mORIGINS is not the raw diet referred to as BARF. Nor is it just "any" raw diet but a superior raw diet that has been developed to come as close as possible to the diet our carnivores would find if we turned them loose and let them hunt.

THE KEY IS BIOAVAILABILITY:
The most important aspect of diet for any species is the issue of bioavailability. This is different than digestibility. Digestibility studies are simple to do and have been done. All they measure is amount of input (food consumed) and amount of output (fecal matter). Digestibility studies do not address whether or not the food source is readily available and usable by the body.
There is very little independent, sound, scientific research to review on dogs and cats. There is some research, which suggests that cats have absolutely no tolerance for grains and that feeding them induces diabetes mellitus. Additionally, IAMS just had a symposium in April 2002 in San Francisco in which they have suggested that a whole host of canine maladies are induced by feeding certain grains. Harkening back to the statements made above, the prey animals that wild counterparts hunt do not eat grains. In the studies that have been done, they found that 66-100% of the prey devoured by wolves on this continent in the wild is large ungulates (herbivores) who feed on grasses, fruits, and other plant material.
The importance of this to the types of essential fatty acids and the ratio of these EFA's in the fat of the prey animal has been studied with respect to health in humans. It has been found that the ratio of Omega 6's to Omega 3's in beef that are fed commercial diets (heavy in grains) ranges from 20:1 to 50:1. These ratios have been linked to a number of chronic diseases in people
(see Dr. Mercola's newsletter on the internet for more details-- ).
On the other hand, grass fed beef has a range of about 3:1. This ratio has been found to promote health in people. Again, there is little research in dogs, but there are a few studies that found dogs get little benefit from Omega 3's derived from plant material. They get some benefit in the first 45-60 days and then it falls off to nothing. They need an animal source rich in Omega 3's and the right ratio of Omega 6's to Omega 3's to derive any long-term benefits.

BIOAVAILABILITY AND PROTEIN:
There is a very interesting independent study that was done about 8 years ago (again on cats only) regarding taurine digestibility. Taurine is an amino acid (protein) which is routinely added back to commercial cat food, but the amount that must be added back to canned food is about 2.5 times what is needed in a dry food in order for the cat's body to absorb it and use it. What the study seems to have pinpointed is that taurine provided in the form of a "cooked" protein source is subject to degradation by bacteria in the gut of a cat whereas taurine provided in a "raw" form is ignored by the bacteria and absorbed and utilized by the body. The research determined that this is related to bacteria by placing the cats on an antibiotic part way through the study and observing that the taurine levels went up significantly.
To the best of our knowledge, this type of research has not been done on any of the other amino acids nor has it been done on any other species besides cats. No one seems to know why canned food is even more susceptible to this degradation than the same formula in a dry form.

Pottenger's Cats: A Study in Nutrition, a summary of the research done by Price/Pottenger, MD back in the 1930's and 40's may have uncovered this issue in their studies on 900 cats. They found that if any part of the diet they fed was cooked they had compromised health, reproductive problems, and birth defects in the cats they studied. No research like this has been done on dogs to date.
The commercial companies routinely add lysine and methionine back to all dog and cat foods and taurine is added to cat foods. We now have dogs showing up with deficiencies of arginine, carnitine and taurine on the processed foods. However, all of these amino acid supplements are made via a chemical reaction or a fermentation process. They are not natural animal sources of these amino acids. In the case of taurine, for example, the chemical process employs the use of arsenic and about 2 percent of the arsenic comes through in the final product. How digestible are these sources of amino acid supplements by carnivores? What happens if too much is absorbed? In people studies, long term use of supplemental amino acids can cause an over-protein condition in the body. Is this happening with our animals on the commercial foods too?   BIOAVAILABILITY AND VITAMINS/MINERALS:
Will any vitamin/mineral supplement do? Certain carriers for certain vitamins and minerals do not facilitate their utilization in all species. There are certain ones that can be absorbed by both dogs and cats and some that can only be absorbed by dogs. All vitamins/minerals need specific amino acids and/or fats present in sufficient amounts to facilitate their uptake by the body.
Most vitamins are very susceptible to degradation if heated. Minerals are not affected.

BIOAVAILABILITY AND FOOD ENZYMES:
Food enzymes are completely destroyed by cooking after only minutes of cooking at very low temperatures. Studies have shown that food enzymes are very important to health in many species.
An excellent book on this subject is Humbart Santillo's "Food Enzymes: The Missing Link to Radiant Health".

AAFCO AND BIOAVAILABILITY
The key is not *nutrients* per se. It is the *usefulness* of those nutrients. AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials) does not deal with bioavailability of nutrients in any way. They look at total protein, total fats, total vitamins and minerals and assume that all of these nutrients (if present) are being presented to the body in a way that can be utilized.
What is an AAFCO approved diet?
An AAFCO study is needed in order for any pet food in this country to be labeled 100% complete and balanced. It requires the manufacturer to either complete a feeding trial or do a nutritional analysis to be sure they meet the minimums. A feeding trial consists of 8 animals that are on the diet for 6 months where only 6 (75%) meet minimum standards of health measured through blood, fecal, urinalysis, etc. at the end of the trial. Once you have completed this, you have a diet that is literally 100% Complete and Balanced.
The studies behind the minimum requirements set by AAFCO are, in many cases, lacking in sound scientific research protocols. As an example, we will review the one study that was done on a fish diet for cats, which resulted in the addition of Vitamin K to any cat food where the amount of fish exceeds 25 percent of the meal. This was a routine feeding trial in which a number of kittens died on a diet of fish. The study was never repeated to see if there were any other possible causes for the deaths. The type of fish used in the study was not investigated. Some types of fish are very high in Vitamin K and some are low, so adding back this vitamin to some types could actually be harmful. Nor was there any scientific reason for setting the amount of fish at 25 percent. Many of the AAFCO studies are reflective of this type of research.
The AAFCO minimums are just that, minimums that will sustain life but not promote it. Per Jean Hofve, DVM, most companies take these minimums and add back a mere 20 percent to them. As an example, here is a review of some of the amino acids present in mORIGINS as they compare to the AAFCO minimums:  

There are many other amino acids considered essential to carnivores than the three highlighted here. We need studies on bioavailability in order to substantiate what many have seen by feeding different variations of a raw diet. What we do know is that digestion in a dog averages two hours (mouth to colon) and one hour (mouth to colon) in a cat. The average for a human, in contrast, is 12-24 hours. Cats and dogs require food that will be rapidly and properly absorbed to maximize their health. 
It is our goal at mORIGINS to provide just that.
Please allow us to lead your pack back to nature! 

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Email ... morigins@juno.com




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