Benefits Of Beetroot For Dog Health
There are countless foods that, cooked and managed correctly, are great allies for the health of our pets. Some vegetables offer many health benefits to dogs, such as beets.
Next, discover the advantages of including this food in your four-legged friend’s diet.
Curiosities about beetroot
Beetroot – whose scientific name is Beta vulgaris – is an herbaceous plant, which means that its stems are green. There are numerous varieties of beetroot, many of them with agronomic and commercial interest.
It is usually consumed cooked, and its reddish and pink tones appear in the water. Two pigments are responsible for this phenomenon: betacyanin and betaxanthin. These two by-products of beetroot are completely harmless, despite coloring everything they touch.
Beetroot has long been used as a supplement in animal feed. In this sense, the pulp resulting from industrial sugar extraction is an ideal food for some animals, including dogs.
Beetroot, source of fiber
One of the biggest benefits that beets offer dogs is the large amount of fiber they contain.
In this case, the fiber contained in a moderate dose of beetroot – in the form of pulp or included in a high quality pet food – will help to regulate your pet’s intestinal transit.
This can be especially helpful in cases of diarrhea or constipation as it improves the consistency of bowel movements by increasing volume and moisture.
In addition, beet fiber will promote better digestion and ensure adequate nutrient absorption. And that’s not all: beetroot has prebiotic activity and favors the development of the dog’s intestinal flora.
As you can see, the virtues of beet fiber are not few. Precisely for this reason, there are increasingly specialized and high quality feeds that include beet pulp among their ingredients.
Other Benefits of Beetroot for Dogs
In addition to fiber, beets contain many other nutrients and components essential for your pet’s health. For example, among the minerals most present in this vegetable, we can find magnesium, sodium and potassium.
All of them are considered macroelements, necessary to coordinate various muscular, nervous and neurological functions.
If we talk about vitamins, beets are not far behind. The highlight goes to folic acid – also known as vitamin B9 – which, together with vitamin B12, is involved in the formation of red blood cells. Folic acid helps prevent certain diseases in fetuses, so it is interesting for pregnant females.
The beet also contains vitamins A and C. Vitamin A, rich in retinol or retinoic acid, is essential for vision, maintenance of skin epithelia and even reproduction.
Vitamin C, on the other hand, is also important for bone and dental functions, although an excessive supply of this vitamin is not necessary in the case of dogs, as they are capable of synthesizing vitamin C alone.
As you can see, the nutritional contribution of beets to dogs is more than proven. However, as we always do here on our website, we recommend that you consult your veterinarian before including new foods in your pet’s diet.
