How to cut your dog's diabetes risk by 200%!

Claire Lucie Sonck
Feb 4
6 min read

Updated: Mar 21

Diabetes affects one out of every 300 dogs, but your dog does not have to be one of them. This is how you can protect your dog against it.

As a CMA-registered canine nutritionist, I've worked with numerous diabetic dogs, and, surprisingly, after delving deeply into the evidence, I discovered three common mistakes to avoid to protect your dog from developing this difficult and frightening disease, including the diet that increases your dog's chance of developing diabetes by nearly 200%.

Because science is unambiguous, there are techniques to effectively prevent diabetes, and they are shockingly simple and easy to implement.

In this article, you're going to discover how to successfully avoid diabetes in your dog with a few simple and practical steps.

You're going to learn the answers to the following burning questions:

Why your dog can suddenly get diabetes
What not to feed your diabetic dog
What triggers diabetes in your dog
How to decrease diabetes risks in your dog

What are the types of diabetes in dogs?

"Insulin-deficiency diabetes: This is when the dog’s body isn’t producing enough insulin. This happens when the pancreas is damaged or otherwise not functioning properly. Dogs with this type of diabetes need daily shots to replace the missing insulin."

"Insulin-resistance diabetes: This is when the pancreas is producing some insulin, but the dog’s body isn’t utilising the insulin as it should. The cells aren’t responding to the insulin’s “message,” so glucose isn’t being pulled out of the blood and into the cells. This type of diabetes can especially occur in older, obese dogs."

What is insulin and blood sugar?

Insulin is a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels by moving glucose from the bloodstream into cells to be used as energy.

The pancreas produces insulin, and the liver stores and produces glucose.

In a healthy dog, when blood sugar rises after a meal, the pancreas releases insulin to lower those blood sugar levels.

But what happens when your dog eats an ultra-processed meal, such as kibble or canned food?

A high intake of ultraprocessed foods is associated with increased insulin levels and insulin resistance.

Your dog is supposed to eat carbohydrates!

Carbohydrates, or carbohydrates, are vital in our dogs' diets and should be included in any balanced canine diet, with the exception of specific health disorders that need adjusting carbohydrate consumption.

According to science, carbohydrates in the form of wholegrains have been a primary element in the canine diet since at least the Neolithic era, which occurred around 10,000 years ago.

This has played a crucial part in our dogs' physiological and biological evolution, from tooth shortening to significant digestive modifications.

Furthermore, as a consequence of being fed wholegrains for an extended length of time, dogs developed over 30 copies of the gene Amy2B, which allows them to digest starch; this is comparable to humans, whereas wolves, for example, only have two copies of the Amy2B gene.

Healthy vs unhealthy carbohydrates

That being said, our dogs require carbohydrates in their diet, but not in the way that most dogs do.

Carbohydrates should be provided to your dog in the form of whole, nutritious food such as whole grains and sweet potatoes, as well as minimally processed legumes.

This is the only healthy way of feeding carbs to dogs.

However, the majority of dogs' carbs come from processed carbohydrates found in kibble and canned foods.

Commercial pet food contains between 30% and 70% refined carbs.

Refined carbohydrates are those that have had the majority of their nutrients removed during processing.

According to research, diets high in refined carbohydrates are harmful to metabolic, cardiovascular, and cognitive health.

The risks of refined carbohydrates

Refined carbohydrates cause blood sugar to rise because they are readily broken down into simple sugars.

This occurs because refined carbohydrates have a high glycaemic index and contain little to no fibre, vitamins, or minerals, which have been destroyed during this manufacturing process.

Regular consumption of refined carbs causes repetitive blood sugar spikes that lead to high blood sugar, and a high blood sugar is the leading cause of diabetes development.

Diabetes arises when the pancreas fails to generate sufficient insulin to manage blood sugar levels.

"Diabetes is mostly a diet-related illness in dogs and humans."

How does diabetes develop in dogs?

Insulin-deficiency diabetes: In this example, a refined carbohydrate-rich diet (kibble or canned food) causes a glucose rise after each meal, culminating in elevated blood sugar levels over time.

The pancreas therefore fails to generate enough insulin to regulate the high blood sugar levels, resulting in insulin-deficient diabetes.

Insulin-resistant diabetes: In this case, the dog's body is unable to adequately use the insulin produced by the pancreas.

Because the cells aren't responding to the insulin's "message," glucose isn't being drawn out of the circulation and into the cells; as a result, the cells can't properly absorb glucose.

When cells are unable to absorb glucose or blood sugar, it accumulates in the blood and leads to insulin-resistant diabetes.

The two primary causes of insulin resistance are obesity and a lack of physical activity. This kind of diabetes is more frequent in older dogs and those that are overweight or obese.

UPF and diabetes risks

Why Regular eating of UPF (ultra-processed food) is associated with dramatically increased risk of diabetes in dogs.

According to scientific research, for each additional 10% of processed foods consumed, it increases the likelihood of getting diabetes by 17% to 25%. (1)

The risk of getting diabetes for a dog fed just kibble or canned food increases by up to 170% and as much as 250%.

You may dramatically lower your dog's chance of acquiring diabetes by reducing their kibble or canned food intake and increasing their consumption of fresh, healthy plant foods such as vegetables and fruits.

How do I protect my dog from refined carbs?

The most effective action you can take to prevent diabetes in your dog is to eliminate refined carbohydrates from their diet.

It means to switch to a homemade or fresh diet and avoid commercial ultra-processed pet foods, which are high in refined carbs, as we talked about above.

If you have no choice but to feed your dog with commercial, refined-carb-rich kibble or canned food, I suggest adding fresh vegetables to your dog's meal to bring in essential healthy fibre, which will help manage blood sugar levels, in order to reduce the effect of refined carbs and glucose spikes.

The role of exercise in diabetes prevention

Physical activity is critical for preventing the development of insulin-resistant diabetes, with a lack of physical exercise being one of the two leading causes of insulin-resistant diabetes in dogs.

The ideal amont of excersise for dogs is 1 to 2 hours per day, and this is a common caracteristic shared by the world-longest living dogs that are being repertoried; they got between 2 to 3 hours of physical excersise per day.

Healthy weight to keep diabetes at bay

Diabetes is one of the two main factors of the development of insulin-resistant diabetes.

According to the reports from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, 59% of dogs are overweight or obese.

Obesity is described as being 20% or more above a dog's ideal body weight, whereas overweight is classified as being merely 10% above that.

To put that into perspective, a dog weighing 15 kg qualifies as overweight if it is 1.5 kg above the optimal bodyweight, whereas being 3 kg above the ideal bodyweight is considered obese.

Being overweight or obese has mild to severe health repercussions for dogs, including a shorter life expectancy, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, cancer, urinary problems, and, of course, diabetes.

Simple steps to efficiently protect your dog against diabetes:

Prefer a whole, fresh, plant-based diet over a commercial, ultra-processed diet.
Lower your dog's intake of refined carbs as much as possible, and add more fresh, whole fruits, vegetables, and plant foods into your dog's daily meals.
Ensure your dog gets plenty of physical exercise; it'll significantly reduce your dog's risk to develop insulin-resistant diabetes.

Those steps also apply if your dog has already been diagnosed with diabetes.

Prevention is key, as is the diet

The process by which dogs develop diabetes is nearly identical to that of people, including symptoms, causes, and treatment options.

By knowing about the risks and how to prevent them, as well as feeding our dogs a nutritious, whole, and natural plant-based diet, we may significantly minimise their chance of acquiring chronic conditions such as diabetes.

To go further:

Not sure what vegetables and whole foods to add to your dog's meal?

Here you'll find over 200 plant foods to improve your dog's health, well-being, and longevity, as well as the 30 hazardous foods that your dog should never eat: https://www.thevegandogcoach.com/product-page/the-canine-plant-food-guide

If you wish to start feeding your dog a whole plant-based diet, go here for a detailed guide, authored by a CMA-registered canine nutritionist, to guarantee your dog gets all the necessary nutrients: https://www.thevegandogcoach.com/product-page/plant-based-feeding-guide

Disclaimer:

This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace professional veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified veterinarian or canine nutritionist before making changes to your dog’s diet, health routine, or medical care. The author is a certified canine nutritionist and does not claim to diagnose or treat medical conditions.

No part of this article may be reproduced or distributed without written permission from the author.

How to cut your dog's diabetes risk by 200%!

Prevention is key, as is the diet

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Claire The Dog Nutritionist

The Dog Nutrition Gazette