Ghent University Vet School – Feeding Study
The main role of the digestive (gastrointestinal) tract is to digest food and absorb the nutrients to use for energy, growth, maintenance and repair.
The digestive tract also provides a barrier between the external environment and the dog’s internal environment, keeping out potentially pathogenic organisms and harmful substances.
Poor digestive health can cause discomfort for dogs, raise concerns for owners and potentially require veterinary intervention.
Our peptide technology process enhances the digestibility and bioavailability of freshly prepared meat.
We have developed a unique process that involves cooking fresh meat and fish ingredients in the presence of a natural enzyme, which breaks down proteins into smaller peptides.
The size of peptides play a crucial role in protein digestibility and absorption.
When protein is not effectively absorbed, it leads to a reduction in nutritional value.
Instinctively, you would assume that intact protein would be best for a dog to digest as it contains all the nutritional elements together as one.
Similarly, you might think that individual amino acids, broken down as small as possible, would be much easier to absorb. However, it has been proven in research studies that the ideal digestibility and absorption rates occur in small-chain peptides. We like to refer to this as the ‘Goldilocks principle’.
Intact protein means the dog has to work harder to digest and break down the protein.
Singular amino acids are too small to be absorbed efficiently and may be wasted.
Peptides (chains of 2 or 3 amino acids) are perfect to be easily digested and readily absorbed.
The intestinal epithelial cells form tight links (known as tight junctions) between the cells that help maintain the barrier function and prevent potentially harmful substances from entering the body from the environment.
If the tight junctions become damaged (e.g., due to infection or inflammation), the intestinal barrier function can be compromised, leading to gastrointestinal problems and potentially other health issues.
The increased digestibility and absorption of dietary peptides provides an ideal supply of amino acid building blocks, which support the renewal of intestinal epithelial cells and aid in maintaining an effective barrier function.
Collagen peptides have been shown to protect against inflammation-induced barrier dysfunction by inhibiting the breakdown of tight junction proteins.
We don’t make claims that we cannot back up with science. Read about our research in conjunction with the experts at Nofima and Ghent University whilst we developed the Gastrointestinal Digestive Care recipe.
Freshly Prepared Hydrolysed Turkey (26 %), Sweet Potato, Potato, Hydrolysed Dried Turkey (11.5 %), Turkey Fat (9 %), Pea Protein, Lignocellulose (2.5 %), Hydrolysed Turkey Gravy (2.5 %), Minerals, Dried Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) (0.7 %), Dried Marigold (Source of Lutein)
* Each kibble has a tolerance of +/- 1 mm.
Weight of Adult Dog (kg)
Grams (g) Per Day
All animals are different and the guidelines should be adapted to take into account the breed, age, temperament and activity level of the individual animal. When changing foods, please introduce gradually over a period of two weeks. Always ensure that fresh, clean water is available.