudograins (non-grasses). True grains include wheat, barley, oats, rice, corn, millet, rye, and sorghum, and pseudograins include buckwheat and quinoa.

Although commonly confused gluten and grains are not the same. There are overlapping food items, but there are also grains that don’t have any gluten in them. “So, if you have a true gluten sensitivity or allergy, there are still grains that can be consumed safely that won’t trigger issues,” Conway explained. “I have seen this in clients with patients that, maybe, have a gluten sensitivity, [and] need to be avoiding gluten, not necessarily all grains.” She expressed that, while early signs indicate to this being applicable to veterinary medicine, more research is required.

Gluten itself is a protein mixture of glutenins and gliadins. Wheat, barley, rye, and triticale are examples of gluten. Conway cautions against operating in a world of absolutes regarding gluten. Not all grains are gluten-containing, and a lot of cases are closer to gluten sensitivities than true gluten allergies. She also admits that the line can be blurry and often confusing, and she still turns to the internet to double check whether specific grains contain gluten.

Conway shared that there are patients who test negative for celiac disease, despite still experiencing symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, and cramping after eating gluten. In these cases, the clinical signs do result following the removal of gluten from the diet. Zonulin, a protein responsible for breaking down tight junctions between intestinal cells, is increased upon exposure to gluten.

Alternative diets

Conway debunks the increasingly common ancestral, raw-meat diet, which many owners believe is more similar to their dog’s ancestral and natural needs. This is not true. She explains that, not only are modern domestic dogs significantly different than wolves, but wolves themselves, in addition to only living to 6 years old in the wild, consume more than just meat. They have been found to forage and have shown attraction to grains in the stomachs of their prey. Separately, Conway concluded that more research is necessary to establish definitive proof that the anti-inflammatory diet is effective, despite the success of the Mediterranean diet.

What makes nutrition-based conversations so tricky?

Conway cites several reasons regarding why conversations about nutrition can be so difficult. First, she says that a lot of people feel very strongly about their pet’s nutrition, likening the subject to politics or religion, in the sense that it can be touchy. She also mentions the abundance of social media users that go viral, spreading misinformation about nutrition, despite falsely claiming to be experts. Other obstacles for nutrition conversations include confusing labels, mistrust of certain brands, hyperfixation on certain ingredients, and misunderstanding definitions.

“When I train technicians how to have these hard conversations with clients, you almost need to approach with the same delicacy that you would when talking about religion or politics,” Conway said. “That’s how deeply and passionately a lot of people can feel about the food that they’re feeding [their pets], and there’s a lot of misinformation.”

Reference

Conway D. Against the Grain: Where Do We Stand, Should We Still Be Afraid? Presented at: Fetch dvm360 Conference; October 14-16, 2024; Atlantic City, NJ.