Can Dogs Eat Blueberries?
If you want your dog to be as healthy and as happy as possible, then you might be wondering: can dogs eat blueberries?
It is very commendable to be thinking of your dog’s diet in these terms. A lot of people won’t give much thought to canine diets, instead being content to simply feed them whatever wet dog food or dry kibble is available at their local store. This is designed for dogs, and so chances are it’s the best option for them right?
Well sure, it might be good for them. But you should have higher aspirations for your dog than just good! Not only is it a good idea to feed your dog a diet that they’ll enjoy and that will help to make them happy and ensure they look forward to their next meal—you should also aim to feed your dog a diet that is going to make them function as well as possible.
Food is not just fuel. There is more to food than simply providing sustenance for you to burn. Our diets (and our dogs’ diets) are actually what provide the building blocks that make up muscle, bone, skin, brain chemicals and more. In short, without eating the right diet, you won’t have the necessary raw materials to build and repair the body. The same is true for dogs.
Blueberries are absolutely packed with goodness when it comes to the human diet. But how about dogs? Can they eat blueberries?
ARE BLUEBERRIES SAFE FOR DOGS?
The great news is that, yes, dogs can eat blueberries!
This is not the case for all fruits or all berries. In fact, there are a lot of fruits and vegetables that you shouldn’t give to dogs. This is because dogs can be seriously harmed by consuming too much sugar. One of the most dangerous things that can happen for a dog is if they get hold of a box of chocolates and go to town. This is almost sure to be an overdose of sugar, which in turn can lead to nerve damage, vision problems, diabetes… it can even lead to death.
This is why you have to be careful when feeding your dog fruits. The good news is that blueberries aren’t as packed with sugars as some other fruits. At the same time, they’re also very small. When you combine these two factors, it essentially means that you don’t need to worry when feeding your dog a few blueberries out of your hand.
What’s also great about blueberries is that they don’t contain seeds or pits. That means that you can feed them to your dog with no need to do any prior preparation.
That said, you should still limit the number of blueberries your dog eats in order to ensure that they aren’t going to unintentionally overdose on sugar. This is an occasional treat that you can give to your dog out of your hand, or a useful way of hiding a tablet or a pill if you’re trying to get your dog to take its medicine.
Likewise, because blueberries contain fiber, they can be good in small quantities and a problem in larger quantities. If you give a dog too many blueberries, then it can cause digestion issues.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF BLUEBERRIES
Blueberries are one of the healthiest types of fruit available for humans, and they’re pretty darn healthy for dogs too. That’s because of the extremely high vitamin C content, and in antioxidants. These are among the fruits with the most antioxidants—which in turn can provide a whole lot of benefits.
Antioxidants help the body by neutralizing and combating substances known as “free radicals.” These are substances that travel through the body as a by-product of the energy making process. When they come into contact with cells, they can damage the cell walls through a chemical reaction. Eventually, if these free radicals get all the way into the nucleus of the cell that contains the DNA, it can result mutations that damage the functional integrity of the cell. Because DNA is copied every time the cell splits, that means that the damage can then spread—which is how cancer starts.
Blueberries can help to reduce the chances of this happening significantly while also combating a host of other potential issues. So next time you’re having blueberries, share one with your pup!