I Have Celiac, but That’s Not Why I Feed Grain-Free #GrainFreeForMe

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I Have Celiac, but That’s Not Why I Feed Grain-Free

I have Celiac disease. If you’re not familiar with Celiac, I’m certain you’re familiar with the gluten-free trend. For people with Celiac disease and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS), a gluten-free lifestyle isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity.

Recently, I was out with Atka browsing the pet food aisle. I’m not sure why (maybe I’m a tad weird), but I enjoy looking at all of the available commercial foods, studying the ingredients, and then pulling out my phone to continue the research. Plus, it gives me ample time to work on down-stays with Atka.

This post is sponsored by Wellness® Natural Pet Food and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer Network™. I am being compensated to help share Wellness Grain Free options, but we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers. Wellness is not responsible for the content of this article.

While I was looking through some of the Wellness® products, I ran into an individual I work with. We are not close, but there have been enough events that I’ve declined so she knows I’m gluten-free. She looked at me, looked at my cart, looked back at me, and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You even force your DOG to eat gluten-free?!”

I didn’t know what to say. Yes, Mauja and Atka consume a grain-free diet of commercial pet food and homemade food. While they have not always been on a grain-free diet, their switch happened before my diagnosis, when they reached adulthood.

Unfortunately, when this individual commented about my feeding practices, I was so caught off-guard that I didn’t know how to answer.

Now that I’ve composed myself, here are my top 3 reasons for feeding my Great Pyrenees Wellness Complete Health™ grain-free food.

Grain-free food provides more of a nutritional punch. Rather than being full of empty calories and nutrients, they get “more of the good stuff”, such as chickpeas, flaxseed, carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, apples, and blueberries. In Wellness dog food, this includes natural ingredients with high-quality protein for full energy, prebiotics and probiotics to support healthy digestion, and vitamins A & E to support healthy immune system.
Grain-free food can help alleviate allergies. Great Pyrenees are prone to both food and environmental allergies, so I wanted to be cognizant of that fact when determining their diet. Grains are a popular allergen trigger for this breed.
Grain-free diets can help prevent ear infections, stomach upset, and other gastrointestinal issues. If Mauja and Atka are comfortable and happy, I’m happy too.
A bonus, yet selfish, reason. Feeding grain-free food helps keep me healthy! I can get very sick from simply breathing in the air particles of their food or scratching my face while feeding them. The fluffies do not accept a sick mom who skips walks

Atka’s Wellness Complete Health Update

Atka has been on Wellness Complete Health for just over a month now. We are using Wellness as his food base to ensure he is getting all of his essential vitamins and minerals, but then add a topper of homemade food. The Complete Health line offers everything he needs, but I always like to add a little something extra

As completely shocked as I am to say this, Atka’s itching has disappeared in the last month. We did have Atka on a completely homemade diet and did not see any improvement, so we were getting quite frustrated. I tried a lot of experimenting, but I couldn’t seem to alleviate the itching.

If I’m being completely honest, I don’t know why the itching has ceased since the switch, but I’m not going to question it! Atka loves the food, he’s not itching, and I know he’s getting great nutrition – I’m a happy pyr mom <3

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