We’ve all likely read that highly (or ultra) processed foods are generally not healthful for us and that we should reduce the amount included in our diet. Kibble is a highly processed food and for many pets, it constitutes nearly 100% of their diet.
Cancer researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina are studying whether kibble, specifically advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the food, are contributing to cancer growth in dogs.
AGEs are proteins and fats that go through a chemical alteration called glycation when they are exposed to sugars. […]
AGEs are harmful oxidative compounds that over time accumulate in tissues, causing stress and inflammation, and in turn increase the risk of developing diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
https://web.musc.edu/about/news-center/2021/10/08/hollings-researchers-studying-whether-popular-dog-foods-are-causing-cancer
Estimating that AGEs in kibble are 100 times greater than AGEs in human food, researchers believe that eating kibble has negatively impacted the health of dogs. They plan to follow owned dogs over the course of their lifetimes as well as using mice in the study. Testing began in July to determine the amount of AGEs in hundreds of brands of kibble. Researchers intend to publish the list when testing is complete.
Thanks for this post. I was stunned to see tofu mentioned as a high-AGE food linked to a higher incidence of in-situ and invasive breast cancers. I’ve enjoyed tofu in a vegetarian/vegan diet for years, so I did a little more online researching. It looks as though it’s not necessarily tofu at fault, but the way it is prepared. Broiling and oil-frying infuse it with tremendously high AGE amounts (the high-heat-processing connection), while steamed or raw tofu yields much lower AGE numbers. I’ll take this information into account with my own diet, as well as look for ways to supplement my pets’ diets with lower-AGE foods. I did not comment on your blog page because I do not have a Word Press account. Just wanted you to know that I appreciated your post.
Lydia Rypcinski
“Saving one dog won’t change the world, but it will change the world for that one dog” – Anonymous
Thanks for reading and commenting. As you probably have guessed by now, a WordPress account is not needed to comment. Since you apparently thought you were sending a message only to me and that it would not appear on the blog, I deleted your phone number and email for your security. Again, thanks for reading.