SINGLE-PROTEIN FOODS ARE NO LONGER DIGESTIBLE AND DO NOT PREVENT INTOLERANCES

The term single-protein is used, sometimes improperly, to mean a feed that contains only one protein source, thus deemed safe for suspected allergic reactions…. But let’s have clarity!

WHAT IS MEANT BY SINGLE-PROTEIN

The MONOPROTEIC claim is approved when we want to emphasize the presence of only one source of protein of animal origin. However, multi-ingredient commercial foods also contain plant-based sources of protein contributed, precisely, by ingredients such as grains, vegetables, or supplements in the formula.

Improperly very often these types of foods are credited with not causing adverse reactions to food, such as hypersensitivity, intolerance, or food allergy. However, this is not always the case: there are many molecules to which an animal can develop a reaction, and choosing to avoid an “offending” protein will not always solve the problem.

HOW TO TELL IF THERE IS AN INTOLERANCE

The only method of averting and possibly repairing the damage of a food-averse ration (of any origin) is a diet that is called “exclusionary,” which must be prescribed and followed by the supervision of a veterinary doctor. Then to confirm what were the suspicions it will have to be replaced with a so-called “provocative” diet, which can then evoke any positive or negative responses from the patient.

Specifically, an “exclusion” diet works precisely by excluding all foods already consumed by the animal up to that point, providing new ingredients for its immune system, and evaluating the responses these create. Generally it is good to introduce each of the ingredients leaving a few days before introducing the next one. In this way it is possible to better monitor reactions and attribute them to the right “culprit.”

Many recent studies* highlight how, on the other hand, most of the often “incriminated” animal proteins are not recognized as causing intolerances and also how it is, in practical terms, difficult to establish this through the use of commercial single-protein diets, precisely, due to the presence of numerous potentially reactive compounds.

In fact, the culprit for such reactions is not always the single protein source; very often it is more properly intolerances, dose-dependent, toward different substances that may be present in the food.

LIMITATIONS OF A SINGLE-PROTEIN DIET

A single-protein diet, prolonged over a period of time, could cause deficiencies, including nutritional deficiencies of substances that are added but are clearly less bioavailable than they would be in fresh foods of high nutritional value.

It has also been seen that, on the contrary, a varied diet through the intake of different sources promotes: proper functioning of microbial flora and adequate intestinal barrier permeability. Two factors, these, key to the well-being not only of the gut but of the entire body, implicated in the development of allergic and inflammatory diseases.

HOW TO VARY WITH EASE

How then to make a diet varied but also practical? The use of complementary wet foods, for example, allows different sources to be combined with the main, complete food (usually dry, for convenience and practicality) according to preference, which may also vary from day to day or from meal to meal; but also the use of a complete commercial food composed of different sources that go to balance the formula and provide nutrients with different characteristics from each other, to which it is always preferable to accompany the use of wet food, for more water and freshness.

Dr. Alessandra Calini
Veterinary physician with expertise in nutrition

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES:
*https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/vde.1