Category: Basic Parrot Nutrition


Carbohydrates: Choosing the Right Carbs for Our Companion Birds

Filed under: Basic Parrot Nutrition, G) Carbohydrates — 1 Comment
February 22, 2012

Carbohydrates play an important role in the health and nutrition of our companion birds, but unfortunately they are grossly misunderstood. What is a “carbohydrate”? How are carbohydrates utilized by the body? What are the right kinds of carbohydrates? What is the difference between “simple” and “complex” carbohydrates?

First of all we need to understand that carbohydrates are a form of sugar. The main function of carbohydrates is to provide additional energy to the living body. This is supportive energy in addition to the energy that is provided by “good fat”.  Carbohydrates, in the form of sugars, provide “quick energy”; they do not provide long-lasting energy the body can draw from for long periods of time, like energy that is derived from stored from fat. Carbohydrates are metabolized at a faster metabolic rate than fats are metabolized. They are metabolized into sugars that get transported into the metabolic system.

Carbohydrates break down into glucose, a sugar that the body recognizes as a useable fuel source. Glucose then gets transported throughout the body by way of the metabolic system, in other words through blood and lymph. Proteins and fats must be broken down into carbohydrates before they can be used by the body for energy. This is why the diet should be higher in healthy carbohydrates than proteins or fats. But a diet balanced in the correct ratio of protein-to-fat-to-carbohydrates as well as the right kind of carbohydrates must be provided so that unnecessary or improper weight gain does not occur. If the incorrect kind of carbohydrates are consumed on a regular basis there will be left over glycogen that will be stored in the fat cells as adipose fat tissue which may lead to obesity and other cascading health issues, even diabetes.

It’s important to know that it’s not enough to understand the difference between “simple” and “complex” carbohydrates. We must really understand the molecular structure of carbohydrates; simple carbs are constructed of one molecule and complex carbs are constructed of two or more molecules. And we must also understand that there are good and bad carbohydrates in each category.

Since complex carbohydrates are those that contain multiple molecules they must go through a metabolic process in which the body recognizes the “sugar” as a friendly fuel source known as “glucose” which only contains one molecule.  Living creatures can only properly utilize one-molecule carbohydrates, therefore any and every multi-molecule carbohydrate that enters a living body has to be broken down into this one-molecule form before the body can utilize it as an energy source, it’s just much more efficient if the source is already in a  recognizable form as in the case of most simple carbohydrates.

Because simple carbohydrates are made up of only one molecule the body recognizes them as friendly and easy to metabolize, the body doesn’t have to work as hard to utilize simple carbohydrates; this doesn’t place a strain on the liver and kidneys. That is, as long as the type of simple carbohydrate consumed is a natural carbohydrate and not refined such as in sugar, pasta made with white flour, or white breads, these kinds of simple carbohydrates are unhealthy to consume and actually overtax the liver and kidneys causing a buildup of adipose fat in the fat cells by way of supplying too much sugar for the body to utilize.  Simple carbohydrates enter the blood system at a quicker rate so they provide quick energy, but complex carbs enter the blood system at a slower rate, providing energy over a more even and extended period of time.

It is important to keep in mind that our companion birds are not far removed from their wild and instinctual behavior to fly freely in the skies and therefore still maintain the need to process their energy sources quickly. For this reason it is of utmost importance to understand the kind of carbohydrates their body requires as readily digestible and easily metabolized energy sources. Unfortunately many of the foodstuffs being fed to our companion birds today are not these types of energy sources.

I could go into a very long dissertation regarding how all of this works within the digestion system, but I reserve that in depth information for my up and coming book regarding companion bird nutrition. So for now I will just talk about which foods I believe to be the best to feed to keep our companion birds’ internal motors humming and which foods I believe we need to try to avoid.

The complex carbohydrates I try to stay away from, well actually I avoid at all costs, are all kinds of pastas, even whole-grain pastas because they still contain starch which weighs the digestive tract down, potatoes, rice, whether it be white, brown or any other variety, corn, wheat, whether the wheat is processed or whole-grain, and soy. These, along with the simple white/refined carbohydrates I listed above, are absolutely at the top of my list to avoid. All of them either contain high amounts of starch or gluten. Starch is a sticky, waxy substance that our companion birds cannot break down in their digestive tract because they lack the enzymes and acids to do so. And even if we cook them, at best these items break down into a gel-like substance, they do not become water-soluble.  If they cannot become water –soluble then what does that say about their ability to be completely metabolized by the metabolic system? Then, some of these items contain gluten, an indigestible protein.  And at least one of them, soy, contains phyto-estrogens that can actually change the hormonal balance of our birds’ delicate hormonal system.

Other complex carbohydrates I feed, but in very limited quantities are oats, millet, barley and legumes. While these may be high in plant protein, we have to be careful because they tend to be high in glutens or starch as well. In addition some of them actually need to be soaked or cooked to obtain any real nutrition from them at all. In the wild birds do not cook their foods before ingesting them.

Vegetables also fall into the category of complex carbohydrates and I am moving away from feeding them to companion birds for this very reason plus the fact that they contain dense cellulose that is difficult for parrots to digest.

On the other hand there are some very reliable simple carbohydrates that I feed on a regular basis such as alfalfa, mango, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, persimmon, papaya, grapefruit, dandelion greens, pears, various nuts, various seed, but especially hemp, flax, red clover and safflower seed (a bitter-tasting seed).

The more research I perform for these beautiful creatures of the air the more I am convinced that they are designed to consume mainly fruit and berries, but not so much the actual fruit and berries but the seed contained within.  They are also designed to consume other seed, usually bitter-tasting seed they find in the wild along with tender grass shoots, tender leaves from bushes and trees. They will occasionally consume soft barks and once in awhile snack on the delicacy of an insect or two. Rarely will you find them consuming grains or vegetables and only if there is not an abundance of the aforementioned foods I listed because their primary food sources have become scarce or are completely unavailable.  It is us, being the “civilized” creatures we are, who are attempting to change their eating habits by introducing grains and vegetables, and now even meat, into the daily diets of these mostly herbivorous creature’s lives. But if we would really look more closely at what they consume in the wild long before we began invading their habitat and planting crops that are not indigenous to their land, these creatures would not be consuming the very foods we are attempting to “domesticate” their internal organs to today.

If we would take a closer look at what we have forcibly evolved our companion birds’ diet into, feeding them diets high in grains, and now even vegetables and sometimes meat, we would soon come to understand why they are showing signs of physical and even emotional stress. We cannot take a “wild” animal through the process of true domestication and expect absolutely no signs of physical, mental and emotional stress to present throughout the process. By removing these creatures from their wild habitat we are changing their natural environment (living space), their creature comforts, the air they breathe, their daylight and darkness of night, all of their natural food sources, among many, many other factors. It absolutely does not make any sense to think we can change all of these factors, including what they internally ingest without inducing a negative impact on their overall mental, emotional and physical health and well-being.

In conclusion, I am of the opinion that it is not us that should expect their internal organs to adjust to what we want to feed them, but that we should adapt to feeding them what their systems are already equipped to consume and try to find viable solutions to try to find foods that are at least similar to what they would consume in the wild. While we cannot feed the exact same foods they would find in the wild, we can at least find comparable food sources that are in the same categories, mostly simple carbohydrates containing vital omega fatty acids their delicate systems recognize along with plant proteins their bodies can easily digest and metabolize. Vegetables, grains, pastas, breads and meats are not what these creatures would consume in their natural habitats. We need to be feeding fruits, berries, seed, nuts, and tender grasses, tender bush and tree leaves, soft barks and tiny amounts of insects with the life-giving-healing elements and nutrients their delicate systems crave in order to thrive.

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

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Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of “Complete Protein” – Malnutrition

Filed under: Basic Parrot Nutrition, D) Amino Acids, Malnutrition — Leave a comment
February 5, 2012

If I were forced to name only one of the main causes of “The Mutilation Syndrome”, even though I believe there are many causes, I would probably have to list malnutrition at the top of my list. The reason I would feel safe in listing malnutrition as the main cause of this insidious syndrome is because it takes in a wide variety of nutritional aspects and it’s an umbrella for so many other causatives of poor health.

Malnutrition could be the lack of the vital base macro-nutrients in the diet derived from whole-foods such as vitamins and minerals. Or it could be the lack of Omegas in the form of fatty acids derived from the “good fats” from seed and nuts. What I wish to focus upon in this section though are the amino acids, and in particular the balance, or proper ratio, of those amino acids because they provide the protein the body needs for so many basic and primary bodily functions.

If the amino acids are imbalanced, or skewed, favoring one amino acid over another, then a “complete protein” is missing in the overall diet and as a result the body cannot metabolize proteins correctly causing malnutrition to set in if the diet lacks this “complete protein” nutrition over a long period of time.

If this situation occurs, the body, being the miraculous creation it is, will begin to “feed on itself” for the nutrition it lacks, absorbing all of the nutrients from within, slowly dying without notice to the outside world. Eventually the creature that is suffering malnutrition may even begin to consume itself, as in the case of The Mutilation Syndrome. The bird may begin to pick at its own feathers and nibble on the ends of the feathers for a short time hoping to find some of the nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and proteins, found within the feather shaft, to reabsorb back into its system before discarding them to the bottom of the cage. Or, in the case of skin mutilation, the  bird may even be attempting to gain access to the very protein it is lacking by picking at the skin or gaining access to the tiniest droplets of blood seeping through the wounds it created by picking the skin open.

It really doesn’t matter the quantity of food a bird like this is fed if the amino acids are not properly balanced in the food the bird is being fed. The bird can consume large quantities of the food, even appearing to be obese, but in reality is suffering malnutrition. If the amino acids are not balanced, i.e. a “complete protein” is not present, then the bird will not be receiving a protein source that can be properly metabolized by its metabolic system and utilized as nutrition for bodily functions, therefore malnutrition is bound to set in at some point in time.

Yes, it is possible to supplement the diet with additional whole foods to ensure additional amino acids are being offered to round out the diet. But one must have a very good knowledge and understanding of the commercial diet they are feeding their bird in the first place.  One must know just how those additional foods interplay with the commercial diet, their vitamin content,  fatty acid content,  and of course  the amino acid content they are adding to the diet, in order to know for sure if their bird is receiving a total, complete and balanced diet overall so that malnutrition does not exist.

One way of knowing this is to have your bird’s blood panel checked on a regular basis. A regular blood count with additional vitamin, mineral and blood lipid counts should be performed in order to know exactly where your bird’s overall nutritional profile stands. But you need to know exactly what to look for clinically as well. Keep a good eye out on your bird’s energy and activity levels, coordination and movements, the condition of the feathers, the moisture and suppleness of the skin, even the legs, the condition of the talons and beak making sure there are no cracks or scales and that they are not overgrown. Make sure the Ceres are clear and smooth, not congested. Make sure the breathing is smooth and not labored. Notice the droppings and make sure they are consistently the same, take notice of any abrupt changes.

Overall, malnutrition is very silent and insidious, but in my opinion it is pervasive in birds that pick, pluck and mutilate. I believe that most commercial bird foods are amino acid deficient and they lack the proper balancing of the most basic nutrients needed to build the “complete protein” our companion birds need in order to metabolize proteins efficiently. This is not all that difficult to remedy, but is does require more expensive ingredients than most commercial food producers are utilizing today. Being a strong advocate of preventative health care, I suggest the bird food industry begin producing foods that prevent malnutrition, thus preventing other health issues as well. I would rather see people spend their hard earned cash on wholesome foods that prevent health a crisis than to pay for health problems down the line and see their companion birds suffer, maybe to the point of no recovery.

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

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Dietary Oils: A Multi-Part Series – Flax Seed Oil

Filed under: E) Dietary Fats/Oils, Flax Oil — Leave a comment
January 19, 2012

Flax seed oil is touted as one of the best, if not the best dietary oil to consume to fight cardiovascular disease by raising the healthy HDL cholesterol levels over the lousy LDL cholesterol levels. I totally agree with this fact and here is why, flax seed oil is extremely high in Omega 3 fatty acids, the “heart-healthy fatty acids”.

Flax seed oil is also known as a “brain” food for the same reason, because it is high in Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are found in high concentration in the brain and are responsible for memory, performance and behavioral function. They also help with vision and nerve relay. In addition Omega 3 fatty acids play an important part in maintaining mood levels.

Flax seed oil has been linked to preventing stress by calming the nerves, increasing energy and stamina, regulating blood sugar levels, easing inflamed tissues as with arthritis, and soothing dry skin as with eczema. It has also been known to help people who suffer with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

But for the same reason flax seed oil is so wonderfully good for cardiovascular health, and all of these other health benefits, in my opinion it makes a poor oil to consume without adding other Omega oils along with it if your goal is to consume a healthy diet overall.

How can this be?

Flax seed oil lacks some of the qualities that help convert the Omega 6 fatty acids into another really great Omega fatty acid, “gamma-linolenic”, or more commonly known as GLA. This little wonder fatty acid actually scrubs the arteries of lousy LDL cholesterol therefore putting the Omega 6 fatty acids to work in a way that they normally would not work without being converted into GLA.

In addition flax seed oil does not contain enough Omega 7. Omega 7 is otherwise known as palmitoleic acid which helps to oxidize, or “burn” unused fat. This is of great importance to ensure that our birds do not become obese or develop fatty liver disease.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love flax seed oil and believe it should be part of the overall “good fat” in our birds’ diet because it is uncommonly high in Omega 3 fatty acids. But in my opinion it should not be considered a “stand-alone” dietary oil. In my opinion, when feeding flax seed oil it should always be fed in partnership with hemp seed oil at the rate of 1.5 parts of hemp seed oil to 1 part of flax seed oil to ensure that our birds are receiving enough of the GLA and Omega 7 fatty acids in the hemp seed oil along with the Omega 3 fatty acids in flax seed oil.

*Mixing 1.5 parts of hemp seed oil to 1 part of flax seed oil you can use the same portions as an overall “total added fat intake” guideline as I presented in the hemp seed oil article for feeding your bird. However, using this recipe is optimum because it includes both hemp seed oil and flax seed oil and therefore provides a more balanced ratio of Omegas 3, 6, 7, 9 and GLA.:

“You can add it on top of their food. (Please DO NOT add this to their drinking water! It will only coagulate and cause a mess and if you don’t wash the water bowl out really, really well, it could go rancid.)

Just a drop for small Budgies once a day is more than enough. You can probably get away with giving only a drop every other day. For parakeets such as the Ringneck and similar size birds a drop or two daily will do. Moving on up to larger birds, say Conures, Pionus and the like, maybe 3 or 4 drops a day on top of their food. Then for African Greys, small Cockatoos (and even the small Macaws) and such, 5 drops to a 1/16th of a teaspoon a day. Larger Cockatoos you could give from 1/16th to 1/8th of a teaspoon a day depending on skin and feather quality. Then the large Macaws you can give 1/8th to ¼ teaspoon daily depending on skin and feather quality.”

If your bird is suffering from “The Mutilation Syndrome” it may partially be because these essential fatty acids are lacking in your bird’s diet. Please keep in mind the above recommendations are only a guideline and depend on the overall health and vitality of your individual bird. Obviously if your bird is suffering from a health problem you need to consult with your licensed avian veterinarian before adding any additional oils to your bird’s diet. And if you know you bird already suffers from fatty liver disease, do not increase your bird’s intake of these fatty acids without first consulting with your licensed avian veterinarian.

A combination of hemp seed oil with flax seed oil on a regular basis, and then adding palm oil once a week should provide the dietary fat our birds need, especially if they are also receiving nuts every now and then. Coconut oil can be used on occasion for very specific reasons, or for certain species. It’s important to remember that in the wild our birds would be consuming these healthy fats on a regular basis; their systems are designed to metabolize these healthy plant fats.

Harmful fats, like long-chain animal fats from meat and dairy, have no place in our birds’ diet for the most part. These are the kind of fats that cause a buildup of cholesterol. Hydrogenated and trans-fats from industrial oils are extremely harmful for our birds, they come from highly processed foods. These are the kind of fats that will lead to cardiovascular problems, obesity and fatty liver disease because our birds’ systems cannot process these fats and utilize them.

But we must remember that these “good fats” are medium-chain “plant” fats and are therefore easier for the body to recognize as useable, digestible and easy to metabolize fats, they actually help reduce cholesterol in most cases. These are the kind of fats that give our birds energy, help their heart to pump blood, help their brain to function, provide lubrication for joints, aid in maintaining good eye sight and help to create beautiful feathers and supple skin.  Without enough “good fat” in our birds’ diet every function of their body is going to suffer. You can learn lots more about “good fats” and the role they play in our diet as well as our birds’ diets in our series on “Dietary Fat: An Overview for Companion Birds“.

*Dieatary Fat during mating/breeding season: I have found the use of flax seed oil during mating/breeding season to be of wonderful use in calming the emotions of hormonal birds. The Omega 3′s in flax seed oil have a calming effect on the hormones in the brain that control the emotions. But during the mating/breeding season I highly recommend discontinuing the use of hemp seed and hemp seed oil completely. In some extreme cases flax seed/flax seed oil must be discontinued as well. But in most cases flax seed oil, because of its high content of Omega 3, is actually somewhat beneficial because of its overall calming effect. However, if you find that your bird is too sensitive to both hemp and flax seed oil during this hormonal time, discontinue the use and use only Coconut oil as it does not contain any properties that will antagonize hormones. You may find that even Palm Oil antagonizes hormones during this hormonal time of your bird’s cycle. Watch your bird carefully when feeding dietary oils during its hormonal cycle for any additional aggressive or emotional behaviors and discontinue the use of the oils if necessary.

*If at any time you begin to see black spots on your bird’s feathers, you may be feeding too much oil or fat to your bird, (Or this may be a sign of “Iron Storage Disease”) back off and consult your licensed avian veterinarian. You may need to have your bird’s blood lipid and lipoprotein panel checked and/or checked for fatty liver disease and/or place your bird on a liver detox regimen.

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

 


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Dietary Fat: An Overview for Companion Birds – Part 2

Filed under: An Overview: Dietary Fat - Part 2, Basic Parrot Nutrition, E) Dietary Fats/Oils — Leave a comment
December 28, 2011

In part 1 of “Dietary Fat: An Overview for Companion Birds”, we discussed the two classifications of fats, the “saturation” and the way fats are “structured”, by molecular carbon chains. We discovered that polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are basically healthy fats more so than saturated fats, except in the case of saturated plant fats that are made up of medium chains. This specific group of medium chain saturated fats is unique to plant fats; saturated animal fats are made up of long chains and therefore are not healthy saturated fats. Medium chain fats are compatible with a living body and therefore are considered to be a heart healthy fat in spite of the fact they are saturated.

Seed and nut fats are made of medium chains and are therefore recognizable by the living body as compatible fats in which to metabolize and turn into quick energy sources. Whereas animal fats take a longer period of time to digest, metabolize and finally turn into an energy source a living body can utilize. More often than not animal fat actually turns into fat on a living body, but seed and nut fat normally do not when fed in moderation, they actually get utilized as energy and what doesn’t get utilized as energy gets utilized to clean out the “lousy” LDL cholesterol running through the arteries.

Knowing this very important information helps us to understand that “fat” can be a really good nutritional support to add to our companion bird’s diet. In fact, it is a vital part of an exotic bird’s total and complete nutritional profile.  Having discovered this we are now ready to discuss some of the various nutritional seed, oils and nuts we have available to us to include in our companion bird’s diet!

Beneficial “Fatty Acid” Seed and Oils

I have previously only briefly touched on some of the best kinds of seed and oils to add to our companion birds’ diets to achieve the best “fatty acid” nutrition. Let’s go into a little more detail.

Seed

Unfortunately seed has gotten a really bad reputation because in the past so many people fed a diet strictly of seed for so many years resulting in under-nourished or mal-nourished birds.  But there is a healthy place for seed in a companion bird’s overall, balanced diet.

When we are diligent in feeding a diet rich in whole foods consisting of a large variety of greens, fruits, berries, nuts, herbs and other wholesome foods, seed can play a vital role in the overall nutritional profile of a bird’s total diet.

Seed contains some of the essential fatty acids we have discussed, but it’s important to know which variety of seed is the healthiest seed to feed.

Hemp Seed / Oil

Hemp Seed

First of all let’s take a deeper look into hemp seed and hemp seed oil because I mentioned it several times in previous sections.

Hemp seed and the oil derived from it contain probably the most balanced fatty acid that can be easily obtained. It contains all of the fatty acids that are beneficial to the health and well-being of our parrots. It contains, depending on the variety, approximately 21% Omega 3, 2-3% GLA (no other of the common oils contain this fatty acid), about 56% other Omega 6’s, and about 11% Omega 9, about .12% of Omega 7 and finally about 9.7% of the saturated fats.  Hemp is one of the rare seeds to contain Omega 7, Palmitoleic acid which actually helps in the burning off of excess fat.

In my opinion, if you feed no other oil, this is the best oil by far to feed your companion bird to ensure good health overall.

You can read a more in depth post here:  Hemp Seed Oil

Flax Seed / Oil

Secondly, flax seed is very high in Omega 3, that fatty acid known for its heart health properties.

Flax Seed

Many people tout this source of fatty acid over any other  because it is so high in Omega 3 helping to balance the high amount of Omega 6’s we normally over-consume in our American diet, and this is a good thing. However, flax seed does not contain any GLA like hemp seed does.

Flax seed contains almost 60% Omega 3, about 14% Omega 6, about 16% Omega 9 and 10% saturated fats. But because it does not contain GLA, I would not recommend feeding this oil as a “stand-alone” oil.

Safflower Seed

Safflower Seed

I am convinced that we need to be adding safflower seed to our companion birds’ diets. Typically it contains at least 14% Oleic acid, Omega 9. This makes it a heart healthy fatty acid seed and one that should not be avoided in our companion birds’ diet. It also contains about 4% Palmitic acid, a fairly healthy saturated plant fat our birds need for the production of supple skin, beautiful feathers and strong beaks and talons. It’s also good for our birds because it contains a high amount of Folic acid, naturally occurring vitamin A and a fair amount of vitamin E.

This seed should not be a stand-alone seed; this should be fed in conjunction with other seed.

I do not recommend adding safflower oil to our birds’ diet. Too many times safflower oil is processed as a hydrogenated oil. We have previously discussed hydrogenated oils; they are industrial oils used in highly processed foods and are almost impossible to break down in the metabolic system leaving arteries clogged.  Just to make absolutely sure we are not feeding a hydrogenated version of safflower oil to our birds, in my opinion it’s just best to stick to safflower seed and stay away from the processed oil.

Saturated Plant Oils

Some fatty acids must be derived from saturated plant oils. You can feed the actual fruit when you can find it, most of the time it’s just more convenient to find the oil in a virgin, unrefined, cold-pressed version. As previously discussed saturated plant fats are not the same as saturated animal fats, these plant fats have medium chain carbon bonds (MCFAs) and the body recognizes them as something that can be easily metabolized. So there is no worry about build up in the arteries like there is with animal fats, actually these fats are very healthy and can help lower the “lousy” LDL cholesterols, especially when saturated fats are combined with naturally occurring Oleic acid, Omega 9, they are extremely efficient in reducing the harmful cholesterols. Both Palm oil and Coconut oil contain enough Oleic acid to make them heart healthy oils.

Palm Oil

Let’s not confuse this with “palm kernel oil”.

The two are not the same and palm kernel oil should not be fed to our companion birds.

Palm Fruitparrots.

Palm oil is a rich, orange-red oil known mainly as a “saturated” oil. It contains about 50% saturated fats, and about 50% unsaturated fats: 1% Omega 3’s, and 11% Omega 6’s. Palm oil is high in Oleic acid, Omega 9, 38%.

One of its greatest properties it offers our birds is the beta-carotene, the precursor to vitamin A. Beta-carotene is easily converted to vitamin A by natural synthesizes in a bird’s body.  And just briefly, the importance of vitamin A in our birds’ diets are: Overall vitality, healthy immune system, healthy digestive tract, healthy respiratory tract, healthy reproductive system, strong skeletal structure, supple skin, vibrant feathers, good eyesight.

You can read a more in depth post here: Palm Fruit Oil

Coconut Oil

Coconut

Coconut oil is about 92% saturated fat containing about 5-7% Oleic acid, Omega 9.

Coconut Oil supplies its very own very special properties that need to be looked at for purposes that may arise from time to time with your bird. It contains Caprylic and Lauric acids, both efficient in treating yeast infections. Coconut Oil is also known to level out blood sugar in the case of insulin resistance in Type 2 Diabetes. It is also a good source of vitamin E so it helps condition and protects the skin as well as healing minor cuts, abrasions and minor wounds. It has been known to help prevent macular degeneration of the eyes as well. There are many, many uses for Coconut Oil, too many to list. I suggest you turn to the Internet and conduct your own search regarding the healing properties of Coconut Oil.

You can read a more in depth post here: Coconut Oil

Beneficial “Fatty Acid” Nuts

Nuts are extremely high in Oleic acid, Omega 9 which as previously stated, is responsible for lowering the overall “lousy” LDL cholesterols and raising the overall “healthy” HDL good cholesterols. Just about any nut you decide to feed is going to contain a fair to high amount of Omega 9 and there are a vast array of nuts from which to choose to feed our companion birds.

Macadamia nuts are an excellent source of Omega 9 and they contain Omega 7 as well, the fat-burning Omega. But on a regular basis I prefer to feed almonds because they contain a moderate amount of Omega 9 plus they are very high in calcium, a mineral that almost every companion bird needs in their daily diet and almonds contain a good amount of protein too. Basically they are just a good all around nut if you are not going to feed any other nut. But just like any food, feed in moderation, too much of a good thing can be harmful. Almonds are a tad high in the amino acid Arginine and anyone following my blog will know that I highly suspect Arginine to be a contributing factor in The Mutilation Syndrome. However, I do like to feed Macadamia nuts on an infrequent basis just to make sure that great beta-carotene and Omega 7 nutrition is being derived from such a wonderful whole food source.

I never feed peanuts because they are so susceptible to aflatoxins. In my opinion it’s just not worth the risk.

Fats: In Conclusion

After our study of fats we have learned that healthy fats not only provide energy, they carry oxygen to the blood, they also nourish the brain, help prevent certain cancers, lubricate the body inside and out as in the case of preventing arthritis and also aid in keeping the skin moist and supple. Fats also help with the uptake of calcium thereby preventing osteoporosis. Certain fats can aid in the treatment of diabetes and other fats can help keep eyesight sharp by preventing macular degeneration and in some cases fat can also act as an antiviral, antifungal or an antibacterial and aid in destroying yeast infections, heal cuts and minor wounds. In short, fats are nothing but miraculous in many ways and should be a staple in our companion birds’ diet for optimum nutrition!

We shouldn’t be so worried about feeding “fat” to our birds, as long as it’s healthy fat. There has been far too much negative talk about fat in our birds’ diets in my opinion. For some reason the common thinking is that all fat translates into “fat birds” and this is just not true. These birds come from regions of the world where there is an abundance of healthy fats from which to choose and consume, and they do consume these fats in the wild; these fats are part of their normal diet and they need these fats to thrive. Obviously they don’t need as much fat living more sedentary lives as captive birds, but they still need a good amount for their bodies to function properly.

Take a good, long look at your bird’s diet and if necessary make changes to include the healthy fats your bird needs to thrive. Don’t be fearful that your bird will become obese simply because you are feeding your bird what its body is designed to consume. As long as your bird is receiving lots of fresh, wholesome greens, fruits, berries and herbs, then adding some quality nuts and seed to the diet will not harm your bird in any way. In fact your bird will be a lot better off with the added “good fat” in its diet!

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Dietary Fat: An Overview for Companion Birds – Part 1

Filed under: An Overview: Dietary Fat - Part 1, Basic Parrot Nutrition, E) Dietary Fats/Oils — Leave a comment
December 21, 2011

Pre-Classification and Purpose of Fats

Fats fall under a wider category known as “lipids”.

Lipids

Lipids are natural organic compounds and are not water soluble; they are fat, lipid and oil soluble. Lipids include fats, phospholipids and steroids. Fats are necessary for energy, to store energy, insulate the body, and cushion and protect the organs. Phospholipids are a major component of cell membranes, they are found virtually lining every cell in the body, especially the brain, protecting each cell. They help brain cells communicate and influence how well receptors function. Steroids are cholesterol derived hormones that help regulate various physiological functions in the body.

For the purpose of our edification we will be focusing primarily on “fats” mainly in the form of “fatty acids”, the building blocks of total fats, and the function they play in the health of our companion birds.

Fats are used inside of living creatures for many things, but one of the main purposes of these necessary nutrients is for the production of energy the body will utilize in daily activities.  Therefore it is absolutely crucial that high quality fats are available to a living creature, fats that can be quickly absorbed, metabolized and exchanged into energy so that a living creature has plenty of energy in which to expend throughout each and every day. Such is the case for birds living in the wild that may need to escape quickly from any approaching predators.

But what about the fat requirements of companion birds, what are the kinds of fats our birds need? What are the best sources of food from which to derive these fats? Is it important to know how much fat our companion bird should consume each and every day?

In some ways it’s more important to discuss the classifications of fats and their molecular structure so you will have a good understanding of what constitutes a healthy fat. Once you understand what constitutes a healthy fat, it becomes much easier to choose sources of healthy fats for your companion bird to consume. And in knowing what the purpose of fats are in the diet, then we don’t have to worry as much about the total intake of fats, because we will know that the right fats, fed for the right purpose in moderation will not make our birds fat, but will supply the necessary nutrients exotic birds need to thrive.

The Two Classifications of Fats

There are two ways to classify fats, one is by saturation, the other is by the length or molecular size of the carbon chain, or how they are connected to one another.

Let’s review saturation first.

Saturation

There are mainly polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, saturated, trans-fats, and hydrogenated fats.

First there are the polyunsaturated fats (PUFAS). These are extremely healthy fats which make up the fatty acids known as “Omega 3” fats. One of the best sources for this fatty acid for our companion birds can be found in flax seed and flax seed oil, although hemp seed and hemp seed oil supplies a good amount of this fatty acid as well.

Secondly there are the monounsaturated fats (MUFAS). These are basically healthy fats which make up the fatty acids known as “Omega 6” fats; they are mostly vegetable fats and are found in abundance in almost all of the highly processed foods we consume. They are commonly derived from corn, safflower seed, peanuts and olives.  While they are mostly healthy, when eaten in overabundance they can actually add to the problem of cardiovascular problems and chronic pain by causing more inflammation unless the “GLA” (Gamma-linolenic acid) version is consumed. The “GLA” version is derived primarily from hemp seed; this is the only seed besides borage, black currant seed, and evening primrose that contains GLA.

Then there are the saturated fats. These are normally animal fats, but not always. There are healthy plants, nuts and seed that contain saturated fats.

And finally there are trans-fats and hydrogenated fats. Some trans-fats occur naturally in some foods. But most trans-fats and hydrogenated fats are industrial or synthetically produced fats for use in highly processed foods. A living creature cannot break these fats down into useable energy and they clog the arteries, never, never use these kinds of fats in your bird’s diet.

The Molecular Carbon Chain Structure of Fatty Acids

Now let’s review how fats are structured. Fats are made of chains of “fatty acids”. Fatty acids consist of chains of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms attached.

There are short (SCFA), medium (MCFA) and long (LCFA) chain fatty acids. Most of the foods we consume are made up of the LCFAs. MCFAs also contain the medium-chain triglycerides known as MCTs. MCFAs are probably the best fatty acids to consume because a living creature recognizes fat molecules by their size and MCFAs are recognized as compatible to a living creature and therefore are metabolized more efficiently than SCFAs and LCFAs. This is actually more important to remember than the classification by “saturation” of any given fat because while a fat may be considered to be unhealthy by the “saturation” standard, it may actually be considered healthy when measured by the molecular size of the chain, that is if it is a medium chain fatty acid (MCFA).

I wish to include a short quote by Dr. Bruce Fife, ND. I believe this is one of the best explanations of how MCTs “work” in a living body:

“MCTs are processed differently. When we eat a fat containing MCTs, such as coconut oil, it travels through the stomach and into the small intestine. But since MCTs digest quickly, by the time they leave the stomach and enter the intestinal tract they are already broken down into individual fatty acids (MCFAs). Therefore, they do not need pancreatic enzymes or bile for digestion. Since they are already reduced to fatty acids as they enter the small intestine, they are immediately absorbed into the portal vein and sent straight to the liver. In the liver they are preferentially used as a source of fuel to produce energy. MCFAs bypass the lipoprotein stage in the intestinal wall and in the liver. They do not circulate in the bloodstream to the degree that other fats do. Therefore, they do not supply the fat that collects in fat cells nor do they supply the fat that collects in artery walls. MCFAs are used to produce energy, not body fat and not arterial plaque.”
(You can read Dr. Fife’s complete article at OfSpirit.com)

Categories of Fatty Acids

There are two main categories of fatty acids, both “essential and non-essential fatty acids”, in other words, “essential and conditionally essential” fatty acids that a living creature really needs to perform at its best.

The term “essential” fatty acid refers to what a living creature needs to ingest as a required food source because it cannot synthesize the nutrient without introducing it by an exogenous source, that is, a source outside of itself.

The term “non-essential” fatty acid means that a living creature does not need the substance introduced by a food source because it is synthesized by the body either naturally or by food that has previously been introduced and metabolized by the body.

The essential fatty acids are “Alpha-linolenic” (ALA) or Omega 3 and “Linolenic” (LA) or Omega 6.  Normally Omega 6 fatty acids are widely available through food sources, too available in fact. We have to work a little harder to find food sources that contain Omega 3 fatty acids.

Then there are “non-essential fatty acids” like Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) a special Omega 6 fatty acid that is metabolized from Linoleic acid another Omega 6 fatty acid, Lauric acid (a saturated fatty acid), and Palmitoleic acid (a monounsaturated fatty acid), classified as Omega 7, found in extremely high concentration in Macadamia nuts. And finally, one Omega that isn’t talked about very much but is very important in my opinion is Omega 9, or Oleic acid. It is considered one of the “non-essential” fatty acids too, but because it has such important nutritional properties I think it is still a good idea to find a good food source and introduce it into our birds’ diet.

Omega 3

Flax Seed

The purpose of Omega 3 is heart health and good brain function. It also helps with the condition of skin, balancing emotions and providing energy to the body.  Studies have shown that Omega 3 actually lowers total cholesterol and triglycerides overall, thus reducing the risk of heart-related diseases. Studies have indicated that Omega 3 has decreased the symptoms of Rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus. And research has shown that calcium absorption improves with the intake of Omega 3, thus preventing the onset of Osteoporosis. Macular degeneration is less likely to occur when Omega 3 is consumed on a regular basis. And cancers like breast, colon and prostate cancer are less likely to occur when a diet rich in Omega 3 is consumed.

One of the best sources of Omega 3 is organic flax seed and organic flax seed oil as well as organic hemp seed and organic hemp seed oil.

Omega 6

The purpose of Omega 6 is to stimulate skin and feather growth (hair growth in humans), maintain bone health, regulate metabolism and maintain the reproductive system.

Hemp Seed

Not all Omega 6’s are equal. The “Linoleic” (LA), Omega 6’s have shown to actually cause more damage to the body when consumed in large quantities; they actually increase additional pain and inflammation as in the case of chronic pain syndromes as well as additional cardiovascular problems for heart patients. This is because the American diet consists of so many foods that are too high in Omega 6’s actually cancelling out the benefits of any of the Omega 3’s in a person’s diet.

However, if a diet that is high in the Omega 6, Gamma-linoleic acid, otherwise known as “GLA”, is consumed this is a different matter. GLA is responsible for actually contributing to lowering the total cholesterol level thus contributing to good heart health. GLA is also responsible for reducing inflammation.

The best sources of GLA Omega fatty acids for our birds’ diets are organic hemp seed and organic hemp seed oil.

Macadamia Nuts

Omega 7

It is believed that Palmitoleic acid, Omega 7, plays a significant role in fat oxidation. If so this is vitally important not only in preventing obesity, but also in the production of energy. As previously stated palmitoleic acid is abundant in macadamia nuts.

Omega 9

Oleic acid, Omega 9, is one of the “non-essential” fatty acids, meaning that living bodies synthesize it so food sources do not need to be introduced to metabolize it. However, just as a precaution it may be a good idea to introduce some food sources to make sure this fatty acid is present in the body because it is so important to have available. It’s responsible for lowering overall “lousy” LDL cholesterols and increasing the “healthy” HDL cholesterols.

Foods that are high in Oleic acid are grape seed oil, nuts and seeds. One of the best dietary sources for our companion birds is organic hemp seed and organic hemp seed oil.

How Much Fat Should We Feed To Our Birds?

After years and years of research surrounding wild and captive parrots there is still much debate as to the amount of fat content each species needs in their diet to maintain homeostasis, balanced health and vitality. Obviously a wild parrot will need a higher fat content than a captive parrot simply because of the amount of energy expended.  Having stated that fact, we must keep in mind that the quality of fat in a bird’s diet is just as important as the amount of fat in a bird’s diet, all parrots need quality fats in their diets because this is one of the prime nutrients their species thrives upon.  Even though a captive parrot may need less in their diet than a wild parrot, they still need quality fats.

We know from our research for human diets that Omega 3 fats are overall healthier than the Omega 6 fats. Therefore we want to make sure we begin by adding foodstuffs that contain these kinds of fats to the base diet for parrots. These would include foods such as leafy greens, nuts and a moderate amount of high-quality seed. We need to be careful how many grains we feed to our birds because grains are high in the Omega 6 fats, and not the good Omega 6’s like the GLA’s. While yes, all of the Omega 6’s are needed in the diet, as previously stated, a diet too high in the Omega 6’s will cancel out the good of the Omega 3’s, therefore we really need to exercise caution in feeding too many grains like corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye and millet.

When we take all of these fats into consideration, it’s no wonder that parrots need to consume a fair amount of quality fats.  They need to take in a quantity of fat for energy anyway, and they need to take in enough to cover all of the fatty acids listed here to cover all of their dietary needs.

Remember these are polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, the good fats. It’s when we feed high amounts of saturated fats (a small amount of saturated fats are good, like the kind found in nuts), or any amount of trans-fats or hydrogenated fats (never, never feed Trans fats or hydrogenated fats) that we have worries attached.

Our post here is just a short post, it doesn’t even begin to cover the broader aspect of dietary fats and what foods to feed to ensure you are feeding the best fats possible to your feathered friend. Please stay tuned for Part 2 of “Dietary Fat-An Overview for Companion Birds“. In addition, I will be going into depth about dietary fats in the book I am writing about companion bird nutrition.

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Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of “Complete Protein” – Part 2

Filed under: Basic Parrot Nutrition, D) Amino Acids, The Building Blocks - Part 2 — 2 Comments
December 9, 2011

"Willo"

Until fairly recently it was believed that all captive parrots required about the same protein levels in their diet, about 12%-15%, based on poultry protein requirements. Gradually we are beginning to realize that each species may, in fact, require very different protein requirements based not only on their own species and body types, but also based on the regions of the world they originate from as well.

Of course different species require different protein levels in their diet, why would anyone think anything different? How we go about determining this and making sure they receive the proper amount of protein in their packaged food is the great challenge.

Once again I have to tout a diet high in natural, organic whole-foodstuffs. We cannot feed a pelleted diet and expect that our birds will receive adequate nutrition from highly processed, finely ground, “pre-digested” substandard ingredients.

Why do our parrots need protein, and specifically “quality” protein, in their diet and how do their bodies utilize protein once it is ingested? It’s been long understood that a bird’s body has a tough time metabolizing protein because bird’s need essential amino acids introduced into their digestive tracts in order to metabolize protein. In other words, these amino acids, the building blocks of complete protein, aren’t naturally present in a bird’s chemical make-up, they have to be ingested by the bird, in balance, and then synthesized properly in order for the bird’s system to recognize the proteins to metabolize them appropriately.

Many of us think protein is needed for energy. While this is correct to a certain extent, it is mostly false. Protein is used to build muscle mass, regenerate internal organs as well skin, the largest organ of the body. It is also used to regenerate feathers, beaks and talons, although these parts of a bird’s body are mostly made up of the sulfur-containing amino acids like Methionine which converts to Cysteine and Cystine. All of these items are part of the “bulk” of our birds’ bodies, and add to the total weight of our birds. So it stands to reason that while protein is very important, it is not needed in the same quantity as carbohydrates which give our birds energy. Nonetheless protein is needed for a healthy heart, and all of the other organs our birds need for healthy bodies that function like a Swiss clock.

Remember, in the wild, while they need muscle to maneuver the limbs of trees and take off to flight, they don’t need so much body mass that they can’t fly. And as the caregiver of a captive bird, each of us must decide what the proper forms of protein are in order to build and regenerate these parts of our birds, but not to the extent that our birds look like “muscle builders” when they are creatures that live fairly sedate lives in our homes, and much of that time is spent inside their cages.

First let’s look at the ingredients most often used in pelleted diets when their main ingredients are corn, rice, soy or wheat. None of these ingredients are reliable ingredients from which to supply protein. Wheat may be the only ingredient on that list that may contain enough protein to supply a parrot’s dietary need, but honestly pellets don’t normally contain wheat as their primary ingredient. And even if they did, wheat has too many negative factors to be a good source of protein to feed your companion bird, such as gluten, and indigestible protein that has a tendency to cause allergies. Gluten is the causative agent behind Celiac’s Disease in humans. Soy may also be a source high in protein but the problem with soy is that it is very high in phyto-hormones. This can dramatically alter your bird’s natural hormones leaving you with a bird that has ongoing hormonal issues. Research has found that Soy may inhibit endocrine function as well. This not only interrupts the regulation of hormones, but it can cause pancreatic disorders and insulin issues, as in the case of diabetes.  Soy, if not processed at high temperatures, that removes most nutrients, contains high levels of phytic acid which inhibits the absorption of many minerals such as calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. So this source of protein, while it looks great at first glance, really isn’t that great overall. And as far as corn and rice, well they just don’t offer much protein anyway. And for any protein they do have to offer, they add too much sugar which converts to starch, which then converts back to sugar, a simple, and empty carbohydrate that can add to yeast infections and possibly diabetes, and may eventually contribute to fatty liver disease.

Animal Protein

So where do we turn to for quality protein? Well it certainly isn’t meat. Meat is far too difficult for parrots to digest; their delicate digestive system, with its low Ph balance, and the manner in which it is designed, just isn’t designed to break down meat products. And as I have said before in other posts, never, never feed your parrot raw, uncooked meat as it may harbor bacteria that will literally kill your parrot. But even cooked meat is too difficult for your parrot to digest. If you want to feed your parrot “animal protein”, turn to mealworms purchased online and raised on human foodstuffs. Never feed your birds worms you find in your garden as they may have accidentally came across some kind of chemical fertilizers or pesticides, even if it wasn’t in your own yard.

Plant Protein

But our parrots need more than “animal protein” in their basic diet, they need a different kind of protein in their daily diet because they are herbivores, they need “plant” protein. Most of their protein needs to come from reliable plant sources, but not necessarily from grains. Most of the plant protein our parrots would consume in the wild comes from greens like grasses, bushes, leaves and herbs.

They also like seeds and nuts. Seeds are eaten in abundance and nuts are eaten mostly for their fat content which is quickly converted into energy, although they do contain protein. And parrots love nuts. And why not? One of my favorite nuts to feed parrots is almonds. They are naturally high in both protein and calcium and that’s probably why I like them so much. But they are also one of the less fatty nuts too. But we have to be careful with nuts because they are high in Arginine which may lead to plucking and skin mutilation. So be extra careful in the amount of nuts you are feeding to your birds.

Obviously we cannot find and feed the very same bushes and leaves our birds would consume in the wild, but we can find good quality greens to mimic the plant proteins they might find in their natural habitat. One of my very favorite plants to feed is alfalfa. It hovers at about 15% protein on average, but that level of protein is knocked down when combined with foods of a lower protein percentage.  Alfalfa is what I call a “balanced” or “complete” plant protein in that it contains balanced amino acid content. This is one of the reasons it is used in the cattle industry and also why you will find horse owners feeding it to their horses in abundance. The amino acids in a whole food  constitutes  the building blocks of a protein and alfalfa is wonderfully balanced in the Lysine to Arginine ratio, therefore it is also balanced in the Ph ratio, inasmuch that it is not too acidic, nor is it too alkaline. So overall, this whole food is really the foundation from which to build your bird’s entire diet for good nutrition, in my opinion. This wonderful, leafy green really needs to be looked at more in-depth for feeding many of our herbivore pets.

I will lightly mention legumes here, but not because I consider them a good source of quality “plant” protein, only because legumes contain good and fair amounts of protein supplies. Legumes include cooked and dried beans, peas and lentils. But in order to supply nutrients most legumes need to be at least partially cooked before serving, and in doing so some amount of the real nutrition is lost. So in comparison to leafy greens, such as alfalfa that I mentioned above, legumes still don’t provide that raw “whole-food” nutrition I am such an advocate of because they need to be partially cooked in order to release their nutrition to be available for absorption. In addition, legumes are high in Arginine that amino acid that I believe may contribute to The Mutilation Syndrome.

*I wish to add a side note here about different kinds of seaweed and algae proteins. Please, please do not feed these on a regular basis to your birds in hopes of boosting the protein intake of your bird’s overall dietary needs. Our oceans have been permanently putrefied with petro-chemicals and radiation. Gone is the day we can rely on nutrition from ocean products. Besides this fact, many algae products, i.e. the blue-green strains, contain the essential amino acid Phenylalanine which is known to contribute to PKU in humans. I believe this is a leading cause of Toe-tapping and Wing-flipping in parrots. I will write an in-depth post on this later in the future.

Amino Acids Necessary for Complete Protein

How do our birds’ metabolize protein?

Protein is metabolized by an amino acid synthesizing process. In other words there are 10 essential amino acids which must be introduced into the body via the diet in order to have a complete protein, and all of the 20 amino acids must be synthesized by the body either by the food that is ingested, or by the body’s natural synthesizing process. It’s fairly easy to find most of the 10 essential amino acids in any of the foods you would normally feed your bird.  But one of the most important essential amino acids needed by our companion birds to metabolize protein is Methionine, and it can be difficult to find this amino acid present in most food sources. It must be introduced to our birds’ diet in order for protein to be broken down into a form for our birds’ systems to utilize the protein they take in. When combined with enough Lysine with other foods that contain Arginine, and all of the other essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids, this constitutes a “complete” protein our birds’ systems recognizes as well as one they can utilize. But Lysine, Arginine and Methionine seem to the major players in this process.

The 10 essential amino acids that must be introduced by food are:

1)      Phenylalanine

2)      Valine

3)      Threonine

4)      Tryptophan

5)      Isoleucine

6)      Methionine

7)      Leucine

8)      Lysine

9)      *Histidine (Considered to be a “conditionally” essential amino acid because it is not normally required in the diet, but must be supplied in the diet to specific species that do not synthesize it.)

10)   *Arginine (Considered to be a “conditionally” essential amino acid because it is not normally required in the diet, but must be supplied in the diet to specific species that do not synthesize it. It is not concretely known if parrots synthesize Arginine. All research is based on poultry who do not synthesize Arginine.)

The 10 non-essential amino acids which will be synthesized by other amino acids are:

1)      Alanine

2)      Asparagine

3)      Cysteine

4)      Tyrosine

5)      Aspartate

6)      Glutamate

7)      Glutamine

8)      Glycine

9)      Proline

10)   Syrine

Most foods contain Arginine in high quantities. It is a little more difficult to find foods that naturally contain Lysine and Methionine so I’m going to list some to help you out.

Foods high in Methionine:

  • Cooked Egg Whites (Do not buy and use powdered egg whites, these contain preservatives.)
  • Eucalyptus Leaves –Organic if possible (Do not feed if sprayed with insecticides)
  • Sesame Seed
  • Sunflower Seed

Foods high in Lysine:

  • Papaya – However, be careful with papaya because it is a natural histamine, it can cause allergies. Watch to see how your individual bird responds to it.
  • Beets – However, beets are high in sugar that can lead to yeast infections. So if your individual bird is prone to yeast infections keep a close eye out for any signs of a developing yeast infection. Beets are also a good supply of beta carotene, the precursor to vitamin A.
  • Mango – This is a good all around ingredient and has no side effects that I am aware of. A good supply of beta carotene too!
  • Apricot – A little on the sugary side, but not too bad.
  • Apple – I don’t recommend apples because they are way too high in sugar content for the little amount of nutrition they offer.
  • Pear – Excellent source.
  • Alfalfa – Excellent, balanced ratio of Lysine/Arginine which makes this a good base food.
  • Pineapple – This can be somewhat of an allergen to some birds, so watch your individual bird carefully. Otherwise it is an excellent digestive agent.
  • Persimmon – A good source.
  • Peach – A good source.
  • Plum – A good source.
  • Green beans – A good source.
  • Lentil SPROUTS – A good source. (Do NOT feed alfalfa and/or red clover sprouts, these are highly toxic as they contain the amino acid “Canavanine” which is thought to be a carcinogen. However, mature alfalfa is FREE of Canavanine and is safe to feed your parrot.)
  • Cauliflower – A good source.
  • Guava – A fair source.
  • Cinnamon – A fair source.

I cannot stress how important Lysine is to the overall diet.  This is the one “limiting amino acid” that Vegans are sure they receive in their diet to accomplish having a complete protein source.  “Limiting” means that without it proteins cannot properly be absorbed and metabolized. Lysine is also necessary for calcium absorption.

And finally, Methionine; in reviewing this important amino acid, if it’s not available in the diet through foodstuffs then none of the proteins will be absorbed and metabolized. We must find quality foods that contain Methionine so that our birds’ digestive tracts and metabolic systems will be able to make use of the protein they receive.

Most commercial bird foods have been neglectful in formulating daily diets for our companion birds overall. They have not taken into consideration that a completely balanced protein must consist of including whole-foods that contain both naturally occurring, and equally balanced, Lysine to Arginine amino acids with enough Methionine to properly metabolize the available protein. When we look at the package backs of these processed foods we will be sure to find ingredients that are extremely high in ingredients that contain Arginine. But where are the ingredients that contain Lysine, the all-important amino acid that balances the Arginine in order to make a complete protein? They are virtually non-existent. And how about the Methionine ingredients? Where are they?

Personally, I’m not satisfied if they tell me that they have added the Lysine and Methionine by supplementing them with laboratory-produced, chemical versions because scientists are still debating whether these substances are utilized by a living creature the same way as a natural and organic source is metabolized by a living creature. I would much rather be sure to use the real version, a living version, a whole-food that was made by Nature.

Click for: “Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of Complete Protein – Part 1″

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

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Hide and Cecum – Your Parrot’s Digestive Tract, Finally Understood!

Filed under: A) Anatomy - Digestive Tract, Specialized Information — Leave a comment
December 6, 2011

 

Many avian species have “cecum” (plural). But you don’t see many parrot books speak of the “ceca” (singular). My question is “Why?” Well, it’s because it is virtually non-existent in Psittaciformes so there isn’t any reason to bring up the subject. Or is there? After studying the function of the ceca I have come to believe that it is absolutely essential to discuss the function of this important part of the avian anatomy when the daily diets of our beloved parrots are based on poultry that have highly-developed cecum.

For years upon years parrot diets have been based upon poultry dietary needs. Has anyone really ever asked why? Not really. When it comes right down to it, poultry (Galliformes) are completely different from parrots (Psittaciformes) and should be treated as a completely different species when formulating daily diets for our beloved companion birds, and not for the obvious reason you may think, because they live mostly outside as livestock, but rather for a reason that researchers haven’t disclosed to the avian community, the “cecum”.

What is the “cecum”? This almost hidden and ignored part of the digestive tract is largely present in some avian species, moderately present in other avian species (Passeriformes) and virtually non-existent in still other avian species. It is a “tubular blind-ended” sac located at the small intestine.

This is where I become very concerned regarding the formulation of parrot diets because I know, in accordance to research information that is widely available, that most parrot diets have been formulated based on poultry diets.  We already know that poultry have quite a different digestive tract than parrots. But do we know just how different they really are? And if so, then why do we continue to base and formulate parrot diets off of poultry diets? It just doesn’t make good scientific sense, let alone good common sense!

Once I found research information that backed up my knowledge about detailed information regarding the extreme difference between poultry and parrot digestive tracts, I could no longer keep this information from the avian community; I had to share it with all of you.  Knowledge is strength and should cause all of us to do better.

So here is the thing about the cecum in poultry versus parrots. Poultry have an extensive network of cecum and parrots have absolutely none! [1] And Passeriformes have only small, fairly under-developed cecum. What does this tell us about poultry? What does this tell us about parrots in specific?

Poultry cecum, similar to carnivores, ferment their food and parrots do not. Yes Carnivores have cecum as well. The ceca is a “blind-ended” sac in which fine food particles can be held for longer periods of time than can be held in the small and large intestine. The duty of the ceca is to collect and absorb the small fibers and fluids into itself and push all of it up against its own walls to extract all of the micronutrients and further the fermentation process, get as many nutrients out of the foodstuff as possible, before sending it to the colon for excretion.

But parrots don’t have cecum, so why are we attempting to formulate daily diets for parrots based on poultry diets when research scientists and other professionals supposedly know this critical information? Why are we attempting to feed foodstuffs to parrots that poultry actually need to ferment in order to derive the nutritional benefits?

It would seem to me by feeding foods that need to ferment in order for the species to derive nutritional benefits may be causing a cascade of problems, such as the case with corn for just one example. When corn is allowed to ferment it breaks down into a sugary substance which then converts to starch which then converts back to sugar. Most of us know that once this conversion takes place, if too many starchy, sugary foods are fed, it is very possible that a yeast infection is quite likely to follow.

But, okay, we can argue that parrots don’t have cecum so we don’t need to worry about corn fermenting in the first place. But if no real nutrition can be derived from corn without the fermentation process, the breaking down of this foodstuff in order to derive the nutritional benefit, it boils down to this ingredient passing through the digestive tract in a parrot without the parrot deriving virtually any real nutritional benefit from it. But what does begin to happen in the digestion process of corn is that the outer coating begins to break down into sugar. So our beloved parrots do receive sugars, an empty carbohydrate, void of any real nutrition, at minimum from an ingredient such as corn. Then why feed this ingredient at all? This is exactly one of the reasons our parrots become obese, and are developing fatty liver disease, but malnourished. They eat and eat, but derive no nutritional benefit from their food; they keep eating in an effort to fulfill their nutritional needs. Many of the harder grains take too long to break down and digest in their system, especially since parrots don’t have cecum where the grain can ferment to extract the micronutrients.

The point is we shouldn’t be formulating daily diets for our parrots based off of poultry diets when their digestive tracts are so very different from one another! Knowing that poultry ferment their food in order to derive nutritional benefits from the food they consume, and parrots do not, makes all of the difference in the world.  We need to be feeding foodstuffs that offer high quality, quick nutrition to our parrots that don’t take long periods of time to break down and supply the necessary nutrients their physiological design requires.  Diets that are formulated for poultry do not offer this kind of nutrition. Most parrots are mainly herbivores with a large palate of individual foods on the list including tender grasses, tender leaves, soft barks, fruits, seeds, pollens, but very little amount of grain in their diet unless no other food sources can be found. Some Psittaciformes will also be found consuming insects which make them a little bit insectivorous, showing us that they might need some amount of “animal protein” in their diet.

But this is the thing, you know the old saying “You eat like a bird”? Well, for birds that don’t have cecum this may very well be more true than we have previously understood.  Their food literally passes right through them; there is no “holding tank”, so to speak, because they don’t have cecum. This is why many species consume 80% of their body weight each and every day. And this gives us even more reason why we need to be feeding super-high quality foodstuffs to our companion birds. Their digestive tracts need to be able to extract quality nutrition out of those foods as fast as possible, they need foodstuffs that release nutrients quickly and efficiently, not foodstuffs that hold on to their nutrients and require fermentation before any real nutrition can be obtained from the food.

There we have it folks, this is exactly why we need to move away from formulating parrot diets based on poultry nutrition. We need to get away from providing such hard-to-digest ingredients like corn, rice, soy and wheat. And we especially need to stay away from meat products. Our parrots just don’t have the organ necessary to ferment or breakdown these kinds of foods, let alone derive the nutrition from them they have to offer. Poultry has the slow-moving, fermenting digestive tracts needed to break down these foods, parrots absolutely do not.

I will go more in-depth about the ceca in my avian nutrition book I am presently working on. Be sure to stay tuned so you will know when, where and how my book is published!

[1] Mitchell 1896a, At-u; Mitchell 1901, Strigops; Beddard

1911, Nestor.

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*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

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Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of “Complete Protein” – Part 1

Filed under: Basic Parrot Nutrition, D) Amino Acids, The Building Blocks - Part 1 — Leave a comment
November 29, 2011

We don’t often think of amino acids in relationship to the protein requirements of our companion birds when we pick up a package of food for them at our local pet shop, we simply may look at the protein percentage on the back of the package and think, “Hmmm…okay, this looks okay” and be on our merry way.  But what actually goes into formulating that protein percentage? What has to be mixed and calculated to arrive at that number in order to make sure our feathered friend is receiving the “complete protein” it needs to not only survive, but thrive?

“Complete proteins” are what is needed in order for any living creature to survive. But complete quality  proteins are what is needed for a living creature to thrive.  Any food manufacturer can throw ingredients together and force the protein percentages to come out to a level that meets the criteria equaling the amount necessary for survival for the particular animal species they desire to sell to the consumer purchasing the food for their beloved pet. But it takes a nutritionist who is passionate about the health of animals, and one that really has the animal’s best interest at heart to formulate a food that not only meets the protein percentage criteria, but also combines the amino acids in a balanced manner that they complement each other in a symbiotic way that actually forms an actual “complete protein” in every aspect of the true nature of the definition.

The absolute best way to provide complete protein to an overall diet is to combine a vast array of fresh, organic whole-foods.

The only way to come close to producing minimally processed, and still high-potency food, is to produce it by hand, using minimal equipment, and only stainless steel equipment at that so as not to introduce metal toxicity, and leave most of the ingredients whole, or semi-whole and gently dehydrate as the means of preservation. Dehydration is the oldest method of preservation known to civilization and is still being used by present-day naturalists.

But back to the amino acids and building a complete protein for our birds’ daily diets. Amino acids are the “building blocks” of proteins in a living creature’s dietary needs, as well as within their very bodily make up, they provide the fiber of a living being’s physical existence!

There are two main amino acids we need to take into consideration when building the complete protein profile in which our birds need in order to thrive. Unfortunately here again, most commercial bird foods do not provide, in a balanced manner, these two essential amino acids in the ingredients they include in their packaged foods. The reason most manufacturers do not include ingredients that contain both amino acids is because the price is more costly for the more balanced foods that contain both amino acids, and plus some of the foods are more difficult to produce, and therefore obtain in mass quantity.

The term “essential” amino acid means that it is not synthesized by the body itself. In other words, it must be introduced into the body by other means, hopefully by whole-food sources rather than a laboratory-produced supplement. The body recognizes whole-food sources, in my opinion, more efficiently than it does laboratory-produced substances. This is a topic of long-debate by scientists spanning the entire globe. Still no concrete decisions have been made on this issue.

The two most essential amino acids we need to take into consideration when building our birds’ daily diet are Lysine and Arginine and they must be balanced in order to provide the complete protein your bird needs to thrive, not just survive. Too much of either and your bird will, eventually, begin to suffer some kind of ailment, disorder, illness or disease, mark my word.

In addition to those two amino acids your bird needs another essential acid, in a more limited amount, but essential nonetheless, Methionine, in order to metabolize the proteins, because first of all birds do not synthesize methionine on their own; neither do they metabolize proteins very well.

What does all of this boil down to? Well if you are going to be feeding your bird(s) fresh, organic, whole foods yourself, without any commercially packaged foods, you need to know how to go about providing a “complete protein” source for your bird’s daily diet. Otherwise you’re only guessing at what your bird needs in the way of a total diet.

And complete protein isn’t the only dietary need you should be taking into consideration. You have to take into consideration your bird’s fat requirements, calcium and other mineral needs, and make sure your bird isn’t receiving too much iron in its diet that could lead to “Iron Storage Disease”. When it comes right down to it, formulating a complete and total diet for your bird just isn’t a snap! And if you are feeding a commercial food that contains synthetic vitamins, or you are feeding synthetic vitamins yourself, you need to be really careful because you can easily overdose your bird and cause hypervitaminosis, a case of too much synthetic nutrition, which your bird’s system, primarily the liver and kidneys, just cannot metabolize. This is usually due to overdosing of “oil-soluble” vitamins, those which cannot be thrown off the system by the dilution of water-soluble body fluids, they need to be metabolized by the liver and kidneys. This can lead to an enlarged liver, fatty liver or liver and/or kidney disease. Many commercial bird foods contain these types of vitamins in them.

And if you are feeding, or you decide to feed, a commercial diet to your bird(s), please find one that is as close to organic, whole-food, minimally processed without synthetic vitamin supplements as you can possibly find. I know that’s a tall order considering what’s on the market today, but please try. Optimum health for your bird begins with optimum nutrition. It’s all about using food as a natural, holistic medicine, the first line of defense against all ailments, disorders, illness and disease.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of “The Building Blocks of Complete Protein“!

I’ll be discussing the importance of amino acids in more detail in my upcoming book, so be sure to stay tuned to learn how, when and where I’ll be publishing my first volume of avian nutritional information!

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

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Remembering BirD-elicious! Foods…

Filed under: Basic Parrot Nutrition — 6 Comments
November 15, 2011

“Your home for really, really SAFE bird products!”(TM)

“I am really impressed with the ingredients of your food. I thought there was nothing better than [the food I am currently feeding] because it is organic and has clay. I cannot tell you how excited I am to buy some of your food.Thanks again, Racheal of MN”


BirD-elicious! Bird Food

BirD-elicious! Bird Stew             BirD-elicious! Soup Mash

BirD-elicious! Soup Mash

These foods represent only a few of the many, many foods we offered when we were in full production!

As many of you remember we offered species-specific daily diets for almost every parrot species common to all parrot-lovers! In addition, as you can tell by our list of species and all of the related symptom related diets, we had diets formulated to address many disorders as well as a full list of breakfast foods, and mashes such as you see pictured here.

We also had delicious, but nutritious, treats as well as edible foraging treats designed to keep even the busiest beaks busy for hours!

Our toy line was designed with only the most natural and rugged parts with only stainless steel hardware to ensure your birds never came in contact with heavy metals that could cause metal toxicity.

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved


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Digestive Enzymes: The Beginning of Good Health

Filed under: F) Digestive Enzymes, Specialized Information — Leave a comment
November 3, 2011

Digestive enzymes are something your bird’s digestive tract naturally contains if your bird is basically healthy. Birds have a slightly acidic digestive tract, on the lower side of the Ph level, suitable for digesting plants, seeds, nuts and insects. The digestive tracts birds have don’t contain enough acid to breakdown meat thoroughly. For this reason I strongly discourage feeding meat of any kind to your companion bird, even if you cook it. Never, never, feed raw meat to your bird, doing so may introduce harmful bacteria into your bird’s digestive tract that its immune system cannot handle literally killing your bird! If you are concerned about the amount of “animal protein” your bird is consuming, please resort to utilizing insect protein only. This is the kind of “animal protein” your bird would most likely consume in the wild. (Be sure to purchase insects raised by reputable dealers who grow the insects on human  quality foodstuffs. Do not feed insects you find outside as they may be coated with insecticides.)

The natural digestive enzymes your bird produces are good enough to begin breaking down any foods your bird would naturally consume in the wild, similar to the foods you should be feeding to your bird. For instance, in addition to hydrochloric acid and pepsin, your bird’s digestive tract contains mucus. The mucus acts as a barrier against microorganisms to prevent infection.  The hydrochloric acid is a mild gastric acid with a low Ph that begins to break down even the toughest of seeds and nuts as well as fibrous grasses. Together, the hydrochloric acid and the mucus get (plant) proteins ready for the pepsin to do its job by denaturing the proteins. Once the (plant) proteins are denatured, the pepsin begins to do its work and further breaks down the (plant) proteins into a useable nutrient for the body system to absorb and metabolize.

How do we ensure that our bird maintains healthy digestive enzymes? It’s mainly in the diet we feed. Birds are meant to eat lots and lots of vegetation, seeds, and some amount of nuts if they are of the larger species. Without this constant influx of vegetation into their digestive tract their system will become sluggish and eventually they will most likely need some form of “good bacteria” re-introduced into their digestive tract in order to rebuild their digestive enzymes. Here again we have another reason why I am such an advocate for feeding whole-foods to our companion birds.  Whole foods already contain a myriad of natural enzymes, acids and all kinds phyto-chemicals a living creature needs to maintain a well-balanced digestive system.

When we rely on highly processed foods, such as ingredients that are finely ground and then re-mixed with other finely ground ingredients, then formed into shapes, dried or baked at moderate to high temperatures, the manufacturing process “pre-digests” the wholesome nutrients to the point where there is no real nutrition left in those “foods”. This is why you see so many added laboratory-produced “vitamins” added back into these processed foods, to help ensure that the “food” contains the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of each standardized nutrient the FDA has set for basic survival. Unfortunately, after all of these years of allowing laboratory-produced nutrients to be added back in to our nutrient-deficient highly-processed foods, scientists are still debating whether a living creature actually has the ability to absorb, metabolize and utilize the artificial vitamins and nutrients in the very same manner as Nature’s very own naturally-occurring nutrients found in whole foods!

I have heard people say they feed probiotics on a regular basis to their birds to ensure their bird has good digestive enzymes in their digestive tract. In my opinion this is not only unnecessary if a good, healthy diet, high in a variety of organic whole foods are being fed, but could actually be harming your bird’s own ability to manufacture its own digestive enzymes, primarily hydrochloric acid and pepsin.

But what do you do if your bird has been ill and its digestive enzymes have been depleted by illness and/or antibiotics? Again, some people feed probiotics to ensure their birds have adequate digestive tracts. I am strongly against using products that tout they are able to build your bird’s digestive enzymes. They normally contain preservatives, colorings or ingredients that are high in the amino acid L-Arginine, which, as I have discussed in earlier articles, can be potentially harmful to our companion birds.

First of all, like I have mentioned, be sure you are feeding a diet high in vegetation such as leafy greens, fruits and vegetables. But if your bird has been ill, and/or on antibiotics for any length of time, I recommend using something I don’t normally recommend because it is an “animal-based” product. But for the reason of re-building your bird’s digestive enzymes, I will recommend the product. And this product is “Goat’s Milk Yogurt”, preferably organically produced. Now the yogurt has to be specifically goat’s milk yogurt, not cow. The reason being is goat’s milk does not contain the same kind of lactose as cow’s milk. Neither does it contain the same kind of casein like cow’s milk. Instead it has very similar lactose to that of human lactose. And both human milk and goat’s milk lacks this large-curd indigestible casein all together. In addition, the fat globules are much smaller than those in cow’s milk, thus easier for their smaller digestive tracts to handle. The kind of lactose found in cow’s milk is too difficult to digest because of the complex proteins, and the casein it contains is a glue-like substance that our office glue is literally made from. It causes everything that is ingested to stick to the innards and slows down the absorption process overall. In other words, goat’s milk and the products made from it are relatively easy to digest for even the most delicate of digestive systems. So introducing the “good bacteria” through the goat’s milk yogurt to your bird is a fairly safe method. I recommend offering only a tiny amount, say about ½-1 teaspoon per 450-500 grams of body weight per day to see how your bird’s system is going to respond to it. This is acceptable for about two weeks to three weeks. And this little amount is so packed with “good bacteria” is should be enough to restore your bird’s digestive enzymes. After that time period discontinue for one or two weeks and see how your bird is doing. If it seems like your bird is still suffering digestive problems, or that your bird’s system is still slow to digest and eliminate, or not completely digesting its food, then place your bird back on the goat’s milk yogurt for another course of two to three weeks, then discontinue again and see how this works out. If this doesn’t work, it may be time to visit your avian veterinarian for medical help in rebuilding your bird’s digestive enzymes, or to test to see if other medical problems are involved. In fact, it would probably be a good idea to have your bird visit the veterinarian anyway to rule out any serious illness or disease if you notice that your bird isn’t digesting its food properly.

Digestive enzymes are one of the first levels of defense against illness and disease, plain and simple. If a living creature’s body cannot properly break down the food it is ingesting then the creature will not have the benefit of utilizing the food as its “homeopathic medicine”, because that’s one of the roles food plays in a living creature’s existence. Besides offering the building blocks to muscle, organ and skin tissue, as well as providing energy, yes, food really does offer healing capabilities. The body must be able to break the food down into microscopic particles, then further down into liquids so that the body can use the micro-nutrients to provide sustenance as well as healing properties to the entire body chemistry. Without the digestive enzymes, one of the very first parts of the digestion processes, all of this would not be possible.  And this is why it is so vitally important that we make absolutely sure we are feeding a diet high in natural, organic whole foods consisting of lots of vegetation, seeds, and if your bird is of a larger species, some amount of nuts.

I have a lot more to offer regarding “digestive enzymes” in my upcoming book regarding “avian nutrition”. Please be sure to stay tuned as I continue to provide updates regarding how my book project is coming along!

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

 

 

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Dietary Oils: A Multi-Part Series – Coconut Oil

Filed under: Coconut Oil, E) Dietary Fats/Oils — Leave a comment
October 17, 2011

Coconut Oil is a dense oil because it is a saturated oil. Although it is not a saturated oil in the sense it comes from an animal source, it is still considered saturated because of the kind of saturated “fat” the coconut oil contains, medium chain triglycerides. These are actually good triglycerides, they assimilate well by the body system, they don’t cause bad cholesterol (LDL) to form. These triglycerides contain Lauric, Capric, Caprylic, Myristic and Palmitic acids.

Without going into great detail, these acids help prevent a myriad of illnesses and disease. For instance, the Lauric acid may help in preventing candida albicans and fungal infections like ringworm, herpes, the measles, influenza, hepatitis C and HIV. Capric acid helps to balance insulin levels as in the case of diabetes (This is why we use coconut and coconut oil , in a limited amount, in our “Diabetic’s DeLight” Parrot Diet. Even though parrots that are diabetic need limited amounts of oil, they still need a quality oil that will aid in skin and feather health as well as balancing insulin.). Caprylic acid has been shown to be highly beneficial in treating salmonella, ringworm, candidiasis (yeast infections) and gastroenteritis.

The polyunsaturated oil in coconut oil is linoleic acid; it is an omega 6 essential fatty acid. It is responsible for healthy cell membranes, wound healing and healthy hair, or in the case of our parrots, healthy feathers.

The monounsaturated oil in coconut oil is oleic acid, and it is an omega 9 fatty acid. It is responsible for lowering total cholesterol levels, which includes triglycerides, further aiding in the balance of insulin in the case of diabetes, slows in the development of heart disease, aids in the production of antioxidants, and acts as a great moisturizer as well. This is very important omega in any oil and most oils don’t contain it, or contain it only in very limited quantity. Coconut oil contains it in abundance!

Coconut oil is about 92% saturated plant fat.

The omega ratio in coconut oil: 9=5.8; 6=1.8; 3=<1

The poly-phenol present in coconut oil is gallic acid.  Gallic acid acts as a antioxidant and helps to protect our cells against oxidative damage. It is a phytochemical that also helps in the treatment of diabetes as well as albuminuria. (Albuminuria is a pathological condition wherein albumin is present in the urine. It is a type of proteinuria.)

Coconut oil also contains vitamin E which is essential for healthy eyesight (protects against macular degeneration) and healthy skin, and vitamin K essential for proper blood coagulation, as well as necessary minerals especially iron, the non-heme type.

It is vitally important to understand that cold-pressed, organic virgin coconut oil is the only kind of coconut oil that provides all of these benefits because processing it in this manner protects all of the beneficial health properties of this magnificent oil. Many of the other ways of processing this oil, heat pressed, or by the use of chemical solvents, quickly downgrades the overall product and the benefits derived are lost due to the method of extraction. And beginning with an organic version of the oil is key to maintaining the beneficial properties because using a lower grade of coconut that has been sprayed with pesticides or grown with chemical fertilizers does nothing but weaken the overall health properties of the finished product.

Coconut oil is a “stable” oil, meaning it does not go rancid quickly like other less stable oils, especially oils that are saturated oils, like lard that are derived from animal sources. Because of this outstanding property coconut oil can usually be kept at room temperature for months on end, therefore the need for refrigeration is not necessary. In addition, coconut oil has a high heat burning point which makes it very good for cooking and frying. And because of its nutty flavor it offers a wonderful taste to most any food!

While moderate use of coconut oil can actually aid in the lowering of bad LDL cholesterol by increasing the good HDL cholesterol, it is important to understand that coconut oil, even though it is a very healthy oil, can be overused because it is a “saturated fat”. And though it is not an animal fat, and it is a wonderful oil for human use when used as a substitute for butter or in cooking, anything can be harmful if not used in moderation. For this reason I suggest you do not feed this oil to your parrot on a daily basis. This oil should be used with extreme caution and only at the advice and consultation of a parrot nutritionist for certain health issues in limited amounts.

However, if your parrot is a “plucker” or “skin mutilator”, exercising extreme caution and making sure to avoid the eyes completely, you can apply it topically to your parrot’s bare skin if your parrot is not a flighted parrot. Doing this will aid in healing of the mutilated skin as well as soothe the irritation.

For all practical purposes we have covered what I believe to be the most important oils in the diet of companion parrots. There are other less mainline oils that can be used in our parrots’ diets, and I’m sure we will discuss them at some point in time in our ongoing health and nutrition discussions.  I hope you have enjoyed our series about healthy oils for our parrots and how to use them in their diets! This concludes our series about the use of individual oils in our parrots’ diets.

*If at any time you begin to see black spots on your bird’s feathers, you may be feeding too much oil or fat to your bird, back off and consult your licensed avian veterinarian. You may need to have your bird’s blood lipid and lipoprotein panel checked and/or checked for fatty liver disease and/or place your bird on a liver detox regimen.(Or this may be a sign of “Iron Storage Disease”)

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

 


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Dietary Oils: A Multi-Part Series – Hemp Seed Oil

Filed under: E) Dietary Fats/Oils, Hemp Oil — 2 Comments
June 16, 2011

Cannabis Sativa

Hemp seed oil is a very important oil to include in our parrots healthy food regimen for so many reasons that will be mentioned here. It’s one of those great fatty acids that offer benefits that are so amazing one has to wonder if Nature had it all planned out from the very beginning! This oil would almost be Mother Nature’s miracle oil and prime defense against all kinds of disease! If you are not going to offer any other dietary oil or “fat” to your bird’s diet, this is the one oil I would recommend over any other oil because it contains Omegas 7, 9 and GLA besides the normal Omegas 3 and 6.

Hemp seed oil is categorized as a polyunsaturated fat and contains about 75% to 80% of this type of fat in the total content and only 9-11% of saturated fat. Hemp seed oil is practically a perfectly balanced oil in all of the main omega fatty acids, omega 3 (22%), omega 6 (55%) and GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) (1-4%) *SEE BELOW. Plus it contains a small amount of oleic and stearidonic (0-2%) acids. All three of the minor fatty acids, GLA which is metabolized from “linoleic”, the Omega 6 fatty acid, oleic and stearidonic acids, are polyunsaturated fats but are not essential fatty acids. Omega 3 and omega 6 are essential fatty acids because the living body cannot produce them; they have to be introduced into the living body through food sources.

Polyunsaturated fats stay liquid at room temperature as well as in the refrigerator. They go rancid, or spoil easily so it’s important they are kept in dark bottles and kept in the refrigerator after opening to keep them fresh.  But polyunsaturated fats are really good for us if we know how to utilize them. They are found in the plant kingdom and hemp oil comes from the hemp plant known as “cannabis sativa”. The best quality is grown organically and cold pressed so that all of the delicate nutrients are left unharmed through the process.

As mentioned above, hemp oil is the most perfectly balanced oil as far as the omega fatty acids are concerned. For this reason hemp oil can be consumed on a regular basis without worry of over-consuming and reaching a point where a “fast” from the product must be advised in order for the living body to self-regulate the amount of omegas in the body.

Let’s take a closer look at what each of the omega fats mentioned above do for the living body. As mentioned earlier, these are considered “essential” fatty acids because the body cannot produce these fatty acids itself, yet they are vital for normal body metabolism. In other words, these fatty acids must be introduced to the body by outside food sources.

Omega 3 fatty acids are made up of α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), all of which are polyunsaturated.

Omega 3 fatty acids have shown to stimulate blood circulation, reduce blood triglycerides and have shown some potential benefit in reducing problems associated with rheumatoid arthritis and cardiac arrhythmias. Some studies show that it helps in cases of depression.  Several studies report anti-cancer effects. Omega 3 fatty acid may reverse cardiovascular disease and it improves immune function. Research suggests that it delays or prevents psychotic disorders in high-risk children and adolescents. There have been many claims to the anti-inflammatory properties of omega 3’s.

Omega 6 fatty acids are primarily made up of linoleic acid which then, by biosynthesis a small amount of it transforms into GLA (gamma-linolenic acid or omega 9), then to DGLA, the main anti-inflammatory property of the omega fatty acids, then into arachidonic acid and finally to docosatetraenoic acid, both of the latter acids are important for the vital role they play in brain function.

Omega 6 fatty acids are important, but in moderation. This is why hemp oil is a good source of the omega fatty acids, because hemp oil is so perfectly balanced. Omega 6 has shown to be of benefit in cardiovascular health as well as an anti-carcinogen.  Omega 6 has shown to help with diabetic neuropathy, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, ADHD, eczema, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, and premenstrual syndrome. But overused like it is in our American diet, in so many high-processed foods, it has shown to actually increase cardiovascular risks and possible cancer cell overgrowth as well, that is when it does not contain  GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) as well, like it does in hemp oil.  However the Omega 6 in hemp seed oil is quickly converted to omega 9 by GLA , which “scrubs” out the “lousy” LDL cholesterol from the blood flowing through the arteries. Therefore this type of Omega 6 does not pose harm of over-saturation of blood lipids or lipo-proteins, therefore it actually reduces blood cholesterol rather than increasing it.

As mentioned above omega 9 is formed as a by-product of the omega 6  biosynthesis.  It is unlike omega-3 and omega-6 in that it is not an essential fatty acid because it can be formed by the body through the biosynthesis of omega 6. Therefore it is not necessary to find a food product to consume to artificially introduce it to the body as long as some other food source containing omega 6 is being consumed.

GLA, the precursor to omega 9, is probably more important than either omega 3 or 6 in that it is responsible for such important processes as neurological transmissions and brain cell growth as well as muscle tissue growth, re-growth and repair. This is another reason why hemp oil is so wonderful. Out of all of the other oils, hemp is the only oil which contains a significant amount of GLA.

Hemp oil has many benefits including reducing cholesterol thus preventing heart disease and stroke, promoting cell membrane fluidity, reduction in inflammation thus easing the effects of arthritis, tuberculosis and other inflammatory disease, and it helps to increase body metabolism and regulate blood pressure. Hemp oil also affects skin condition maintaining its softness and suppleness. This may affect feather growth and appearance as well keeping the feathers well oiled and groomed. And as a bird grooms its feathers even the beak will benefit from the oil that is transferred to the beak keeping it hydrated and shiny! Not to mention how the talons will benefit as well.

Hemp oil also provides an ample supply of carotene, phytosterols, and phospholipids, in addition to a large number of minerals including: calcium, sulfur, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.  It is also a good source of chlorophyll which is a wonderful antioxidant.

One concern about hemp oil that many people think about is the fact that hemp oil is derived from the cannabis plant, commonly associated with “marijuana”. There is no need to worry about receiving a “high” from hemp oil because this kind of hemp oil is made from the variety known as “cannabis sativa” and the very process of producing the oil eliminates the THC, the psychoactive element, while cleaning the plant before it is even pressed to release the oil.

The next time you wonder which oil is best to use for your bird on a daily basis, think no further than hemp oil. It is a polyunsaturated fat, it is perfectly balanced in omega fatty acids, and even though you do need to take some precautions to keep it from going rancid by storing it in your refrigerator, it will stay fresh longer than most other oils. But try to purchase the certified organic brand, that way you will be sure not only that your bird is receiving balanced omega fatty acids, but that nutrition is of the highest quality as well. If you are going to go the extra mile, why not go to the nth degree and buy only the best for your fine feathered friend? You will not be using very much on a daily basis anyway.

You can add it on top of their food. (Please DO NOT add this to their drinking water! It will only coagulate and cause a mess and if you don’t wash the water bowl out really, really well, it could go rancid.) And about how much will you be using? Just a drop for small Budgies once a day is more than enough. You can probably get away with giving only a drop every other day.For parakeets such as the Ringneck and similar size birds a drop or two daily will do. Moving on up to larger birds, say Conures, Pionus and the like, maybe 3 or 4 drops a day on top of their food. Then for African Greys, small Cockatoos (and even the small Macaws) and such, 5 drops to a 1/16th of a teaspoon a day. Larger Cockatoos you could give from 1/16th to 1/8th of a teaspoon a day depending on skin and feather quality. Then the large Macaws you can give 1/8th to ¼ teaspoon daily depending on skin and feather quality. Always pay close attention to the skin and feather condition. If all is looking good and their energy level is normal, meaning “active” and not over active or on the other end, lethargic, then you are probably feeding the right amount of oil. Feeding oils will give your bird an extra boost in energy so be on the lookout for that emotional effect. (If you have a bird that is abnormally lethargic, consult your licensed avian veterinarian, this is not normal.) See here for a better, more balanced, “added fat intake” regimen to follow that includes both hemp and flax seed oils.

*Because there was a bit of discussion regarding the use of hemp oil on a daily basis in a parrot’s diet following the posting of this article, I desired to perform further research into the matter. I was able to dig up more statistics from the company we obtained our certified organic hemp oil from when we were producing the parrot food you purchased from us. You will be happy to read these results because the omegas show an abnormally high amount of Omegas 3 and 9 with GLA to boot!    3=21%; 9=11%; 6=56% and 2-3% GLA with and extra Omega 7, palmitoleic acid coming in at .12%. Palmitoleic acid is good for such things as fat oxidation which helps in weight loss as well as lowering blood lipids and also reduces insulin resistance. Saturated fats come in at about 9.7%

*If at any time you begin to see black spots on your bird’s feathers, you may be feeding too much oil or fat to your bird, (Or this may be a sign of “Iron Storage Disease”) back off and consult your licensed avian veterinarian. You may need to have your bird’s blood lipid and lipoprotein panel checked and/or checked for fatty liver disease and/or place your bird on a liver detox regimen.

Sign up to our blog so you will be sure to receive more educational articles like this one! Just return to our home page at http://TheBestBirdFood.com and click on “Sign Me UP” in the upper right hand corner of the blog!

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.


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Dietary Oils: A Multi-Part Series – Palm Fruit Oil

Filed under: E) Dietary Fats/Oils, Palm Oil — Leave a comment
June 14, 2011

There are many kinds of oils our birds should have in their weekly diet.  And each of the oils we will be discussing has their own special and unique health benefit to add to a living body.

Let’s begin with the more commonly known oil to the parrot community, palm oil or palm fruit oil. This oil is orange to orange/red in color and is derived from the fruit of the palm fruit, not the kernel. It is dense, rich in carotenoids, the stuff that gives it rich color. Palm fruit oil contains about equal parts of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The unsaturated fatty acid is about 38% oleic acid and 11% linoleic acid. Therefore palm oil cannot be “technically” classified purely a “saturated” oil or purely as an “unsaturated” oil because it is equally both. The fatty acid derived from palm fruit oil is commonly known as Palmitic acid.

Palmitic acid, however, is generally classified as a major saturated fatty acid because of its density and the rich flavor it has. But it gives very little affect to any rise in blood level lipids and lipoproteins. It fails to impact plasma lipids when total fat intake is within recommended levels. This is a very important factor to remember because so many people are fearful in feeding oils to their birds for the very reason of raising the “fat content” in their bird’s diet, thus causing a high cholesterol blood panel. This is virtually an untrue effect when feeding palm oil to your feathered friend if you are feeding oils in moderation. Even if you are feeding a little more than what is considered “moderate” it is difficult to overuse, read on and you’ll learn why. Pay close attention to how these fatty acids interact with blood, arteries and cholesterol .

Fatty acids are responsible for moving oxygen through the body. They also aid in cell membrane development, and they are necessary for strong organs. Fatty acids rebuild tissue keeping the skin healthy, hydrated and supple. One of the main functions of fatty acids is to actually rid the arteries of cholesterol build up. They also assist the adrenal and thyroid glands regulating weight.

Oleic acid is an odorless and colorless monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid and is responsible for protecting the brain and adrenal glands as well as regulating blood pressure.

Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid necessary for proper skin and feather health.

In addition, because of the carotenoids, palm fruit oil is a rich source of natural vitamin A. So many birds are deficient in this vitamin and are in need of supplementation. But I am a strong supporter of natural supplements, not laboratory-produced, synthetic vitamins that are found in highly processed diets. There is still no concrete proof that organic living creatures can appropriately digest, absorb and fully metabolize laboratory produced, synthetic vitamins. It’s always best to use what Nature supplies as the organic means of basic nutrition. And Nature has provided a wide array of natural nutrients, why not use them? –Vitamin A is an antioxidant and it is responsible for good skin, proper feather growth and replacement, bone health, eyesight, a healthy respiratory system, healthy, moist mucous membranes, and it may affect overall energy as well as support the thyroid and assist with diabetes related problems.

Palm fruit oil also contains Vitamin E and is an antioxidant responsible for skin health especially body tissue and blood cell growth and repair. It also helps to defend the immune system. Palm fruit oil contains both the tocopherols and the tocotrienols by virtue of the presence of Vitamin E. Palm fruit oil is one of the richest natural sources of tocotrienols.

Tocopherols contain anti-inflammatory properties, thus help the skin heal faster when bruised or wounded. One of the side benefits of tocopherols are their antioxidant properties as a natural spoilage retardant. This is good to know because you can be sure that your palm fruit oil, although you will need to refrigerate it once opened, will have a long and lasting shelf life in your refrigerator.

Tocotrienols help prevent brain cell damage, prevent cancer, and reduce cholesterol, thus improving cardiovascular health. These functions are not performed by tocopherols, so it’s easy to see why Nature placed both tocopherols and tocotrienols side-by-side in the same food, palm fruit, together they work miracles!

It is easy to see why palm fruit oil is so good for our birds. This should be a staple item in our bird’s health program, fed in moderation along with other oils we will soon be discussing on The BEST Bird Food blog. It’s absolutely imperative to know how to keep our birds healthy and vibrant! Palm fruit oil is only very small part of that plan. Palm fruit oil, when you can find a good, reliable source, can help resolve many problems you may be experiencing with your bird from dry skin, to feather problems, to mood disorders, to respiratory problems and even offer a fair amount of cardiovascular health benefits. It’s worth a try. Alone palm fruit oil may not solve all of your bird’s problems completely; however it may start eliminating some of the problems. But don’t expect miracles overnight; give a month or even three or four before you begin to see a real change.

Start out with just anywhere from just a pinch on the end of toothpick once a week for the very small Budgie, to a 32nd of a teaspoon for a Ringneck size bird once a week, to a 16th of teaspoon for a small Cockatoo size parrot, or similar size, once  a week, to an 8th of a teaspoon for the larger parrots once a week if you aren’t feeding any other oils. If you are feeding other oils, cut it back by just a couple times a month.

Some people will say that’s not enough, others will say it’s too much. Everyone has their preferences. I personally believe that these wonderful creatures need more oil in their lives than generally believed. Out in the wild they would naturally forage for items containing these oils to keep their skin and feathers well-oiled and also to give them the amount of energy their high metabolism calls for, which brings me to another very important point.

Do your birds receive the amount of exercise they need? This is a vital and necessary part of their daily lives.  Just like a small child who begins to go “stir crazy” if they stay in the house all day and doesn’t receive a chance to run off their energy, our birds are the very same way. If they don’t get a chance to get out of their cages and exercise, play and flap their wings they are going to go “cage crazy” and begin to give you behavioral problems.  If you are beginning to have “behavioral problems” with your bird, think about the amount of time you allow your bird out of its cage to play and interact with you, its favorite playmate!

*If at any time you begin to see black spots on your bird’s feathers, you may be feeding too much oil or fat to your bird, back off  and consult your licensed avian veterinarian. You may need to have your bird’s blood lipid / lipoprotein panel checked and/or checked for fatty liver disease and/or place your bird on a liver detox regimen.(Or this may this may be a sign of “Iron Storage Disease”)

Sign up to our blog so you will be sure to receive more educational articles like this one! Just return to our home page at http://TheBestBirdFood.com and click on “Sign Me UP” in the upper right hand corner of the blog!

Be sure to visit our “forum” on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parrots-The-BEST-Bird-Food/169623509768097

Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

 


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Organic VS Conventional

Filed under: C) Organic VS Conventional — Leave a comment
February 23, 2011

What does this mean?

I find in speaking with individuals abut organic foods that most people just don’t really understand the difference between truly organically produced foods and conventionally produced foods, and that’s why people don’t think it’s all that important to buy organic foods. Once a person really understands the difference, they almost always choose organically produced foods.

No doubt, I am a strong advocate of organically produced foods. But I’m not a strong advocate of the “Certified Organic” label. Once again, with the label, bureaucracy is attempting to sneak its way back into our lives and in doing so the prices of our luscious and pure foods are climbing sky high. If you will go the distance and shop your local farmers markets, most of the time you can find fruits and vegetables that have been grown organically. They may not have gone under the rigorous tests that allow them to be legally labeled “Certified Organic”, but they are organic just the same if they have been grown without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Knowing the farmer and his or her product requires developing a long and lasting relationship, and possibly getting to know their other customers as well, but its well worth your time and effort.

Just what is the difference between organically and conventionally grown products? That’s what we will be attempting to explore and answer in this particular article.

Organically grown is a term we would have never run across years ago. Not long ago, the majority of us would be consuming fruits and vegetable without even giving a thought to the chemical fertilizers to make our foods grow larger than life and prevent our foods from being taken over by insects. In fact, all of us thought those two things were a pretty innovative idea! Wow, we could have fresh fruits and vegetables year round without the worry of spoilage or infestations of pests! What a new and wonderful idea. And this meant that prices would be lower across the board for all of our produce as well. The American people literally ate this idea up with enthusiasm. Again, “organically grown” was a term that virtually didn’t exist among the savvy and hip American middle class even fifty years ago.

Today, “organically grown” is developing a new standard by which most people who are concerned about the amount of possible carcinogens we are exposed to each and every day of our lives desire to live by. Those of us who are truly concerned about the amount of possible carcinogens that goes into our bodies, through various delivery methods, foods, the air we breathe, the water we drink and bathe in, the creams and lotions we apply to our skin, the medical procedures our bodies undergo, and more, want some amount of control, and we are controlling those methods first beginning with the food we eat, the first line of defense against aging and disease.

100% Organic – “Organically grown” means that a product, or the base product, such as corn, wheat, rice, etc., in a boxed product, was grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides used on it, and that the ground it was grown in has to be free of chemicals for a period of at least 7 years. This product may use the USDA Certified Organic seal after meeting all of the legal requirements and filling out all of the tedious applications and passing all of the tests, and paying all of the applicable fees.

Organic – This product only has to have 95% organically produced ingredients in the total package. But it must meet the same requirements as the 100% organic foods. “Organically grown” means that a product, or the base product, such as corn, wheat, rice, etc., in a boxed product, was grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides used on it, and that the ground it was grown in has to be free of chemicals for a period of at least 7 years. This product may use the USDA Certified Organic seal after meeting all of the legal requirements and filling out all of the tedious applications and passing all of the tests, and paying all of the applicable fees.

Made With Organic Ingredients – This product must contain at least 70% organically produced ingredients and may contain up to 30% non-organic ingredients.  The USDA seal may not be used, but the package may be marked as “Made with Organic Ingredients”. **When we were producing our bird foods, this is the label we used. However, that being said, over 95%, close to 100% of our ingredients were actually certified organic. But because we didn’t have our foods tested, because of the high cost and bureaucracy involved, we could not label our foods “Certified Organic” or “Organic”. But we were using ingredients that were labeled as such and actually came to us with the certification labels. This is where the bureaucratic water gets really, really murky. It’s like double certification, and those costs get passed down to the consumer. We didn’t think that was fair, so we didn’t go to the expense of having our bird foods “double-certified” so we decided to go with the “Made with Organic Ingredients” label and then educate our customers that our foods contained over 95% certified organic ingredients.

“Transitional organically grown” means that a product or the base product in a boxed product has to be grown in ground that was free of chemicals for a period of at least 3 years.  The USDA is no longer allowing this label to be used.

(Short Article by the USDA on Organic Labeling)

However, keeping all of this in mind, rules and regulations are more lax when it comes to manufacturing pets foods. The general premises are still held for “certified organic” and “organic”, but the enforcement of these rules and regulations are very lax. There are organizations a pet food manufacturer can choose to become a member of, but moreover it is not required, it’s more of a volunteer situation. Unless a pet food manufacturer is a huge corporation with sales that span the entire country and even International sales, many small pet food manufacturers just don’t see it as absolutely necessary to become accountable to yet another bureaucratic agency if they feel they are reliable and accountable in, of and unto themselves.

The (loosely) governing agencies for pet foods are FDA (Federal Food and Drug Administration), USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), FTC (Federal Trade Commission), AAFCO (Association Of American Feed Control Officials, Inc.), APPA (American Pet Products Association), AFIA (American Feed Industry Association-doesn’t really regulate pet foods, but represents the business, legislative and regulatory interests of the U.S. animal feed industry and its suppliers). In addition, each State has its own controls and regulations.

Conventionally produced fruits and vegetables are a no-holds barred pesticide-ridden, grown big and fast with chemical fertilizer, made to look shiny and tempting-to-eat colorful pieces of wax-coated dinner table center-pieces. In reality, when we take a bite into one of these tempting faux pieces of produce, we are left disappointed in a tasteless state of delusion. And the reasons behind this are the…chemical fertilizers and the pesticides that have seeped into the meat of the product. Chemicals, in my opinion, leach out and cover up the real taste of the individual piece of produce.

When a person compares the sheer difference in taste between the organically grown pieces of produce to a conventionally grown piece, the burst of flavor you get with the organically grown is the obvious difference experienced. A conventional piece of produce may look better, but only because of the potential carcinogenic chemical fertilizers and pesticides and waxy substance to make it shine and keep the pests away. But take one bite and you will know the difference. There is no comparison in taste. And the thought of eating a piece of produce free of potential carcinogens gives you peace of mind too. That in itself is enough reason to eat nothing but organic produce.

There is much controversy about just how much nutrition chemical fertilizers and pesticides actually strip out of the produce too. While chemical companies will tell you that using chemical fertilizers add to the nutrition of the produce, scientists are still at odds about this. And even if the chemical fertilizers do add to the nutrition of the produce, how much of the “chemical” nutrition does a living body actually absorb? How much of a chemical nutritive is bio-available to a living body?

So just how does this affect a parrot? Birds have a much more delicate system than humans do. And you will see how the conventionally grown produce affects their systems faster than you will see how it affects humans. You will see it in feather health, skin health, allergies, and behavior problems. Does your bird scratch a lot? Does it pull its feathers out? Does it mutilate its skin? Does it scream incessantly? Or, is it apathetic? All of these symptoms could be the result of chemicals in the food you are feeding.

And don’t think just because you are feeding a food that says it is “certified organic” that you are doing the right thing for your bird. There’s even more to this story.

All of the base ingredients of the food you are feeding could very well be certified organic, but if during the processing of the food the manufacturer is adding other ingredients, such as preservatives or laboratory-produced synthetic vitamins or food colorings, then you might be right back to the same problem you thought you were getting away from by feeding a food that is labeled certified organic in the first place. And it is perfectly legal for a manufacturer to add these ingredients to their products and the product still be “certified organic” because organic only covers the way a product is grown, whether it is grown with or without chemical fertilizers and/or pesticides, not what is added to the product during the manufacturing process.

When a manufacturer processes their foods so highly that the base ingredients are nothing more than a “mash”, and then they have to highly pressurize the mash so that it sticks together, this literally removes almost all of the real nutrition out of the food. In order to get nutrition back into the food the manufacturer has to add laboratory-produced vitamins back into the food. In addition, usually chemical preservatives are added to the food as well.

We all know how chemical preservatives can harm us as humans. We have read about them, we have heard about them. And MSG is found in virtually everything we eat, even maltodextrin. Maltodextrin is commonly used as filler and a “binder”, something to “glue” other substances together. So even if a brand name manufacturer says, “We don’t add MSG to our foods”, that may well be true, that they don’t actually add MSG to their foods because it is already in the maltodextrin their “outsourcing manufacturer” has in their stock products. In other words, the MSG has been added to the maltodextrin by the manufacturer of the maltodextrin before the “outsourcing manufacturer” of the bird food has received the MSG so the brand name manufacturer of your bird’s food is perfectly legal in saying that they don’t add MSG to their bird food! Do you see the slippery lie? And yes, the FDA allows any brand name manufacturer of any product to get away with this lie! And there are a number of preservatives that is used in foods today, under many names that you would never think of as being a “preservative”.  “Natural flavorings” is just one ingredient that carries with it the connotation that MSG is probably present in the food.

(Link to list of commonly used names of preservatives hidden in food.)

So between the chemical preservatives and the laboratory-produced vitamins, you are right back to where you started in feeding “certified organic” bird food to your bird when you are feeding highly processed foods. This is why I am a hard and fast advocate of whole-food nutrition for parrots and other companion birds. If at all possible I believe foods should be cut in larger chunks and fed in pieces that are as recognizable as the food they are whenever possible. Obviously this is not always possible, but when it is, this is the best method to use.

Digestive tracts are meant to be used. When they are used, digestive enzymes are stimulated and the entire digestive system is put at work the way it was meant to be used. When whole foods are fed, natural vitamins are available in a bio-available means and no artificial vitamins need to be fed in most cases if a bird is a normally healthy bird. The key to feeding a whole-food diet is variety. A person has to do a considerable amount of research to understand what nutrients are contained in each independent food and which foods to feed to make sure a wide variety of nutrients are being received by your bird. A person also needs to have a general understanding of “food combination” and how one food plays with and against another in the gut. As with all foods, you may think that you are feeding enough of one food to supply one vitamin or mineral, only to find out that by feeding another you are canceling out a portion of another so you are left needing to feeding even more of the one you are canceling out. Nutrition can be a tricky game so you really need to understand what you are doing if you are feeding only a small number of ingredients. But if you are feeding a large number of ingredients, then the likelihood of malnutrition declines with each additional ingredient, or food, you add to your bird’s diet. So “the more the merrier” is the statement to live by in the case of feeding a whole-food diet to your bird! And always attempting to feed organic

Sign up to our blog so you will be sure to receive more educational articles like this one! Just return to our home page at http://TheBestBirdFood.com and click on “Sign Me UP” in the upper right hand corner of the blog!

Be sure to visit our “forum” on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parrots-The-BEST-Bird-Food/169623509768097

Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

 


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Whole Food Nutrition VS Processed Foods

Filed under: B) Whole Food Nutrition VS Processed Foods — Leave a comment
February 2, 2011

We often hear from various sources that we should be eating whole, fresh foods, not highly processed foods. Do we really know what that means? Do we know the difference between whole foods and processed foods?

Ask our children where meat comes from and many of them will answer, “The grocery store”. I find this comically sad. Our children think meat comes in a cellophane wrapped package. They never give any thought about the animal that gave its life for us to have that delicious, juicy hamburger or thick slab of steak. It couldn’t be farther from our childrens’ minds that meat actually comes from a real, living creature.

Then how about those vegetables? Offer your child a bright green or red vegetable and they may very well look at you like you have two heads! If you don’t offer vegetables covered up and disguised in a heavy sauce or blended beyond recognition, then your family will not even think about scooping them into their mouths.

But offer your family something that is easily prepared, right out of the box; they immediately think “Food, yummy, it’s time to eat!”  And soon they are scarfing down something that has a little amount of color, texture that mimics meat, gooey-like cheese, and fillers that make them feel full. Often, when you read the ingredients, just a couple of ingredients down the list you don’t even recognize the words. And even after the first couple of ingredients, you are left wondering just how healthy those ingredients really are.

All of this is no less true for our parrots’ food.

Parrots don’t eat highly processed foods in the Wild. Nature has supplied a vast array of healthy whole food options from which to choose from.  Just think about it, grasses, berries, seeds, nuts, bugs, dirt, tree leaves, bark, bushes, the variety of foods is almost endless. And it should be nothing less in their captive environment.

Their digestive systems were not structured to consume, absorb and utilize laboratory developed, machine-ground, hydraulic-pressed, oven-heated “foodstuffs” and synthetic vitamins. And considering that parrots are not yet considered to be truly domesticated animals by any traditional standards, then we really need to take into consideration what their delicate biological systems need not only to survive, but to enthusiastically thrive in their relatively new environments. Yes, even those parrots that have been born in captivity, they still have the instincts of the Wild in their basic DNA because they are not that far removed from their ancestor’s generation of living as totally wild and free creatures. This transition from their ancestors living in the Wild, to the neo-pet parrot, needs to make a slow conversion in order to maintain health and vitality. This needs to be done, first and foremost through a healthy, whole food, organic diet.  We cannot expect a wild creature to be plunked into our lifestyle, where we, as humans, have had years and years to adapt to an existence of consuming highly processed, cardboard-like foodstuffs, and expect these wild creatures to thrive on the same type of a poor excuse of what we lamely call “food”.

It’s plain and simple, a fresh, whole food, organic diet is best for our companion parrot. Finely ground and highly processed ingredients, pressed together, often under high heat (but not always), especially when the majority of ingredients used are questionable, with laboratory-produced synthetic vitamins added to make up the difference for the lack of real nutrition, just don’t offer the nutritional value our companion parrots deserve.

Let’s take a look at how highly processed foodstuffs are manufactured. Most of the time when you purchase your bird’s food from your brand name company, you are not purchasing from the actual manufacturer. Your brand name company contracts with a mass manufacturer to produce the food for them. And that’s okay as long as the mass manufacturer is a reliable one. But so often the reason an outside mass manufacturer is chosen is because the mass manufacturer produces food for many, many other companies, not just your brand name company. The reason behind this is because it’s economical for your brand name company, because the same ingredients are used in all of the brands that are being produced at that particular mass manufacturing plant. In other words, the mass manufacturer is using the same finely ground (any product finely ground will allow for the nutrition to begin the leaching out of the nutrients, and for an ingredient that is already questionable in the amount of nutrients it has to offer, this is a grave concern) corn, rice, wheat, soy, hulled seeds (leaving the raw seed exposed allowing for the leaching out of delicate nutrition), and all of the other ingredients, as well as all of the same laboratory-produced synthetic vitamins for all of their customers. These ingredients are then mixed together and then pressed under intense pressure, and often under high heat (although not all companies use heat, but they still use high pressure), destroying much of the nutrition that is left after all of the processing that has already taken place. Artificial nutrition is then added back in by a spray coating as the kibble comes down the conveyor belt before it is finally packaged for sale.  The only thing different about your brand name company’s recipe and all of the other brand names produced at this mass manufacturer’s production plant is your brand’s recipe’s “order of ingredients”, or the “amount of each ingredient” going in to the formula and whether your brand name is using “organic” ingredients or “conventional” ingredients”, and your brand’s name. However, you must note, if both organic and conventional brands are produced at the same plant, there is no guarantee that some amount of conventional ingredients aren’t making their way into the organic formulas unless they have totally separate facilities for each.

So here you have the same level of quality of ingredients used for all of the brands across the board. The only difference is the slight difference in recipe your brand name is using and whether it is “organic” or “conventional”.  In addition, almost all of the major brands are using “fillers” as their major base ingredient. This is the ingredient you will find listed as the first ingredient in your parrot’s food. The “filler” is known as the ingredient used to “bulk up” the product in an economical and cheap way to increase the volume of the product.  It is not normally the ingredient that gives any real nutrition to the product. It is there to “make the profit” for the company.  The caveat to my statement would be this, if you find a food that lists its base ingredient as one of the “super green foods”, such as alfalfa, barley grass or wheat grass, go with that brand, and then you know you have a company who most likely believes in providing super nutrition through and through in their product.

Law requires that a company lists ingredients in the order of predominance by weight in the product. If there are two ingredients that are contained in the product in the exact same weight, they are listed in alphabetical order. For example, if corn is the main ingredient, it will be listed first. If wheat is the second heaviest ingredient, it will be listed second, and so on and so forth. For further example, in a pound of food, maybe there are 9 ounces of highly ground corn and 5 ounces of highly ground wheat, which would leave 2 ounces for other ingredients, for a total of 16 ounces, which may include highly ground seeds, nuts, herbs and last, laboratory-produced synthetic vitamins. Corn would be listed as the first ingredient and wheat would be listed as the second ingredient, so on and so forth. But you can quickly see that most of the “nutrition” is found in the synthetic vitamins in this particular formulation.

But what about whole food nutrition, what does it have to offer over highly processed foods? And just where does “highly processed” end and “whole-food” begin? How do we differentiate?

We know whole food by the way it looks. When we look at a piece of fruit, we can name it because it looks like a “pear” or “carrots” or some other kind of fruit or vegetable.  Its original state-of-being has been basically untouched. But whole food doesn’t have to be totally “whole” to be considered whole. It can be slightly cut up and still be considered whole. We just can’t grind it beyond recognition, powder it and mash it, then mix it with preservatives, dry it out, re-shape it and place it in a box and still call it whole food. No, it doesn’t work that way. As long as you keep it basically recognizable, then you are still consuming whole food.

You can even dehydrate your fresh food and it is still considered whole food, just dehydrated. Dehydrated food was one of the first methods used to preserve food, and the safest way too. Dehydration is still used today and it actually maintains almost all of the original nutrition, even the natural enzymes and amino acids are maintained. In some cases dehydration actually increases the concentration of nutrition simply because it removes the moisture content.

Fresh, whole food contains its own enzymes that combine with a living creature’s enzymes. Highly processed foods don’t contain living enzymes, they are basically “dead” matter. Also, whole foods contain naturally occurring amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks to proteins. However, if the amino acids in your highly processed foods aren’t “naturally occurring”, in other words, if they are chemically introduced, or altered in any way, then they are considered “un-natural”.  Many times amino acids are chemically altered into preservatives such as MSG or other kinds of preservatives.* For instance, let’s take two very important amino acids that must be included in a diet in order for a complete protein to be present, Arginine and Lysine. If the natural forms of these amino acids are present in a formulated food they would simply be listed as “Arginine” and “Lysine”. But if they are interjected in the food as their chemical alternatives they would be listed as “L-Arginine” and “L-Lysine”. In fact, if they occurred naturally in a food they wouldn’t be required to be listed at all. Why? Because the actual whole food would be listed instead! Not a chemical that was replacing the food.

All living creatures have digestive enzymes for a reason; they help to begin the digestive process. These enzymes, very basically, wake up the entire biological system when food enters the mouth. This is true for parrots as well. But think about it, if the “food” that enters our parrots’ mouth is already “pre-eaten”, or “processed”, then not much waking up has to be done. In other words, the body doesn’t have to work as intensely as it should.  As a result, the entire physiological system becomes sluggish and in its own way, gradually begins to shut down. This is the slow onset of disease.

With whole-food nutrition, when food enters the mouth, the digestive enzymes come alive! Immediately the physiological body recognizes this fresh, whole food as something that needs to be “attacked” and broken down for the body to digest and consume and process into something the body can utilize for energy. In other words, the work isn’t already done, so the body realizes it has to do the work. Immediately the body goes to work and exercises its innate ability to do what it was designed to do, make energy out of raw materials. Every cell in the body is activated to do what it was designed to do, receive the nutrition from the food source introduced into the “gas tank”.  The motor starts humming and every organ begins grinding and churning; the “food” doesn’t just pass through the system like it would if it were already pre-digested as in the case of highly processed food, the body actually has to do what it was designed to do, function. If whole foods are being fed there is no need for pre-biotics or pro-biotics unless a bird has been on an antibiotic which may have wiped out natural digestive enzymes and good digestive bacteria.

When we look at the difference between highly processed foods and whole foods in such a basic way, it really becomes easy to distinguish the best way to feed our parrots, as well as ourselves. A living creature is physiologically designed to operate, and function with vitality, on raw materials such as whole foods. Living creatures need the ongoing stimulation that comes with the progression that takes place in the natural digestive process in order to activate their living cells and organs so that the natural exercising of the body’s functions takes place, and normal, healthy well-being ensues.

*For your information, I have placed a link to an outside source regarding amino acids used as preservatives, primarily as MSG: http://www.msgtruth.org/ AND  http://www.msgtruth.org/avoid.htm

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

 


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Parrot Nutrition 101

Filed under: Aa) Parrot Nutrition 101 — 2 Comments
January 25, 2011

It would only make sense to begin with the basics of parrot nutrition as it applies to all parrots.

Any of us who have parrots in our lives already know that parrots who live in the Wild, the great outdoors from where they came consume all sorts of natural foodstuffs that we, as humans, would probably find sickening to our palate.

In the course of a normal day we might find any one of a number of species of parrots foraging through trees for nuts, bushes for seeds and flowers, the ground for bugs, worms and even dirt and all other places we are not aware of for many other types of foods that we wouldn’t even think of.

The research is still out on just how all of these foodstuffs, and the nutrients they contain, work within the specialized digestive system of each species to keep them buzzing in a healthy way. But they do. Somehow, in the Wild, these birds of the air remain strong and vibrant. By keeping their species so strong they multiply and reproduce to keep their species alive for us to look in awe and wonder with pure enjoyment.

But we have brought them inside our domain. We have taken them out of their environment. We are attempting to domesticate them. My discussion is not whether our attempt is “right” or “wrong”, my discussion is simply “how” to care for them now that we “have” taken them out of their natural environments.

It only makes sense that we begin with the basic of all basics, nutrition. It is health, after all, that is the sustenance, the life force, for all of us, which keep our hearts beating, and all of our organs functioning properly.

There is no way we can even begin to think we can imitate what any parrot would consume on any given day in their natural environment. It would be folly to think we could. But it is my belief that we can do so much better than to throw only highly processed foods in front of them each and every day, without adding fresh, whole foods, and think they can survive, let alone thrive.

Take a look at our own diets, for example. We constantly hear on the news, read in magazines, in doctor’s journals, hear from our own doctors, and many other highly respected sources that we, as a society need to get away from eating highly processed foods. Yet, we continue to eat them, why? Because consuming highly processed foods are easy. Not because they are good for us. We know processed foods aren’t good for us. We know it. Yet we continue to stuff them into our faces because we can. No one stops us. It’s our right! We have the right to kill ourselves if we want to! Yes, KILL ourselves with all of the mashed up, ground up, GMO-laden, preservative-kept, pesticide-hidden, nutritive-lacking, cardboard-tasting, nothingness. And we have taught our taste buds to actually accept and grow to “like” this stuff; that’s the satirical humor about all of this craziness. We have actually learned to like this empty nutrition!

Now we are teaching our pets to learn to like the same kind of processed foods that we have learned to like. Why? Because it is easy for us.

As pet caregivers, we have to stop and think about this cycle for a moment. We have to learn to respect the living body, not only ours, but we have to learn to respect our pets’ bodies as well. If we truly love our pets as much as we say we do, then it will show in how we treat them and how we care for them. It will show in their overall health and vitality.  Anyone who comes into our house will be able to look at our pets and know just how much we love our pets simply by looking at them. If we truly love our pets their environment will be clean and well kept. This includes their cage and all of their perches, water bowls and toys. Their food will be fresh and clean as well. The word “nutrition” doesn’t only mean “what kind of food one is fed” in my book. “Nutrition” is the overall care one gives to the daily life of our pet. It also involves making sure that our pet receives daily attention and play time activity. Think about it, even you need these things in your life in order to thrive, not just survive.  So how much more will our pets need these things, as well as our attention, in order to thrive and have a life full of joy and vitality? After all, they depend on us for everything.

But back to the kind of food a parrot needs to properly activate its digestive system and thrive. In the wild your parrot would be eating fresh foods, not highly processed, cardboard-looking, preservative and pesticide-laden, mashed together powders. These alien-looking things just aren’t found in the Wild. Instinctively, parrots would naturally go straight for leaves, fruits, nuts, seeds, bark, bugs, worms, dirt, flowers, berries, and the like. All of these natural, whole foods contain all of the nutrients such as the vitamins, amino acids, as well as the “good fats”, and all of the macro and micro nutrients they need to thrive with abundant vitality. Parrots also instinctively know what they need to heal themselves if they become ill. In the Wild there are many natural items that heal. Barks, flowers, dirt, and many other items contain substances that naturally heal without the use of  laboratory-developed pharmaceuticals.

So how do we begin to mimic this kind of diet in our homes?  Many of us don’t have the time to prepare fresh food each and every day for our parrots. We are living in fantasy-land if we think we can. If we can’t even do this for ourselves, how do we think we can do this for our parrots? We can’t. So we have to begin with a base commercial diet. No, I’m not going to promote anyone’s brand here.  That is not my objective. I will, however, give you my opinion on what to look for when you are attempting to choose a brand for your parrot’s base diet. Good luck in finding what I will be suggesting because I will be telling you what “not” to buy, more than I will be telling you what “to” buy.

By law, manufacturers must list the ingredients in the order of the quantity of which they are placed by volume or by weight in the product. That is the first thing you must remember when you are purchasing your parrot’s food. That being said, do not buy any food that lists these ingredients first: corn, rice, wheat or gluten, or soy. These are empty nutrients, but can wreak huge amounts of damage and harm. And remember, because manufacturers must list ingredients in the order of the volume they are contained in the product, if any of these ingredients are listed first, and because these ingredients are basically “empty” in nutrition, then you will have to feed a lot of food in order for your bird to receive any nutritional value out of each serving. This can, and probably will result in a bird who suffers obesity but is malnourished overall.

Say what? How can a parrot suffer malnutrition, but still be obese? Simple, think about it. If a living creature senses it has to eat and eat and eat in order to support its required nutritional values, it will end up taking in more calories than it can realistically utilize in a given day of activity. And, yet, even though this creature consumes large amounts of this empty-nutritional food source, it can be overweight still lacking in overall nutrition, because…the food doesn’t contain the proper kind of nutrition. This is the same thing us humans suffer from eating highly processed foods that are heavy-laden with corn, wheat and soy fillers. Fillers. Yes, these ingredients are nothing but cheap fillers manufacturers use to “bulk” up their products to make money off of you, their indebted customer. And if you think about it, you have to actually buy more of the product in question in order to actually get that “satisfied” feeling, especially if it is labeled and sold as a “low fat” product. The food manufacturing industry is “gaming” us, and we haven’t even caught on to their trick, yet. We would be much further ahead to purchase high quality products, eat less of those products, because we would feel satisfied quicker, because we would be receiving the REAL nutrition our bodies need, good, high quality nutrition, and then we would not be buying low-quality, highly-processed products that are making us the obese Nation we have come to be. Anyway…

Let me go into further detail about each ingredient I listed above.

First, let’s look at corn. Corn is a sugary vegetable, or some actually categorize it as a grain. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to digest. Although manufacturers will tout that it’s high in vitamin A, there are other food sources that are much more reliable in the actual bioavailability of vitamin A that don’t break down into sugar once in the digestive tract. The “sugar” that corn breaks down into can wreak all kinds of havoc once in the system, one problem being yeast infections. And this, as many parrot owners know, is one of the main “bad guys” our parrots fight on a regular basis. Sugar also can lead to obesity as well as fatty liver disease. So if corn can’t be digested, and the only thing our parrots really get out of it is sugar, what is it doing as the main ingredient in our parrots’ diets? It just doesn’t belong there.

Rice is much the same as corn except that it is in the category of grains. Other than that, it breaks down virtually the same way as corn, it turns into sugar in the digestive tract.

Second, let’s take a look at wheat. Once touted for its high protein content, we now know that it also contains gluten.  Gluten is bad for a couple of reasons. First of all it is a highly indigestible protein. It’s what makes most humans grow that mid-section “gut”. It is responsible for Celiac’s Disease. It gets into the gut, and like sludge, it just sits and sits there while waiting on the stomach acids to slowly digest it. But we know that parrots don’t have a high acid content in their digestive tract to digest proteins like gluten. In addition to being an indigestible protein, gluten causes many people to have allergic reactions to wheat, again, this is because of the indigestibility of wheat proteins, it attacks the mast cells in a living creature’s body and activates the histamine receptors.

Third,let’s look at soy, or soy protein, as the base ingredient in our parrots’ food. I just have to take a big, long sigh at the thought of this ingredient and how it has been promoted over the last decade. It’s just not the cure all that we have been sold on. Yes, we are told that soy is high in protein and that it is easily digestible, but this is not true. First of all, in order to obtain any real nutrition from soy it must be cooked at high temperatures to break down the trypsin inhibitors in order for the protein to be made available as real nutrition. In addition, because the trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion it is suspected this may cause pancreatic disorders leading to diabetes. The plant estrogens found in soy can disrupt overall endocrine function. Furthermore, what the manufacturers don’t tell us is that it is also a phyto-hormone that can disrupt your parrot’s delicate hormonal balance.  Also, it is suspected that hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer may be caused by soy phyto-estrogens. Finally, soy can inhibit the assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc.  In my own and personal opinion, soy is just too scary to mess with, not enough research is in, to be using as a base and voluminous ingredient in anyone’s food, let alone such a delicate and fragile creature such as a parrot.

So what should you be looking for as the BASE ingredient to your bird’s commercial food? I would promote a “green” food, something like alfalfa, barley grass, wheatgrass, or the like, even if the green food is powdered. It doesn’t have to be whole, although whole, chopped, would be even better. Wheatgrass is nothing like wheat itself. Wheatgrass is not the grain of the wheat product. It is the tender green shoots that contain all of the enzymes and amino acids that are so vitally important to health and vitality.

Along with a healthy base ingredient you should be looking for lots and lots of other fresh, whole-food ingredients in your parrot’s commercial diet. This would include, but not limited to, a wide variety of fresh organic fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, berries, flowers, and spices, with a limited amount of vegetables and beans added in, preferably all in their whole form, or at least in a partially whole or chopped form. Why? Because whole-food nutrition leaves all of the macro and micro nutrients in tact within each and every food. As soon as a food is cut, sliced, ground or powdered, and especially when it is cooked, it begins to lose its nutrients. Except in the case of some foods, where they actually need to be at least partially cooked to release some of their nutrients.

This is just an introduction to Parrot Nutrition 101. I will be discussing nutrition on an ongoing basis, and in depth, as we take this journey through each and every species throughout our Best Bird Food Blog. I hope you will travel along with me by subscribing up to receive email updates.

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Machelle Pacion / The BEST Bird Food / BirD-elicious! / Passion Tree House LLC © 2012 All Rights Reserved

*Information supplied by The BEST Bird Food or any of its contributors, associates, et al, does not intend to diagnose, treat or cure any symptom, illness or disease. Any information provided is strictly for the purpose of “sharing” resources. Should a reader decide to use any such information they do so at their own risk and holds author(s) and associates, et al, of The BEST Bird Food blog harmless in any and all legal matters concerning their health and the health of their family and/or friends and/or colleagues who they may share the information with as well as all of their pets and/or livestock whom they may practice the information upon.

 


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