Guar Gum in your dogs diet, is it safe & natural in pet food?
In today’s processed food-laden world, we almost need a degree to understand pet food ingredients labels and strange-sounding ingredients being used by pet food manufacturers. As dog owners we need to understand the affect these ingredients could have on our dogs. One such additive is guar gum. Despite being linked to various health benefits, it’s also earned a reputation for its potential negative side effects. This article aims to dissect the benefits and drawbacks of guar gum, ultimately determining its impact on our health. We almost need a degree to understand pet food ingredients labels these days.
Guar Gum Demystified.
Guar Gum can be purchased as a translucent gum or as a white powder. Its used as a thickening agent in commercial pet foods and human foods, it’s unlikely you would buy it to add to your dogs diet, but the pet food industry uses it and its good to ask why. Guar Gum originating from the legumes known as Guar Beans, or Guaran. It is a polysaccharide. This means it’s a long chain of bonded carbohydrate molecules consisting of two sugars – mannose and galactose. All we need to know is that it is a different kind of sugar. Its prevalence as a food additive stems from its solubility and ability to absorb water, forming a gel that thickens and binds food products.
Sometimes Guar Gum and Locust Bean Gum are assumed to be the same. They are different but essentially do exactly the same thing in dog and pet wet foods.
In simple terms, it is a gummy-like substance (a water-soluble gum) that can be added to your dog’s food (And even cat food). It forms a gel around the chucks of meat in dog food and when you open the tin or packet it makes it look fresh and smell good.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally recognizes guar gum as safe for consumption for humans in certain amounts. The nutrient composition of guar gum varies among producers, but it is generally low in calories and rich in soluble fiber, with protein content oscillating around 5-6%.
The Upside of Guar Gum in your Dog’s Health.
Guar gum’s culinary functionality is not its only forte; it also offers health benefits. Research highlights its potential benefits for digestion, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, and weight management.
Digestive health
With its high fiber content, if added to your dog’s diet, guar gum may aid your dogs digestive system and it may help build naturally occurring bacteria. Human studies indicate it can help relieve constipation, improve stool texture, and enhance bowel movement frequency. It may even function as a prebiotic by fostering the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and inhibiting the proliferation of harmful bacteria. Thus, it might help manage conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Another dietary fibre you might consider adding to your dogs diet is Inulin, instead of feeding your dog directly, inulin is a food for gut bacteria and can help promote a healthy gut biome. Guar gum has a similar affect, but in my research there seems to be more research in Inulin than Guar Gum, and I suspect Guar Gum is used to make pet food look good rather than for its beneficial properties.
Blood sugar
Guar gum, because it is a type of soluble fiber, is thought to help lower blood sugar levels by slowing sugar absorption. Research is ongoing in this area, and during my own research it was difficult to find any definitive answers to this, there are many sites which are obviously suppliers of Guar Gum, citing research papers, but my own experience is they may cherry pick the results they want to show.
Weight maintenance
Guar gum might assist with weight loss and appetite control. Additional fiber in the diet may promote satiety and reduce appetite. Some studies have found guar gum to be particularly efficient at curbing appetite and reducing calorie intake. But again it’s hard to find a definitive answer to this during research.
My feeling here is that it’s effect would be so small in the larger diet change needed to help a dog lose weight that it is just a distraction from the main elements that will make the most difference to your pets health.
The Downside of Guar Gum, adverse effects
While guar gum may seem like a silver bullet, consuming it in large quantities could lead to health issues and other adverse reactions. It came under scrutiny in the 1990s when it was a major ingredient in a weight loss drug that led to severe side effects, even death. This event prompted the FDA to ban guar gum in weight loss products.
However, it’s crucial to note that these side effects were the result of consuming guar gum in quantities far higher than what’s typically found in food products. The FDA sets specific maximum usage levels for different types of food products, and the amounts found in these products are unlikely to cause severe side effects. Some mild digestive symptoms may occur, including gas, diarrhea, upset stomach, bloating, and cramps. More serious effects could be intestinal blockages.
Should We Avoid Guar Gum?
While guar gum is generally safe for most dogs in small amounts or in moderation. Allergic reaction to guar gum, although rare, have been reported. Moreover, it may cause digestive tract issues like gas and bloating in some animals. If you find your dog experiencing side effects after consuming guar gum containing product, like loose stools it might be best to limit their intake.
The Verdict
The truth is, while guar gum may have potential negative side effects in large quantities, the amounts typically found in processed foods are likely not harmful.
The focus when looking at a wet dog food label, should be the other major ingredients, and this is true with all animal food products we purchase for our dogs, is guar gum safe? My advice would be to focus on grains and other fillers in the food you buy for your dogs. Removing them where you can afford too.
The foundation of a healthy diet for your dog should be whole, unprocessed foods. Foods that they would have eaten in the wild, meat, animal fats, liver, kidney, intestines, fermented vegetables (think of the content of an animals stomach that a pack of wolves would have taken down), marrow & small bones. We should be feeding them the foods with the most nutritional value that are a natural product where ever possible. It is unlikely our dogs ancestors had access to Guar Beans or Locust Bean Gum while they were evolving so it’s not part of their natural diet.
Commercial dog foods and other animal foods are the only place these odd combinations of foods now show up. Just check the ingredient labels yourself.
I know it’s not easy to feed a dog with food cost raising, but I recommend you at least look at feeding raw, the mince, tripe and bone mix’s I feed my own dog are cheaper per kg than store bought bags of kibble. I still feed my dog eggs and some kibble, as diversity is the ultimate key to health. As much quality food as you can afford, with the rest being low in grain and other fillers. Add it vegetables slow cooked with a marrow bone so you end up with a nutrient dense veggie bone broth once a week.
Look into supplementing inulin if you want to help your dogs gut flora thrive, take it slow if you do decide to use it, and allow your dogs gut flora to adapt to the new food they have available. Consider taking yourself would be my advice.
Let’s strive for a balanced diet and keep the processed foods to a minimum, and look for natural alternatives, focusing on the major most important ingredients.
Some Study Links:
Safety and efficacy of a feed additive consisting of guar gum for all animal species (A.I.P.G. Association for International Promotion of Gums): https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/7253