What is my dog is allergic to a protein, or multiple? 

Allergy testing on a kibble fed dog isn't always as accurate as we might think. If your dog suffers from Leaky Gut Syndrome, the allergy test will show any protein that your dog is eating as well as ones that they are not and show that they have an allergy. 

What is Leaky Gut?
The delicate intestinal mucosa that lines the gut and allows tiny digested nutrients to pass through to the blood stream can be likened to cheesecloth or a tea strainer. This is how nutrition is assimilated into the body - but the lining also acts as an incredibly important barrier to keep out toxins, pathogens and undigested food particles. 

The mucosa becomes traumatized and inflamed, causing the junctions (the spaces in the cheesecloth) to become stretched or damaged to the point where they're no longer able to filter out larger food particles, bacteria, and toxins. 

These substances can now pass through the intestinal wall and make their way into the blood stream and lymphatics.

This sets off a series of events in the body, which begins with the liver working over-time to screen out the particles; it has no chance of keeping up with the onslaught, and the pathogens begin to accumulate.

The immune system is then triggered to fight the intruders, but it too becomes overwhelmed, leading to particles being absorbed into body tissues.

This causes inflammation; but even worse, the immune system can attack these intruders, which can lead to autoimmune disease.

The body starts to perceive food as its enemy – the reason we see so many dogs who are allergic or reactive to almost every protein and many vegetables and grains.

This leaves little to choose from when it comes to feeding, in addition to the challenges of allergies to grass, pollen and more; but more importantly, and sadly, the result is an animal who’s in a chronic and constant state of inflammation and distress.