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Can Your Dog Stomach This?

Theres an old adage that says You are what you eat. While more and more Americans are becoming aware of the need to reduce or altogether eliminate processed foods from their diets, we need to do the same for our pets. The ingredients that make up most commercial, processed pet foods are buy bulk caffeine powder fit for even non-human consumption.

To be fair, not all manufacturers use poor or potentially dangerous ingredients. In fact, there are a few that use human grade, healthy ingredients. But most pet food widely available on the shelf of the local discount store should be a source of concern for pet owners.

The sources of protein used vary vastly. Any slaughtered animal, cattle, swine, poultry, lamb is a source of pet food protein. Well, that doesnt sound so bad but the question is this: what parts of that slaughtered animal is in my pets kibble? Bones, blood, intestines, lungs, ligaments, beaks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and feathers are termed by-products by the industry and are a questionable source of nourishment for our animals.

Fat is added in the form of discarded restaurant grease and animal fat that is a by-product of the rendering process. These fats are highly saturated and lack the linoleic acid essential to healthy coat and skin.

Many of the grains used come from wheat rejected for human consumption. Brewers rice, a low quality rice product is void of the nutrients found in whole rice. Corn gluten is the dried residue left from the milling process. Glutens are added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats. This holds waste in which causes kidneys and livers to work overtime and our pets pay the consequences with ill health.

Fillers are often used that consistent of wood pulp, corncobs and peanut hulls.

Our pets food is filled with additives and chemical preservatives such as BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin which are potential cancer-causing agents.

According to the Animal Protection Institute, to make pet food nutritious, manufacturers fortify it with vitamins and minerals. Why? Because the ingredients they are using are not wholesomeand harsh manufacturing processes destroy many of the nutrients the food had to begin with.

It is not unusual for commercially prepared pet foods to be contaminated with bacteria and endotoxins from using diseased animals rejected by slaughterhouses for human consumption.

The bottom line here is that ingredients in many of the commercially prepared, pre-processed pet foods vary widely in content and quality and are marginally nutritious at best. Pre-processed foods are a major source of allergies and chronic digestive problems in our pets.

What can you do? Consider replacing commercial foods with an all- natural dry food. Supplement with fresh foods. Many people are trying raw diets for their pets and more and more pet owners prepare their pets food fresh daily. There are many books on the subject and lots of information via the Internet.

If you are interested in learning more about natural pet foods, please visit www.naturalbarker.com and read about Barker and Friends Natural Pet Treats and Flint River Ranch All Natural Pet Foods for dogs and cats. We use only human-grade, natural ingredients to protect the health of our pets. You may request a free sample of Flint River Ranch by emailing Barker and Friends at creaturecomfortsnewsletter@cox.net.

If you would like to find some good books on the topic of pet nutrition, visit our website www.naturalbarker.com and click on the Amazon.com link on our Links page.

To receive Creature Comforts Pet Care Newsletter on a regular basis, email us at creaturecomfortsnewsletter@cox.net.

Sherry Massey is the owner of Barker and Friends Natural Dog Treats and a distributor for Flint River Ranch Natural Pet Foods. Natural nutrition for our pets is just as important as it is for us. We can give our furry friends a longer, healthier life simply by feeding them whole, all natural foods and eliminating chemical preservatives and additives from their diet. Its never too late to start.

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One of the most common muscle building supplements that is sold is creatine. Many people are under the impression that creatine holds some type of 'magical' properties that when taken, will really help them start growing a great deal of muscle - FAST.

Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work this way.

While creatine can definitely be a beneficial bodybuilding supplement to take, it isn't going to make you 'huge' overnight.

How Creatine Works

Basically creatine works by increasing the body's stores of natural creatine, which is then used to fuel muscular contractions. When the creatine in the muscles runs out, fatigue sets in and you are required to stop.

Therefore, if you can increase these stores in your body through supplementation, it only stands to reason that your workout performance is going to improve.

So, creatine essentially works by allowing your body to work buy bulk ceem powder harder without becoming fatigued.

It is then your hard work that will get the results you see when it comes to weight gain.

This means that while creatine will help you with your workouts, it really is just an enhancement to an already sound muscle building program and diet.

If you think you can rely on creatine to do the work for you, you will be largely mistaken.

How To Take Creatine

So, that leaves us with the question of how you should go about taking creatine.

The best method is to begin with a loading phase, where you will consume 20 grams of creatine for five straight days.

This will help to fully saturate the body's stores and get you primed for the maintenance stage.

Keep in mind that during this time you should be drinking more water than usual, as creatine itself tends to cause the body to retain water. Additional to that, if you notice a significant jump on the scale during this time, remember that this is partially due to water weight gained and not true muscle mass.

After you've finished the five day loading phase, then you should move into a maintenance phase where you consume 5 grams on a daily basis.

How long you choose to do this is really up to you; some guys like to cycle their creatine use with on and off periods while others prefer not to.

Just keep in mind that regardless of whether you are on creatine or not, you still do need that caloric surplus to start seeing a gain in muscle mass as well. Since you can't build muscle out of nothing, if you aren't supplying the building blocks, your results will be short-circuited.

So, be sure to give creatine some consideration in your supplement purchases. As long as you take it as recommended and are still getting in good workouts, it should serve to help you get the results you're looking for.

For more information on other supplements that might help you, along with how to formulate a good muscle building diet, be sure to check out http://www.muscleadvantageplan.com

Shannon Clark is a certified personal trainer, fitness writer, and co-author. She specializes in helping skinny guys build muscle and helping females get the lean, sexy body they crave. View more information here!