We Support Grains for Dogs – New Study Backs This Up

Nature, a highly cited interdisciplinary scientific journal, recently announced the discovery that novel adaptions allowing early ancestors of modern dogs to thrive on a starch-rich diet was a key step in the dog’s evolution from the wolf. The idea that dogs have evolved to eat starches – a carbohydrate fraction found in foods like wheat, corn and potatoes – is making waves among pet owners, as well as within the scientific community. Why? It challenges the rising belief that dogs should eat a limited diet, one that doesn’t include carbohydrate sources like wheat and corn.

The belief that dogs shouldn’t eat starches has always perplexed the nutritionists at Purina, as our decades of research have consistently suggested the opposite. We even recently came out in support of the role of grains in a dog’s diet. Now, there is genetic proof that dogs evolved to eat grains. Reference: The genomic signature of dog domestication reveals adaptation to a starch-rich diet

• Erik Axelsson, ¹Abhirami Ratnakumar, ¹Maja-Louise Arendt, ¹Khurram Maqbool, ¹Matthew T. Webster, ¹Michele Perloski, ²Olof Liberg, ³Jon M. Arnemo,
• Åke Hedhammar⁶ & Kerstin Lindblad-Toh^{1, 2}
• Affiliations Contributions Corresponding authors

Nature 495, 360–364 (21 March 2013) doi:10.1038/nature11837 Received 01 July 2012 Accepted 11 December 2012 Published online 23 January 2013