Cooling Proteins - the magic protein category explained!

November 03, 2022

There are many articles and captions using the words ‘cooling and warming proteins’ - but what does that actually mean?

The concept of food energy goes back to Traditional Chinese Medicine - today we will look at the concept from a nutritional perspective and what these elements of TCM teach us in feeding our pets.

Basically cooling proteins help fight inflammation and thus have a plethora of advantages for pets, among them:

Less anxiety / irritability
Healthier Joints
Less or no allergies
Better digestion
Silky Skin
Fit Renal System
And more…

Now let us look at why all these great things come from cooling proteins and how we can take advantage of that!

Diet is all about balance, when we speak about warming and cooling proteins we have to remember that not one is good and the other bad - it depends on the dog or cat and situation, which ones should be fed more.

Typically fed warming proteins here in India are Chicken and Mutton while cooling Proteins are Fish, Rabbit, Duck and Emu for example. Neutral proteins are for example Buffalo, Turkey, Quail.

What classifies these nutritionally is simply what they’re made out of thus what they supply and their effect on our pets’ body - there are differing opinions on the classification of certain Proteins, for example some classify Pork as cooling, others as neutral - it depends on the particular dog or cat as so often with nutrition.

Why should we keep this balance of warming and cooling in mind and is it always the same?

Feeding too much warming food can result in many health issues that are often not diagnosed as a result of an inflammatory diet and instead called ‘dermatitis’ or ‘arthritis’ or ‘UTI’ - so let’s skip the following foods if your pet has any issues that could possibly stem from inflammation:

Grains (if you have to include Grains, go for whole grains)
Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes
Kibble
Wheat

These foods all contain lots of starch which is the primary issue with them - starch gets converted to sugar in the body which then goes on to feed yeast and create more inflammation, so leaving these is a first step to fighting inflammation.

Instead include Foods like:

Berries
Duck, Fish, Rabbit, Quail
Bone Broth or Fish Broth
Fermented veggies

These foods all contain different benefits - the berries and fermented veggies contain phyto nutrients along with probiotics and prebiotics, antioxidants and digestive enzymes which help fight inflammation by supporting the immune system.

The cooling meat proteins supply a lean and dense source of protein for healthy cell renewal as well as Fish and Emu contain Omega 3 which is essential to fight inflammation, moreover all of these proteins carry collagen, glucosamine and calcium.

Bone Broth supports the gut in staying strong plus it has easily available collagen, hyaluronic acid and other joint and lining boosters to keep inflammation in check!

As always we see that adding as much variety of different real food sources is the best thing we can do for our pets’ nutritional needs.

To find the right foods and quantities for your pet consider their situation - if heat is an issue, whether external as in the temperature / climate or from inflammation inside the body, then you need to include more cooling proteins into the diet.

Signs for inflammation or an overheated body are rashes, UTI, redness, shedding, allergies, poor digestion, joint pain, panting or irritability - if any of these apply or in general if you are not yet feeding any protein, then try moving towards some cooling protein in the bowl.

Now again it depends on your pet which proteins to choose and how to proceed - if your pet has severe inflammation issues, joint pain or skin issues then it is particularly important to move slowly with the diet.

If you start adding cooling proteins such as fish, duck, rabbit or emu to your pets bowl and you see that issues flare up then that is a sign that your pets body is working and just a little overwhelmed.

This means go slower, with less quantity but do not stop - the detox process is started and the body is getting ready to be healthy and fit. Do not stop and go back to medication or processed foods when you see a reaction, evaluate what the reaction is first!

Check our range of dried cooling proteins for an easy supply of pure and healing nutrition!

Love,

Julia