Q:  I ve seen charts and some people say high protein diet is dangerous.
 
Q: I was surfing the net and found a food comparison chart at [omitted] .
According to that chart, Natural Gold is not a good food because of too
much protein.  What do you think?
 
A: I thinks, therefore I yam.  When I thinks a lot, I yammer.
 
This particular site, as well as several others I have seen (and I looked
before writing this), makes judgments regarding particular percentages
and types of foods.  The main three problems I have with the chart
mentioned is that these evaluations are not explained (who says the
values selected are correct?  Why are they correct?), there is no mention
of ash content (very important), and that many of the values are
incorrect or out of date; the first reason being the most problematic
for me.  For example, it suggests 50% protein is too high for a ferret's
needs, yet it doesn't defend the objection, nor provide references to
support the position.  By this standard, ANY NATURAL PREY OF POLECATS
CONTAINS TOO MUCH PROTEIN FOR A FERRET'S NUTRITIONAL NEEDS!  Somebody
needs to go to Europe to tell em their polecats need to eat more
carbohydrates!  That is probably what made the black-footed ferret go
extinct!  Generally, whole carcass prey animals rank by dry weight
somewhere between 50-70% protein, depending on age and how fat they
were when the analysis was done.  Look it up yourself!  These numbers
are facts, are easily located, and anyone can confirm them.
 
If someone suggests 50% protein values are too high for a ferret to
consume, a hypercarnivore that evolved eating prey animals for millions
of years, and that it could cause medical, nutritional, or other
problems, they damn well better offer substantial scientific evidence to
satisfy me or I will file the objections in the toilet where they belong.
I will tell you outright there is absolutely zero, no, nada, zippo
evidence that ferrets will not thrive on a high protein, high fat, low
carbohydrate diet that mimics a polecat's natural prey.  Now, I wouldn't
suggest playing infantile games like saying, "Well, my ferret, taking
several drugs, who has severe kidney and liver damage, is allergic to
nearly all forms of animal-based protein, and doesn't make several types
of protein-digesting enzymes does poorly on a high protein diet" because
I might verbally skewer you just for the satisfaction of my evil twin who
sincerely enjoys roasting people with their own heated words, stewing
them in their own gall.  The truth is, there is absolutely no evidence a
normal ferret- -sans strange or rare genetic or other diseases- -will be
harmed by a diet having 50% protein.  If you can prove otherwise, post
the references and teach me something new, and I will value your input
forever!
 
Think about this for a moment.  Fox's book basically states ferrets have
no carbohydrate requirement, Hand et al. says ferrets have no carbohydrate
requirement, and numerous journal papers say the same thing about
black-footed ferrets, ranched mink, and ferrets raised for fur (some
in languages that seem to be mostly composed of diacritical marks and
consonants).  On top of the whole thing, you have 2400 years of ferrets
eating high protein foods while in domestication.  And on top of that,
you have 14 million years, or more, of adaptation to a high protein diet.
Now, in contrast, for the last 25 years or so North Americans have been
feeding ferrets a high carbohydrate diet and suddenly insulinoma is a
problem.  The scientific evidence suggests that high dietary
carbohydrates is perhaps the foremost reason for insulinoma and sure
enough, there are tens of thousands of ferrets with the problem where
high carbohydrate kibbles are fed, and the problem is rare in other parts
of the world where the diets are uncommon.  So, where are the thousands
of ferrets that are suffering from problems caused by eating a high
protein diet?  If a high protein diet was bad for ferrets, then you would
have at least as much evidence the problem as you do for carbohydrates
causing insulinoma, because all the time North Americans have been
feeding kibble, Europeans were going their merry incompetent way just
feeding their ferrets that nasty old high protein, high fat, low
carbohydrate food, just as they had for the previous 2400 years.
Strange during all this time and all these ferrets, such little evidence
exists showing high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diets are bad
for ferrets.
 
Besides, it simply doesn't make nutritional sense.  If carbohydrates are
bad and cause insulinoma, what else do you have to fill out a dietary
formulation?  Excluding carbohydrates, all you have protein, fat and
minerals (ash).  If you want to bring down the protein level without
adding carbohydrates, you'll simply have to increase fat or minerals.
So to drop it down to the accepted levels suggested by that obtuse
comparison chart, and the ferret will have to eat so much ash or fat that
IT WILL CAUSE health problems.  The chart suggests 34.4% carbohydrates
are within a ferret's acceptable needs: there no way such suggestions
are accurate or supported by nutritional science that takes into
consideration a ferret s physiology.  That might be true in a ranched
animal destined to live until their pelt becomes prime, but there is no
evidence it is healthful over a normal lifespan.  A close look at the
chart suggests a food having 32% protein and 40% fat is within the
recommended ideal value for ferrets!  Amazing!  And that s not a good
amazing.
 
I really dislike these types of charts because rather than simply
showing the ingredients of the food, they steer people to specific
foods by making arbitrary decisions on the types of food being offered.
I understand good intentions, but trying to do good aside, such
recommendations, without substantial scientific support, are unethical.
It is one thing to simply list the ingredients; it is another thing to
judge them without reliable scientific support.  Create the comparison
charts if you think they have any value (I don t), but don t scare people
about high protein diets being bad for primary, obligate hypercarnivores
without first finding the evidence to back the position.
 
More questions answered tomorrow.
 
Bob C
Communication?  [log in to unmask]
Questions?  [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 4573]