For example, tapioca is used as the starch source in some "no grain" pet foods. Tapioca (cassava root, manioc) is first and foremost a source of carbohydrates, but very little else. It is actually a nutritionally poor substitute for grains. For more information, please see the article What Are The Most Healthy Grains, Legumes and Starches?
The high carbohydrate concentration in tapioca results in high doses of sugar-which is what starch converts to when digested. In terms of sugar concentration, tapioca is second only to sugar cane. In carnivores, over time, high levels of sugar are toxic and lead to a host of chronic diseases including dental deterioration.
Tapioca can also cause mineral imbalances, parakeratosis, birth defects, and stomach ulcers if eaten continually.
Most alarming is that natural tapioca can yield hydrocyanic acid upon hydrolysis (as occurs in the stomach). Hydrocyanic acid (hydrogen cyanide) is highly toxic to humans and animals. In fact, hydrogen cyanide is a chemical warfare agent and was used in Germany's gas chambers and is used for execution today in the U.S. The toxicity is dose dependent and therefore animals or humans fed a steady diet of any food that yields hydrogen cyanide are at risk.
The above is not to say that moderate levels of tapioca fed in rotation would not be fine. But producers who use it playing to the "no grain" myth also promote the "complete and balanced" myth which leads consumers to believe they should feed their tapioca product at every meal.
Pet foods with grains are not perfect. But chasing myths and jumping from the grain pan into the fire of ingredients that are inferior and more dangerous is not the solution.
Feeding as nature intended is.
Video: Unusual Friends: Cat and Crow
Unusual friends to say the least. So very heartwarming...
Thought for the day: Human ignorance is showcased by the unexamined beliefs people insist on clinging to.
Word of the day: clinical trial - noun: a scientific method by which a treatment can be evaluated. For example, one group is given a treatment and another group is given a placebo. The results give an indication of the effectiveness of the treatment if they are different than the effects seen in the placebo group. Unfortunately there are many many confounding factors that must be controlled, such as being sure the subjects and the evaluators don't know what the subjects are getting (they are "blinded"). Another factor that can skew results is not having the two groups being tested exactly alike. Since no two groups, or no two people, are ever exactly alike, this variable can never be erased. Although clinical trials are a step toward truth, they are not the final word as evidenced by the hundreds of drugs that have gone through clinical trials only to be withdrawn from the market at a later date due to their dangers.
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