為何我從不推薦這種受歡迎的方便食品

Why I Almost Never Recommend This Popular Go-To Food

為何我從不推薦這種受歡迎的方便食品

September 30, 2017

By Dr. Becker

原文日期：2017年9月30日

作者：獸醫凱倫．貝克

譯者：謝凱特（aka酒鬼）

原文連結：

3 of the Craziest Myths Owners Believe About Kibble (mercola.com)

Despite the fact that an increasing number of pet owners are becoming better informed about nutritionally balanced, species-appropriate diets for dogs and cats, sadly, it seems there’s still an awful lot of kibble being sold. According to a Packaged Facts survey conducted earlier in the year, pet owners generally believe dry food is: 1) healthier and 2) better for pets’ teeth.¹ Honestly, nothing could be further the truth — more about that shortly. Even more disheartening is this observation:

儘管有越來越多飼主更加了解什麼是營養均衡且適合物種的貓狗食物，但乾飼料的生意還是非常好。根據一份「包裝真相」在今年初做的問卷指出，飼主基本上都相信乾飼料1)比較健康2)有益牙齒。事實上，簡短來說這兩項認知距離事實非常遙遠。而且以下的觀察讓人更加無奈：

“Alongside these pet health-centered convictions,” writes David Sprinkle of Packaged Facts, “and perhaps helping to keep them afloat, is a more self-interested pet owner preference for pet foods that aren’t overly odorous.”²

「除了這些以寵物健康為中心的信仰以外，」包裝真相的大衛．史普林可寫道，「助長如此信仰的，也可能是飼主偏好味道不是太重的寵物食品。」

What Sprinkle is saying is that it’s possible many pet owners are concerned first and foremost with less smelly pet food, and not so much about the supposed health and dental benefits of kibble. This isn’t entirely surprising, since it was convenience that made kibble so appealing in the first place, similar to the popularity of processed and fast food for humans.

史普林可的意思是，可能許多飼主的首要考量是食物的味道，而不是乾飼料對身體和牙齒的好處，如果有好處的話。這並不令人感到意外，因為首先乾飼料之所以吸引主人購買是因為很方便，跟人類吃的加工速食受到歡迎是一樣的道理。

And it certainly doesn’t help that pet food manufacturers spend huge amounts of money marketing their dead, overcooked formulas as “healthy,” or that the majority of veterinarians promote the stuff, often selling it in the lobbies of their practices.

寵物食品公司砸大錢，行銷他們製造的過度烹煮的食物是「健康」食品，加上絕大多數獸醫支持甚至販賣乾飼料，都讓飼主在面對選擇正確食物時，一點幫助也沒有。

The Myth That Will Not Die: Kibble Is Good for Your Pet’s Teeth

永遠不會消失的迷思：乾飼料有益牙齒健康

This is like a zombie myth — it just can’t be killed! Dry pet food is promoted as helping to keep pets’ teeth clean, but it’s complete nonsense. Kibble is no better for your dog’s or cat’s teeth than crunchy human food is for your teeth. It would never occur to you to eat a handful of peanut brittle or granola to remove plaque and tartar from your teeth, would it? The idea that dry food keeps your pet’s teeth clean is just as silly.

這是一個僵屍迷思，因為怎麼殺都殺不死！大家都認為乾飼料有益牙齒健康，其實根本是一派胡言。乾飼料對貓狗的牙齒健康完全沒有幫助，就好像酥脆的食品對人類牙齒健康也沒有幫助是一樣的道理。你該不會認為花生糖或是堅果可以除去你的牙垢吧？相信乾飼料可以讓貓狗牙齒健康也是一樣愚蠢的想法。

However, diet certainly plays a significant role in the development of tartar on your pet’s teeth. Wild dogs and cats have strong, healthy teeth partly because they eat raw meaty bones. Raw diets — even prepared, ground raw diets — help control tartar. Raw ground bone is a gentle dental abrasive, acting like fine sandpaper when chewed, which helps remove debris stuck on teeth. The meat contains natural enzymes, and in addition, raw food doesn’t stick to teeth, unlike starchy kibble.

但是，食物的確會影響牙垢的累積。野生貓狗之所以有強壯健康的牙齒，部份原因是因為他們啃生骨。生食，即使是絞成肉泥的生食，幫助減少牙垢。絞碎的生骨溫和磨擦牙齒，讓貓狗在咀嚼時產生類似砂紙的作用，可以幫助移除牙齒上的食物殘渣。肉含有天然酵素，充滿澱粉的乾飼料會黏在牙齒上，生肉並不會。

For dogs and cats, chewing also plays an important role in removing plaque and tartar from teeth. Even though there are plenty of toys and food products on the market that can be of some, raw bones are really the best option, and few dogs will turn them down.

對貓狗而且，咀嚼在移除結石和牙垢這件事也扮演了一個重要的角色。市面有許多玩具和食物，儘管其中有些可以幫助潔牙，但生骨才是最好的選擇，而且會拒絕生骨的狗很少。

It’s important the bones are raw, because cooked bones can splinter and do serious damage to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The size depends on the size of your pet and whether she’s such an eager chewer that she risks injuring herself or even breaking teeth. Your dog should always be supervised when she’s working on a bone to minimize the risk of choking or tooth damage, and raw bones should be refrigerated between chewing sessions.

一定要餵生骨，這點很重要，因為煮過的骨頭容易斷裂，對消化道造成嚴重的傷害。骨頭的大小依寵物體型以及吃飯速度而定，吃太快可能會因為啃生骨而受傷，甚至牙齒斷裂。狗貓在啃骨頭時，主人一定要在旁邊監督，減少噎到或傷害牙齒的風險。沒有啃完的骨頭要放回冰箱，下次啃生骨時再拿出來餵。

Daily Brushing Is the Best Way to Keep Your Pet’s Teeth Clean

每天刷牙是保持口腔清潔的最佳方式

With a gentle hand, patience and persistence, most pet parents can teach their dog or cat to submit to daily tooth brushing, which is the ideal way to insure tartar doesn’t form on tooth surfaces. One of the secrets to successful tooth brushing is to progress slowly and gently, allowing your pet to adapt at his own pace.

只要一隻溫和的手、耐心和堅持，大部份飼主可以成功每天幫貓狗刷牙，預防牙垢累積在牙齒表面。成功刷牙的其中一個秘訣是溫和的漸進，讓你的寵物依照自己的步調來習慣刷牙。

Start with your finger rather than a toothbrush and get him familiar with having your finger in his mouth. Gently rub the top front teeth and all the way to the back teeth. Then do the same on the lower teeth. Praise him often and keep sessions short.

一開始把你的手指頭當成牙刷，讓貓狗習慣你的手指頭進入他們的口腔。輕輕的摩擦上排牙齒，然後往後面的牙齒前進。在下排牙齒重複如此的動作。要一直誇獎你的貓狗，刷牙時間不要太長。

Once your pet is accepting of your finger in his mouth, wrap a very thin damp cloth or piece of gauze around your fingertip and rub the teeth. You’ll probably be stunned by the amount of gunk you wipe off with just a piece of gauze. The next step is to use a safe, natural dental cleaning product designed for pets and apply a small amount to the gauze before you rub his teeth. Once he gets used to this, you can progress to either a finger brush or a soft toothbrush the right size for his mouth.

貓狗接受你的手指頭進入他們口中以後，用一片薄薄的紗布把手指頭包起來去擦拭牙齒。你可能會嚇一跳怎麼光是一片紗布就擦下來這麼多黏黏的牙垢。下一步是使用安全天然的寵物潔牙產品，擦牙齒之前先擠一點潔牙產品在紗布上。動物習慣如此的刷牙方式後，可以開始使用指刷或適合貓狗口腔大小的軟毛牙刷。

If your pet is highly resistant to having his teeth rubbed or brushed, there are products available that when applied to the teeth go to work to break down plaque and tartar without brushing. However, the more rubbing and brushing he’ll allow, the more quickly you’ll see results, and the easier it will be to maintain your his oral health.

如果你的動物十分抗拒被擦牙或刷牙，有些產品可以擦在牙齒上，幫助結石脫落或除去牙垢，不需要刷牙。不過越勤快的擦牙和刷牙，就可以越快看到成果，而且也較容易保持口腔健康。

Why I Almost Never Recommend Dry Pet Food

為什麼我幾乎從不建議乾飼料

While most kibble is formulated to meet the basic nutritional requirements of dogs and cats, it certainly doesn’t provide optimal nourishment for the long haul. I have several issues with dry pet food, but let’s start with the quality of the raw ingredients. Rendering plants create meat and bone meal from a variety of dubious sources, for example, parts of cows that can’t be sold for human consumption, including bones, the digestive system, the brain, udders, hide and more.

大部份的乾飼料配方只能提供基本營養需求而已，長期而言絕對無法提供最佳營養需要。乾飼料有很多我不喜歡的地方，但是我們先從食材的品質看起。煉油肉粉廠使用來源不明的食材製造骨粉和肉粉，例如不適合人食的牛部位，包括骨頭、消化系統、腦、乳房、皮，以及其他。

They also may use the carcasses of diseased animals, expired grocery store meat (including the plastic and Styrofoam packaging), road kill, zoo animals and dogs and cats that have been euthanized. Here’s how Slate describes the process of turning these raw ingredients into pet food:

煉油肉粉廠的食材還包括整具病死動物的屍體、商店過期的肉（含包裝的塑膠和保麗龍）、被撞死在馬路的動物、動物園動物，還有被安樂死的貓狗。以下是線上雜誌「寫字板」描述如何把以上食材變成寵物食品的過程：

“This material is slowly pulverized (grind) into one big blend of dead stuff and meat packaging. It is then transferred into a vat where it is heated for hours to between 220 [to] 270 degrees F. At such high temperatures, the fat and grease float to the top along with any fat-soluble compounds or solids that get mixed up with them.

「食材先被慢慢的絞碎成一團巨大的混合物後放入大鍋中，以攝氏100到130度烹煮好幾個小時。在如此高溫加熱之下，脂肪和其他脂溶性複合或單一物質浮到表面。

Most viruses and bacteria are killed. The fat can then be skimmed off, packaged and renamed. Most of this material is called ‘meat and bone meal.’ It can be used in livestock feed, pet food or fertilizer … There is essentially no federal enforcement of standards for the contents of pet food.

這個加熱過程殺死了大部分的病毒和細菌。浮到表面的脂肪被刮下來，包裝後重新命名。取走脂肪後留下的物質，大多被稱為肉粉和骨粉，可以用在經濟動物飼料中、寵物食品或是肥料之中．．．基本上沒有聯邦法律標準在管理寵物食品的內容物。

… Indeed, the same system that doesn’t know whether its main ingredient is chicken beaks or Dachshund really cannot guarantee adequate nutrition to the dogs that eat it."

．．．的確，這套相同的系統不知道肉粉和骨粉的主要原料是雞嘴或是臘腸狗，無法保證拿來餵狗養分是否適當。」

There is one dry food company, Carna4, that prides itself on using ethically sourced, humanely raised meats and no synthetic nutrients from China (unlike all the other brands). So if you must feed kibble, I suggest this brand. However, there are still other issues with kibble, in general.

有一家乾飼料公司，Carna4，使用人道飼養的肉為食材，沒有使用來自中國的合成物（不同於其他品牌）。如果你真的得餵乾飼料，我建議餵這個牌子。不過基本上乾飼料還有其他問題。

Additional Problems With Feeding Pets Kibble

乾飼料的其他問題

Aside from poor-quality meats, byproducts and synthetic vitamins and minerals, most commercial dry pet foods are based on high-glycemic, genetically modified (GM) corn, wheat, rice or potato — grains and starches that have no place in your pet’s diet and create metabolically stressful insulin, glucagon and cortisol spikes throughout the day.

除了品質差的肉、副產品和人工合成的維他命和礦物質以外，大部份的乾飼料基本上都使用高升糖指數食材、基改玉米、小麥、米或是馬鈴薯 – 全都是動物不需要的穀物和澱粉，體內胰島素、升糖素和皮質醇因而整天處於劇烈的上下震盪，造成新陳代謝的壓力。

In fact, many grain-free dry foods have a higher glycemic index than regular pet foods due to excessive amounts of potatoes, peas, lentils or tapioca included in the formulas. Carbs also break down into sugar, which fuels degenerative conditions such as diabetes, obesity and cancer.

事實上許多無穀乾飼料的升糖指數，甚至高於一般乾飼料，因為無穀飼料使用了大量的馬鈴薯、豆子、扁豆或是樹薯。碳水還會分解成糖，引起退行性疾病，例如糖尿病、過度肥胖和癌症。

In the last 50 years we’ve learned the hard way that feeding biologically inappropriate diets (low-fat, high-carb diets that permeate the pet food industry) does not create health in dogs and cats. In fact, the amount of chronic inflammatory and degenerative diseases is epidemic, all relating to diet and lifestyle, in my opinion.

過去五十年我們付出慘痛的代價，學習到餵不適合物種的食物（充斥於整個寵物食品業的低脂、高碳水食品），並沒有給我們的貓狗帶來健康的身體。事實上慢性發炎和退行性疾病的案例以傳染病的速度出現，全都和飲食以及生活型態有關，以我之見。

Further, low-quality proteins and fats (not fit for human consumption), when processed at high temperatures, create cancerous byproducts, like heterocyclic amines. It’s estimated that meat going into pet food undergoes at least four high-temperature cooking processes in an average bag of food, leaving the digestibility, absorbability and overall nutrient value highly questionable.

再者品質差的蛋白質和脂肪（不適合人類食用），經過高溫加熱後會產生致癌物，例如多環胺（或譯雜環胺）。根據估計，平均每一袋寵物食品使用的肉，至少經過四道高溫烹煮過程，讓人非常懷疑這袋食品的消化度、吸收度和整體營養價值到底有多少。

Most dogs and cats will thrive when given fresh, whole foods, which mimic their ancestral diet, but unfortunately, many must make do with entirely processed, largely inferior alternatives. Your pet may have adapted to this diet, but it’s a recipe for chronic disease.

只要餵新鮮、完整、模擬貓狗祖先所吃的食物，大部分的貓狗都能夠成長茁壯，但許多貓狗只有加工過的劣質食品這一個選項。你的寵物或許可以適應這種食品，但慢性病的出現只是時間問題。

The low moisture content of dry food is also problematic, especially for cats. Dry cat food provides only about one-tenth the amount of moisture cats receive from prey animals, living foods and even commercial canned diets, which puts significant stress on their kidneys and bladder.

乾飼料的低水分也會造成問題，尤其是在貓身上。吃乾飼料的貓所得到的水分，只有貓天生獵物或甚至罐頭的十分之一而已，給貓的腎臟和膀胱帶來很大壓力。

Dogs also tend to become excessively thirsty when fed a dry food diet. The carb-heavy nature of dry food, along with the propensity for owners to feed more than their pet metabolically needs, is also a significant factor in rising rates of pet obesity.

吃乾飼料的狗傾向於過度口渴。乾飼料中的高碳水，加上主人習慣過量餵食，也是寵物過度肥胖比例上升的重要因素。

Kick That Kibble to the Curb!

把乾飼料踢到路邊吧！

I recommend pet parents ditch dry food entirely and instead feed a nutritionally balanced, species-appropriate diet, which means food containing high-quality animal protein, moisture, healthy fats and fiber, with low to no starch content.

我建議寵物家長把乾飼料丟了，改餵營養均衡、適合物種的食物，也就是含有高品質蛋白質、水分、健康的脂肪和纖維、低或無澱粉的食物。

A nutritionally balanced raw or gently cooked homemade diet is the top choice for pets, but you should only attempt this if you’re committed to doing it right. If you don’t want to deal with balancing diets at home, choosing to feed a pre-balanced, commercially available raw food is a great choice. A freeze-dried/dehydrated diet is second best. Human-grade canned food is a mid-range choice, but can be hard to find.

營養均衡的生肉或稍微煮過的自製食，才是最棒的寵物食物，但只有當你真的打算正確的餵這兩種食物時，你才應該嘗試這種餵食法。如果你不想在家自製營養均衡的食物，營養均衡的商業生肉是一個好選擇。冷凍或脫水糧是次好的選擇。人食等級食材做的罐頭是中等選項，但可能不太容易買到。

And be sure to incorporate a variety of fresh foods into your pet’s diet, too. Blueberries, chia and hemp seeds in coconut oil, raw pumpkin seeds, fermented vegetables and kefir can provide your furry family member with a variety of nutrition and flavors.

別忘了在食物中加入不同的新鮮食物做變化。藍莓、椰子油中的奇亞籽和大麻籽、生南瓜籽、發酵蔬菜和酸奶等，可以給你的毛孩提供多變化的養分和口味。

譯註：嗯，我覺得以上這段寫的食材比較適合狗。有一派生食養狗人，堅持狗是肉食動物，也要全肉食，這派人大多不太喜歡凱倫．貝克。還有一派生食貓狗主人主張不需要餵營養品，只要補充omega3 即可，這一派也不是很喜歡貝克，因為她認為生食需要補充營養品。他們覺得貝克只是想要賣營養品才這麼主張。

本文作者獸醫凱倫．貝克1997年畢業於愛華州立大學獸醫學院。1996年獲得國際獸醫針炙協會頒發的動物針炙師執照。讀大學時因為愛犬潔美奈長期吃商業寵物食品，導致乙氧基喹因（抗氧化劑）中毒而肝衰竭，她開始餵狗吃生肉搭配醫療照顧。潔美奈身體恢復健康，讓貝克醫生看到新鮮食物的力量。2009年貝克醫生開始固定在梅克拉網站（http://healthypets.mercola.com/）發表寵物健康相關文章，至2013年該網站已成全球最大寵物健康網。貝克醫生臉書粉絲專頁已累積超過一百萬個讚，是目前追踪人數最多的獸醫。

本文譯者謝凱特，譯有「你的貓」一書。東吳大學英文系畢業。養貓三十年。大約2011年開始餵生食。興趣是讀英文小說和貓生食相關知識。

譯著補充：

我剛開始翻譯食譜和貓友分享時，有貓友留言問我不吃乾飼料如何潔牙？那時我想：對厚，乾飼料有潔牙的效果，那不吃乾飼料以後，如何保持口腔健康呢？

後來當我對乾飼料有越來越多的了解，才發現自己以前認為乾飼料可以保持口腔健康是一個多麼荒謬的想法。乾飼料充滿碳水化合物，怎麼可能可以保持口腔健康呢？以人類為例，人類牙醫會叫人類去啃硬硬的東西，例如牛軋糖、花生糖、餅乾、硬硬的芭樂，或是各種堅果，幫助去除牙結石保持口腔健康嗎？我想有常識的人類都知道，吃碳水化合物含量高的食品，即使是硬硬的花生糖，都不可能可以保持口腔健康，遑論去除牙結石，正確的方法應該是刷牙。可是，為什麼完全相反的想法，卻可以這麼理所當然的套用在絕對肉食動物的貓身上？為什麼給貓吃充滿碳水化合物的乾飼料可以保持口腔健康？我以前好蠢，竟然如此相信著，而不知道如何回覆貓友的提問，還好我現在沒那麼蠢了。

謝來發祝大家週末愉快

註：這篇文章在新浪部落格時代的原始刊出日大約是2017年10月

註：因為文章連結有更改過，所以保留原文