Effects of Dietary Carbohydrate, Fat and Protein on Growth, Body Composition and Blood Metabolite Levels in the Dog

Abstract

Six semipurified canned diets ranging in composition from 0 to 62% of energy from carbohydrate and from 20% to 48% of energy from protein were fed to female beagle dogs for 8 months. Additionally, three commercial-type diets were also fed. The effects of these diets on growth, body composition and selected blood metabolite levels in the dogs were studied. The dogs readily consumed each of the nine diets fed. The level of carbohydrate, fat or protein in the diet did not influence body weight gain during the first 16 weeks nor was nitrogen balance affected by the diets. At the end of the 32-week study, dogs fed the high-carbohydrate (62% of energy) diet contained less body fat but an equal-free mass, than did dogs fed lower-carbohydrate (20--42% of energy) diets with a similar quantity of protein. Consumption of carbohydrate-free diets did not influence postprandial levels of circulating glucose or insulin in the dogs. Plasma cholesterol levels were elevated in dogs consuming in the diets high in fat but plasma triglyceride levels were not influenced by the diets fed. Consumption of high-protein (46--48% of energy) diets elevated plasma urea nitrogen levels but had minimal influence on plasma amino acid levels. The general response of these young dogs was not markedly influenced by consumption of diets ranging from carbohydrate-free to high-carbohydrate and from adequate-protein to high-protein.

Quantitative Glucose Metabolism in Lactating Mink ( Mustela vison ) - Effects of Dietary Levels of Protein, Fat and Carbohydrates

“…Differences in glucose turnover rate between dietary treatment groups were not signi cant and thereby in contrast to results in dogs by Romsos et al (1976) who found that the glucose turnover rate tended to be 20 -30% lower in bitches fed carbohydrate-free diets. In lactating rats Burnol et al (1987) found signi cantly lower glucose turnover rates when the animals were fed a high-fat diet compared with a high-carbohydrat e diet.…”

Entropy Generation and Human Aging: Lifespan Entropy and Effect of Physical Activity Level

“…Using the data from Romsos et al [31] for growth and diet composition of dogs (female Beagles only) and the metabolic energy requirements from Payne [13] and Thonney [14], we estimated the average σ m,life for Beagle bitches to be 3,874 kJ/kg-K. We were expecting the lifetime specific entropy generation to be similar among species, but for a dog to reach the same level of entropy generation as a human would require a life span of 43 years, which is 3 times the average of 13.5 years typical of Beagles. However, some similarities with the human data were observed as puppies generate 3 times more entropy than adult dogs.…”

The contribution of animal models to the study of obesity

“…Studies of dogs so far (e.g. Romsos et al 1976, 1978, Rocchini et al 1989, Diez et al 2002, Martin et al 2006 have mainly concentrated on the aetiology of obesity in them as a problem in their own right. However, they have clear potential as a study model for human obesity, principally because there is a vast amount of background literature on the physiology of the dog and the dog genome has already been mapped (Lindblad-Toh et al 2005).…”

“…This work has been previously comprehensively reviewed (West & York 1998), hence we will spend less time on these studies here. The most extensive studies have been made in rodents and non-human primates, although other studies have been made in other species such as hamsters (Wade 1982), squirrels (Faust & Mrosovsky 1987, Dark et al 1992, pigs (Pond et al 1985), dogs (Romsos et al 1976(Romsos et al , 1978 and sheep (Tolkamp et al 2007). Two types of response have been observed when animals are given high-fat or high-fat high-sucrose diets: some species and strains gain weight, but others do not.…”