# Chickpeas, Pinto Beans in Dry Dog Food



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

Grain Free equals Peas, Peas and More Peas – Truth about Pet Food


These things are not a natural thing for the canine species to eat, especially not in the abundance found in many commercial foods. But it's cheap protein. Dogs don't digest plants very well though. But the dog food industry has their reasons for putting these additives into the "food" but their reasons aren't for the health of your dog.

I've been reading a lot about lectins lately and this speaks to that. (an excerpt) 



> Peas belong to the legume family. Legumes are high in phytic acid. Phytates have a tendency to bind calcium, magnesium, and iron in animals and humans.
> 
> I am even more concerned with the lectin proteins contained in these ingredients. Lectin proteins are a plants natural defense. While birds can digest these proteins, humans and carnivores cannot. Lectins are sticky, binding proteins. They attach to leptin receptors which regulate carbohydrates into glucose. In time, they can disrupt these receptors and lead to diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease; conditions very prevalent in humans and pets today. Lectins also attach to villi in the digestive tract. They block absorption of nutrients. In time the damage becomes permanent.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

GM ingredients are rather less of an issue in the UK, at least while we are part of the EU, as all GM foods have to be labelled as such. But this sort of quandary is one of the reasons I feed mine raw/home cooked - commercial foods may be balanced and provide specified levels of nutrition, but they also have to make a profit, which means seeking low cost ingredients to provide those nutritonal levels. I like to know precisely what my dogs and cats are eating, and to be able to adjust it according to their needs.


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## mjpa (Dec 11, 2016)

I completely agree with you. Although any spoo may bloat regardless of diet, I feel like feeding gassy veggies is just an added worry. 
I am hoping keeping Rizal on a prey model raw diet can lower the odds (knock on wood).


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## Verve (Oct 31, 2016)

Oooh, you touched on one of my hobbyhorses. Back in the day, grain-free seemed to mean mostly animal products in the ingredients. Now it seems to mean an expensive bag of kibble stuffed with plant protein like peas and legumes. Apart from their questionable value to dogs (and there are also concerns about the phytoestrogens in peas for breeding dogs), I resent paying $80 a bag for plant filler!!

Personally I would suss out how well your dog does with a food with grains in it--most do fine. I feed a mix of Ziwipeak and raw, but am over the whole grains thing. As many hamburger buns and other bread as Phoebe has scarfed down, she would have died by now if she were intolerant of grains.


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## hickoryriver (Sep 4, 2016)

Keeping my standard on kibble will take some research. I think Verve is right in not ruling out dog foods that contain some grains. I think I would choose grains over beans anytime. Dogs have lived for years on dog foods that have contained grains. I think it's a matter of finding a premium kibble that contains a minimum amount of grains. 

I have gone through bloat with another dog and it's something I don't want to revisit.


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## RD. (Jul 19, 2016)

Legumes such as peas only became vogue due to the outcry of ignorant consumers demanding the elimination of all grains from dog food. In excess, neither are good for dogs, yet within reasonable limits both can provide valuable nutrients to a dogs diet. 

BTW - phytic acid , along with most anti-nutritional factors found in terrestrial based plant matter can be reduced, and even eliminated during commercial processing. The major risk comes when fed in excess, in a RAW state. Replace "grains" with "legumes" in the following past discussion - same outcome. 

http://www.poodleforum.com/32-poodle-food/209889-have-grains-got-bad-rap.html


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## Viking Queen (Nov 12, 2014)

I fed EVO to Iris for 14 years and she thrived on it. I now feed it to Poppy and since it is an all life stages food she also ate it as a puppy.

It is a very high protein food, 42%, with only 17% carbohydrates. It is sort of like feeding an Atkins type of diet for dogs.

It comes in a chicken/turkey variety, red meat variety and fish variety. I alternate those formulas.

It does have peas in the formula, I don't have a problem with that, it also does not have grains or potato. I like that it has apples, cottage cheese, carrots and not a lot of fillers, like beet pulp or corn, for fiber.

I have the advantage of having worked in a pet food store and had an opportunity to visit the Nebraska plant where EVO is made and it impressed me to see the quality of ingredients used and the cleanliness of the plant.

On their web site you can also look up where the individual ingredients are sourced.

Not every store carries this food, but many can order it for you EVO will not sell to the online stores like chewy.

Iris was a VERY VERY picky eater and loved this food, and she ate it her whole 14 years of life.

Many stores carry samples, free, to try, or you might contact the company to get samples and to find a local store selling it.

I did try other foods for Poppy, while she liked Origen and Acana she ate twice as much of it as she eats of the EVO. Poppy is NOT a picky eater. She is free fed and eats about 1 1/2 cups per day where she was eating 3-4 cups per day of Origen.

You might want to check it out. Cathy


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