Did you know that around 30% of your fur baby’s diet should consist of fruit and veg? Here at Cooka’s Cookies we’ve known this secret for a while and that’s why we try to include as much of this fresh goodness as possible in all of our doggie treats. Yes, Cooka loves her fruit and veggies – she calls them her “rainbow food”.

In our kitchen we bake with fresh apples, carrots, berries and beetroot to make our “Gourmet Burger”, “Beef Bones”, “Liver Pate” and “Chicken Love” biscuits even more wholesome.

Here are some of the pawsome health benefits of this “rainbow-food”:

Helps to alkalise the body

Maintaining a diet with the perfect acid and alkaline balance is important to your pooch’s (and to our) health. Too much acidity can cause inflammation, which is responsible for many chronic diseases.

The liver, pancreas, gall bladder, kidneys and heart function better in a more alkaline environment. Proteins such as meat make the body more acidic, whereas most vegetables (and some fruits) have an alkalinising effect.

Provides nutrients

Vegetables provide a range of nutrients such as proteins, lipids, fats, carbohydrates and fibre. However, at Cooka’s, we don’t believe that dogs should live on a purely vegetarian diet. To ensure full nourishment, we believe it is advisable to introduce a certain amount of grains to provide a proper balance of amino acids.

But as we know, grains are much debated, and many pet-parents have gone totally grain-free. We advise to follow your pup’s nose. A dog’s skin and fur and overall energy levels are easy ways for us to learn what diet is best for them.

Just like humans, every pup is unique and can thrive on different foods. At Cooka’s we like rice, oats and ancient grains like spelt and kamut. In our kitchen we bake with rice flour. Rice is a simple and soothing grain that is easy for our furry friends to digest.

Source of vitamins & minerals

Fruit and vegetables provide plenty of A, B, C, E and K vitamins. The only vitamin unavailable from “rainbow food” is vitamin D. As humans we produce our own vitamin D supply from the sun, but dogs don’t absorb as much of this so-called sunshine vitamin because of their fur.

Eating foods like liver and eggs can help your pup to up their vitamin D levels. Dark leafy greens are loaded with minerals such as calcium, potassium and magnesium and once cooked are easier on the tummy.

At Cooka’s we bathe our fruit and veggies in vinegar to help remove synthetic fertilizers and other chemicals that should never land on ours or our pet’s plate.

Source of phytonutrients

Phytonutrients are only found in vegetable material. They consist of protective substances such as enzymes, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory molecules.

Enzymes help digestion. Some enzymes can escape the hydrochloric acid in the stomach and are absorbed whole, resulting in an anti-ageing effect on the body, keeping your pup looking and feeling young!

Phytonutrients have antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, anti-helminthic (anti-worms) and anti-ageing properties, and some are even believed to have anti-cancer effects.

Source of fibre

Vegetable fibre is much healthier than fibre from grains. Vegetables contain soluble fibre, which is digested by microbes in the large bowel. Fibre is especially vital in older dogs as it may help in preventing degenerative diseases.

At Cooka’s we think it is safe to say that fruit and veggies are TRUE RAINBOW WARRIORS! They protect, they nourish, they fight for us and they heal.

Here at Cooka’s we try to source our fruit and veggies locally from surrounding villages. We love food and our girl boss only settles for the best. If she doesn’t like something, she really knows how to bark! Check out our ingredients page here.