I was introduced to a new word yesterday. A new and different “age”. AGEs. Not a word in my vocabulary, but one in my daughter, the vet’s, vocabulary. Karen is preparing for a talk to a group of retailers in Michigan. She asked me yesterday to listen and critique. At the end of her ‘practice’ talk, she asked if there was anything that needed clarification, understanding that if I didn’t understand something, there would be people in her audience in that same boat.
There was…”AGEs”. Her layman explanation of the term caught my attention…BIG! She explained this ‘thing’ that happens when a protein and sugar combine under a high heat situation. In my world, that happens when I roast that Thanksgiving turkey and the skin browns to that delicious, crispy coat. It happens when potatoes get fried in that deep fat fryer and we have those delicious, golden brown ‘French fries’. It happens to bread in the toaster when it goes from lightly browned to very dark crispy brown. It happens when donuts are dunked into the deep fat fryer and come out crispy coated. This ‘thing’ happens when kibble is made. The kibble pieces end up being one big piece of AGEs.
It’s called Advanced Glycation End Products. A word I could barely pronounce let alone make any sense of until she explained how detrimental it is to one’s health. I googled the term and up came a list of research that has been done on this ‘thing’. What I read and what my daughter explained, ISN’T GOOD!!!
The high heat process appears to be the culprit in the meeting of protein and sugar. And the health issues mentioned in the research I read started with diabetes, but included inflammation, organ degeneration and tumors.
AGEs is not an issue with Dr. Becker’s Bites Treats!!! Though our treats are very dark and very crispy, and that could be misleading…IT ISN’T! Dr. Becker’s Bites are dark because they are pure, human grade liver, from beef, lamb, venison or bison. They are crispy because they are baked very, very thin. Dr. Becker’s Bites is possibly the thinnest treat on the market. AND our baking process does not reach the high temperatures that cause that collision between the protein and sugars. In fact, there are no sugars or carbs in our treat for the protein to collide with.
My statement is simply, “Read the ingredient list”…Nothing that can’t be pronounced, nothing that can’t be understood, about the simplest and shortest ingredient list on the market.
So, let your pet enjoy Dr. Becker’s Bites while you can let your mind rest assured: our process does not create the perfect storm for AGEs to be made. We at Dr. Becker’s Bites have made the statement that we believe we have the healthiest, purest treat on the market. We still stand by that!
PS. My daughter said to me: “I know two doctors who have made the statement, ‘I’d rather my patients smoked and ate healthfully than didn’t smoke but filled their diets with fried foods!’ So back to my original question: “Are AGEs adding to all our ageing, including our pets?” It depends entirely upon what we eat!!!