Fresh Food Diets
Chronic Skin Disease (CSD) and chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are common diseases in adult dogs. The importance of the integrity of the gut mucosal lining i.e. gut health and the gut microbiome population, are now well known through research, for their roles in the development of these diseases. There is a complex but direct relationship between gut microbiota, the immune system, gastrointestinal system and skin health. This is called the “Gut-Skin Axis”.
The intestinal walls are composed of the largest proportion of immune cells (70%) in the body. The cells of the intestinal wall layers are held together by tight junctions, with specific immune cells sitting between the lining cells of the intestinal wall. These cells are continuously exposed to foreign material: new antigens, pathogens, toxins, and allergic stimuli, present in the gut contents.
Functions of the intestinal walls include:
• Prevent absorption of these foreign materials into the bloodstream.
• Gut wall immune cells induce tolerant immune responses to the different antigens present in gut contents.
• Maintain a state of balance in the gut (homeostasis) by preventing inflammation in the body.
Any breakdown of the integrity of the gut wall can damage the cells, disrupting the cells protective functions and resulting in inflammation in the body with loss of homeostasis in the whole body. This inflammation can occur in many body systems – gut inflammation and skin inflammation being the most prominent and common areas affected.
Chronic disease states such as Atopic Dermatitis (AD), CSD and IBD eventually take hold. These chronic disease states are a manifestation of a greater, systemic problem – there is imbalance in the gut (gut dysbiosis) and increased gut permeability.
The development of chronic disease states mentioned previously, will occur If the gut inflammation and abnormal permeability is not corrected. Healing of the damaged tissues must occur and most importantly, be maintained for the life of the animal. This healing will take time; acute disease (eg diarrhoea) may be healed relatively quickly however chronic skin disease and chronic bowel disease, often being present for many years, will take time to heal. The whole-body homeostasis needs to be improved and this doesn’t happen overnight. Be patient.
Removing high starch diet components i.e. kibble and replacing it with easily digestible fresh food, medicinal herbs and probiotics, is the first step towards correcting skin and gut disease and providing life long management of the dog.
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