#5 Benefit of raw and homemade diet in Gut Health - Microbiome

Many studies have shown that raw food and homemade diet are beneficial in improving gut microbiome and digestive health. The gut microbiota is referred to as an ecosystem in the digestive tract. This ecosystem is in full swing in the colon. The change in the composition of functioning of these microbiomes results in severe health disease. According to scientists, these microbiomes teach the immune system, protect the body from different diseases and are also responsible for overall good health and growth. A healthy microbiome can promote anti-inflammatory condition and enhance the ability to fight infections.
The microbiome can get influenced by many factors such as environment, exercise level, medications, stress, and FOOD. 

Different Diet builds Different Bacteria

For example, dogs with meat-fed diets have shown improved growth of Clostridiaceae. A positive correlation is observed between Clostridiaceae and dietary protein content, along with increased digestibility of protein. It suggests that Clostridiaceae has a role in the metabolism of dietary protein.
Dogs fed kibble diet have shown an abundance of Erysipelotrichaceae and Bacteroidaceae family. These microbes have a positive correlation with carbohydrate digestion.
Several studies showed apparent digestibility of dry matter, energy, crude fat and protein digestibility was higher in dogs fed the meat diet. Also Feeding raw/homemade diet encouraged a more balanced growth of bacterial communities and a healthier gut function than feeding kibbles.
A study showed that dogs with Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) presented significantly decreased fecal bacterial diversity.

Comparison between Dry food and Raw/Homemade

Food scientists and nutritionists conduct different studies on animals to determine the effects of different foods on animals' bodies.
A study was performed on eight healthy adult Boxer dogs. Dogs were randomly divided into two groups of four individuals. One group was given raw based diet, and the other was given a commercially extruded diet (kibble) for 14 days. After that, the diets of each group were reversed and continued for further 14 days. Fecal samples were collected before the start of the trial, after 14 days and at the end of the experiment. The results suggested that dogs fed raw-based diets showed a more balanced growth of bacteria and a positive change in healthy gut functions as compared to a commercially extruded diet.
Another study was conducted with twelve domestic short hair cats to research macronutrient digestibility, fecal output, score, pH, organic acid concentrations and bacteriome profiles in three different diet group: raw meat (Raw), raw meat plus fibre (2%, ‘as is’ inclusion of inulin and cellulose; Raw+Fibre) and a commercially available Kibble diet. The result indicated that fecal score was improved in the Raw dietary treatment. Bacterial diversity was higher in raw diet group compared to the one of kibble. 

Final Thoughts

​It is obvious that what we feed to our pets affects our pet’s gut health. A lot of research has confirmed that gut microbiome impacts on other systems in the body too for both human and animals. It is important to consider the quality of diet we feed to our pets to enhance the balanced healthy microbiome in gut for their well-being. 

References

Scarsella, E., Sandri, M., Monego, S. D., Licastro, D., & Stefanon, B. (2020). Blood Microbiome: A New Marker of Gut Microbial Population in Dogs?. Veterinary sciences, 7(4), 198. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7040198

Sandri, M., Dal Monego, S., Conte, G., Sgorlon, S., & Stefanon, B. (2017). Raw meat based diet influences faecal microbiome and end products of fermentation in healthy dogs. BMC veterinary research, 13(1), 65. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-017-0981-z

Butowski, C. F., Thomas, D. G., Young, W., Cave, N. J., McKenzie, C. M., Rosendale, D. I., & Bermingham, E. N. (2019). Addition of plant dietary fibre to a raw red meat high protein, high fat diet, alters the faecal bacteriome and organic acid profiles of the domestic cat (Felis catus). PloS one, 14(5), e0216072. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216072

Pilla, R., & Suchodolski, J. S. (2020). The Role of the Canine Gut Microbiome and Metabolome in Health and Gastrointestinal Disease. Frontiers in veterinary science, 6, 498. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2019.00498

Scarsella, E., Stefanon, B., Cintio, M., Licastro, D., Sgorlon, S., Dal Monego, S., & Sandri, M. (2020). Learning machine approach reveals microbial signatures of diet and sex in dog. PloS one, 15(8), e0237874. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237874

Bermingham, E. N., Maclean, P., Thomas, D. G., Cave, N. J., & Young, W. (2017). Key bacterial families (Clostridiaceae, Erysipelotrichaceae and Bacteroidaceae) are related to the digestion of protein and energy in dogs. PeerJ, 5, e3019. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3019

Guard, B. C., Barr, J. W., Reddivari, L., Klemashevich, C., Jayaraman, A., Steiner, J. M., Vanamala, J., & Suchodolski, J. S. (2015). Characterization of microbial dysbiosis and metabolomic changes in dogs with acute diarrhea. PloS one, 10(5), e0127259. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0127259

Minamoto, Y., Minamoto, T., Isaiah, A., Sattasathuchana, P., Buono, A., Rangachari, V. R., McNeely, I. H., Lidbury, J., Steiner, J. M., & Suchodolski, J. S. (2019). Fecal short-chain fatty acid concentrations and dysbiosis in dogs with chronic enteropathy. Journal of veterinary internal medicine, 33(4), 1608–1618. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15520