Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet (LID) Salmon Meal Dry Dog Food is for dogs with sensitive stomachs caused by food allergies or intolerances, where "less is more". This formula is made with only pure, simple and essential ingredients that have been carefully chosen and thoughtfully balanced for your dog's special needs. Complete and balanced for all breeds and life stages, it provides grain-free, gluten-free instinctive nutrition with one single protein and one hypoallergenic starch, combined with just a few other wholesome, natural ingredients. Fewer ingredients means fewer worries that your dog will react negatively to his or her food. Each kibble is coated with an exclusive green tea antioxidant blend for added flavor and health. And with the variety of omega fatty acids in canola oil and coconut oil, your dog's skin and coat will be nourished naturally from the inside out.
Simply put, Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diets are made with one protein and one starch. What it contains is salmon meal, tapioca, canola oil, peas, coconut oil, vitamins, minerals and dried green tea. What it does NOT contain is chicken, beef, fish, eggs, dairy, grain or gluten, which are common food allergens. The kibble size is perfect for small to large dogs. It is naturally preserved, with no added artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Chelated minerals are added for better nutrient absorption. Because food-allergic pets thrive on simplicity and purity, most LID diets will not contain additional fruits, vegetables or other whole foods, even though they may provide some health benefits. With LID diets, pets with food sensitivities to certain ingredients can still have a natural, nutritious, complete and balanced meal.
salmon meal is the clean combination of the flesh and skin of salmon with the moisture removed. Nature's Variety high-quality salmon meal is an excellent source of highly digestible meat protein, which contains many valuable nutrients (including essential amino acids and high levels of zinc) for stamina, skin and heart health. Nature’s Variety salmon is obtained from Scrapie-free flocks. (Scrapie is a fatal, degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system of sheep and goats.) High quality, protein specific meals are simply a dried and more concentrated form of the meat, poultry or fish protein. It is important to make sure the meal is protein specific (beef meal, salmon meal), and not generic like meat meal or by-product meal which by definition can contain any species of animal.
Tapioca is an all natural ingredient that is extracted from the root of the cassava plant via a series of washing, peeling, grating and drying steps, a process that removes any cyanogenic glycosides. It is a grain-free and gluten-free starch that is 98% digestible. There are no known allergies to tapioca, and many veterinary teaching hospitals incorporate tapioca rather than potato into their hypoallergenic, homemade recipes for food allergies and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Nature’s Variety includes tapioca in their grain-free Instinct kibble diets. Without some sort of natural starch as a binder, the ingredients in dry dog or cat foods do not hold together during the cooking process.
Green tea is the unfermented, dried leaf of the Camellia sinensis plant which has been carefully harvested, dried and ground. Green tea is prized throughout the world for its nutritive and health-promoting phytonutrients, some with powerful antioxidant ability. A diet rich in antioxidants has been shown to protect the body from damages caused by free radicals cell-damaging chemicals found in the environment and also found as natural by-products of metabolic events. These antioxidants, collectively known as polyphenols, include specific types called flavenoids and catechins. Instinct LID diets are estimated to contain approximately 1000 ppm of pure green tea (~300 ppm polyphenols) and may help protect your pet's cells from the harmful, disease-causing effects of free-radicals.
Nature's Variety Instinct kibble formulas are great for dogs with food allergies, mainly to grain, gluten or commonly used proteins. For some pets, however, the food allergy may include an ingredient that is still used in Nature's Variety Instinct kibble. In that case, Nature's Variety LID is an option for severely allergic pets who require a single protein formula with limited ingredients. The primary difference between Instinct Kibble and Instinct LID kibble is that Instinct LID uses only one meat source and one hypoallergenic starch, making it a great option for dogs who cannot tolerate other specific animal proteins. Additionally, Instinct LID uses an exclusive green tea coating to supply healthful antioxidants that would be normally supplied by fruits and vegetables in other Instinct kibble formulas.
Some pets may experience reactions to proteins found in certain animal or plant based ingredients. Even after changing food brands, some pets may still experience unresolved intestinal distress or skin problems. Often these unresolved symptoms may be due to undiagnosed food allergies or intolerances. In such cases, veterinarians will often recommend a simple diet that has a limited number of ingredients to help alleviate food allergy symptoms, including sensitive stomachs. Instinct LID provides a natural solution.
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