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Can Dogs Eat Artichokes?
The short answer is yes. The only danger of letting your dog eat artichokes is the choking hazard. But, that can be easily avoided with the preparation of your artichokes. Let’s get into it…
Artichokes Are Actually Healthy For Your Dog! (It Depends)
All this time you were worrying that artichokes are unhealthy just to find out they are quite the opposite! Artichokes are healthy when prepared in a certain way, but how you prepare them alters how healthy they are.
Artichokes can provide your dog with several benefits, some of which are:
- Disease Prevention: The antioxidants in artichokes protects your dog from highly fatal health issues like cardiovascular diseases and cancer. More common illnesses can be prevented as well.
- Bowel Issues: Artichokes have the vitamins and nutrients to reduce your dog’s awful farting issue as well as helping fix irritable bowels.
- Keeps Your Dog Active: Unlike many other foods, this food is low in fat and calories which avoids the sluggish feelings your dog gets from unhealthy food. This will also help your dog stay more active and avoid obesity.
Some specific healthy minerals, vitamins, and nutrients artichokes contain are vitamin C, potassium, niacin, and folic acids. These vitamins and minerals all contribute to the benefits listed above.
How Should I Feed This To My Dog?
Artichokes can vary greatly in nutritional value, they can be very nutrition-rich (If served raw) or nutrition-poor and even harmful (if cooked with seasoning).
In order to get the maximum nutritional benefits from artichokes, you should serve them raw. However, it is recommended by several sources that you remove the leaves and cut the artichoke into several small pieces that you feed your dog.
Cutting the artichoke into small pieces is strongly recommended to avoid your dog choking.
Remember, too much of a good thing can make it unhealthy. You can feed your dog artichoke in moderation and in small doses, in addition to their regular meals.
Should I Cook The Artichoke?
You can, but you shouldn’t. Artichokes in their raw form will provide your dog with the most nutrients which is why it’s often recommended to skip cooking artichokes.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you do cook your artichokes, DON’T use any seasonings. Artichokes without seasoning are healthy, but once you add seasoning that could mean trouble. Each seasoning you add is another variable that could lead to unhealthy side effects for your dog.
These are just a few seasonings that are BAD for dogs: Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cocoa powder, and nutmeg. If you want a more expansive list of seasonings that could be harmful to your dog, visit this article.
Final Thoughts
To conclude this article, yes, dogs can eat artichokes. It will improve their immune system, along with their digestive system, and disease prevention. You shouldn’t cook your artichokes if you want maximum nutritional value, and DON’T add any seasonings to your artichokes.
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