Can feeding your dog more fat actually make them healthier? It sounds counterintuitive, right? But a groundbreaking study from the University of Helsinki suggests just that — and the results might challenge everything we thought we knew about canine nutrition. But here’s where it gets controversial: the type of diet you choose for your dog could change how their body produces and uses energy on a fundamental level.
According to new research from the DogRisk group, recently published in The Veterinary Journal, dogs that eat a fat-based, low-carb raw meat diet have a completely different energy metabolism than those fed traditional, carb-heavy kibble. The study, titled “The effect of a kibble diet versus a raw meat-based diet on energy metabolism biomarkers in dogs,” examined 46 Staffordshire Bull Terriers over a median period of 4.5 months. Half of the dogs consumed dry kibble rich in non-fiber carbohydrates, while the other half were fed a raw diet high in fat and completely free of such carbohydrates.
To get a clear picture of how each diet affected the dogs’ metabolism, researchers tracked several key biomarkers both before and after the trial. These included blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (a measure of long-term blood sugar), insulin, glucagon, cholesterol, triglycerides, ketone bodies, and body weight.
The differences were striking. Dogs on the kibble diet showed higher long-term blood sugar levels, elevated lipids, and weight gain — all red flags for metabolic stress. Meanwhile, dogs on the raw, fat-based diet had lower blood glucose, reduced lipid levels, and decreased glucagon — a hormone that raises blood sugar. Both groups saw an increase in ketone bodies, but the rise was far more dramatic in the raw-fed dogs, signaling that their bodies were relying more on fat for energy. Interestingly, the raw-fed dogs also showed a drop in the triglyceride-glucose index, an indicator of insulin resistance typically used in human metabolic research.
Lead researcher Dr. Sarah Holm, DVM and PhD from the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, explained: “The kibble-fed dogs exhibited metabolic changes often associated with poorer health outcomes, while the raw-fed dogs displayed responses generally seen as beneficial. However, we still need more long-term data to understand the broader health consequences of these diets.”
Adding to the intrigue, Dr. Anna Hielm-Björkman, head of the DogRisk research group, noted that the findings mirror patterns observed in human nutrition — and sometimes stir up similar debates. “This is a perfect example of One Health research,” she said. “Our results align with some human studies showing that fat-rich diets may actually lower cholesterol and triglycerides, while carb-heavy diets tend to do the opposite, raising blood lipids and long-term blood sugar — which, in humans, is a precursor to type 2 diabetes.”
The implications go beyond pets. This study not only suggests that dogs might benefit from more fat in their diet but also highlights their potential as valuable models for human metabolic research. It opens up fascinating questions about how nutrition shapes health across species.
So what do you think? Should we rethink the “low-fat, high-carb” feeding philosophy that dominates dog food shelves? Or is the raw-meat trend just another fad? Share your take — do you agree that dogs (and maybe even humans) could thrive on more fat and fewer carbs?
