{"id":2169,"date":"2023-04-12T09:28:58","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T09:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nalahealth.dog\/za\/?p=2169"},"modified":"2025-09-14T19:49:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T17:49:17","slug":"dog-food-for-brain-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nalahealth.dog\/za\/dog-food-for-brain-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog Food for Brain Health: Key Ingredients"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Physical stimuli through playtime and training will benefit your dog\u2019s mental health. It is equally important to provide your dog with a healthy diet to support cognitive health from puppy to senior. Nutrients like proteins, antioxidants, probiotics and DHA Omega 3 play an important role in brain development as well as cognitive health and should be a part of your dog\u2019s daily diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s crucial to scrutinize the ingredients list of your dog\u2019s food to ensure it contains the essential nutrients mentioned above. Also, feed your dog an age-appropriate diet, as different life stages call for different nutritional needs for the brain as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antioxidant-rich diet improves brain health<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Antioxidants can play a vital role in keeping our dog\u2019s brain healthy. Vitamins B, C, and E, as well as zinc, selenium, choline, beta-carotene, lycopene, and lutein, are important for cognitive function. These vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals help to protect the brain from free radical damage and support normal functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Think of free radicals as small wildfires within the body. Left unchecked, they can spread and cause widespread damage. Vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals act like firefighters, helping to control these ‘fires,’ protecting the brain from damage and supporting its normal functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foods like blueberries, rooibos tea, and carrots give your dog antioxidants. A little tip I used (before we developed Nala Health) is adding mushed blueberries to your dog\u2019s kibble a few times a week for an antioxidant boost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DHA omega 3 and brain function<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

DHA omega-3 is an essential fatty acid particularly important during early development. Puppies get 70 percent of their adult brain mass by 6 weeks of age and 90 percent by 12 weeks. Puppies are limited in the amount of DHA they can produce themselves, so they must get it from their mother (prenatally and when nursing) and from food, once they are eating on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In commercial dog foods, sources of DHA include marine algae, sea lettuce, oily fish, and fish oil. The body can produce DHA from certain plant oils, such as flaxseed and canola, because they contain ALA, a basic form of omega-3. However, this conversion is slow and inefficient, meaning your dog only gets a small amount of usable DHA. For optimal brain, eye, and heart support, the most reliable source of omega-3 is direct DHA from marine sources like algae oil, or fish oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coconut oil is a rich source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which have been shown to improve brain energy metabolism and decrease brain lesions in older pets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If your dog is pregnant, ensure she eats a diet rich in DHA. She can eat commercial puppy foods, which usually contain appropriate levels of DHA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protein and your dog\u2019s temperament<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Protein and its building blocks, amino acids, are essential for our dogs’ physical and mental health. Amino acids such as tryptophan, tyrosine, and arginine help produce neurotransmitters that are important for cognitive health and mood. Hyperactivity, territorial behaviour<\/a>, dominance and aggression may be lower in dogs who eat high-quality protein providing enough amounts of tryptophan.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protein is found in edible insects, meat, fish, eggs, and pulses like lentils, chickpeas, and peas. The amino acids tryptophan and L-Carnitine can also be beneficial, so look for food (such as Nala Health) that has added these to their recipe.
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Complex carbohydrates<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach and other leafy greens, blueberries, blackberries, and some healthy grains like oats, millet, sorghum, and barley are great sources of beneficial carbohydrates and antioxidants. Carbohydrates (glucose) are the brain\u2019s preferred source of energy and provide an excellent slow-release source of \u201cpower\u201d for our dogs. It can improve calmness due to maintaining a feeling of fullness after meals. Fibre can lower hunger-related stress resulting in a calmer, less anxious dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dogs can also get \u201changry\u201d. Intense exercise or prolonged physical activity can rapidly deplete glycogen stores and cause so-called exercise-induced hypoglycemia<\/a>. This is especially common in sled dogs, hunting dogs, and other highly active dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reactive hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in dogs is quite common and can cause lethargy, irritability, and anxiousness. Some complex carbs 30 min after high-intensity training can stabilise the blood sugar level. Sometimes one can use \u201cdiet manipulation\u201d as a tool to change an unwanted behaviour, focusing on tryptophan, B6, complex carbohydrates, protein levels, antioxidants, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In older dogs, glucose metabolism becomes less efficient, leaving a gap in the brain\u2019s energy requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Probiotics, gut health, and mental health<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The gut-brain axis<\/a> describes the communication between the gut and the brain. This happens via the vagus nerve and signal molecules produced by bacteria in the gut (communications between the central and enteric nervous systems). A good environment in the gut can assist with brain biochemistry and behaviour<\/a>. Some probiotics have even been shown to improve symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. The gut microbiome<\/a> produces neurotransmitters like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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