Can you compare protein with protein?

Digestibility and utilisation – these are the keys!

In nature, there are several kinds of protein, which are distinguished by origin, whether they are of animal or vegetable origin. Both kinds are based on amino acids. Most important are the essential amino acids, which cannot be produced by the dog itself. They are used to maintain and establish the body substance. They are important components of organs and tissues. Additionally proteins function as enzymes, hormones and antibodies.

It is not just the quantity, but also the quality and the composition of the amino acids which are of vital importance. For example: a shoe sole consist 100 % of raw protein, but the dog cannot utilise it. The amount of digestible proteins in bones is 33 %, whereas that of meat, the main component of Platinum, is 98 %. The better the proteins are the lower the amount is, that has to be feed to our dogs. Furthermore, the use of highly valuable proteins burdens the metabolism much less with metabolic waste products.

The main part of the digestion of high-value proteins is done in the small intestine and the individual components are already transferred into the blood stream. Low quality proteins (e.g. overheated proteins) do partly reach the large intestine. There, existing micro-organisms break down the proteins and this can cause bloating, which can lead to indigestion and flatulence.

Because the components of the amino acids of animal proteins are more similar to the body´s own proteins of dogs, they can be utilised much better by dogs than vegetable proteins. The more similar the proteins in nutrition are to the own proteins of the body, the more effective they are for building up muscle mass and other important tasks and the better the biologic valence is. The value of protein content in the nutrition is evaluated by two criteria:

	Digestibility: The quantitative transfer inside the intestinal tract is quite important for the feeding. This means which part of the Incoming food is able to pass the intestinal wall.
	Biologic valence: Proteins are of a higher value, the more own body substance can be developed from them.

The challenge to produce a high quality dog food is to provide the dog with a minimum of denatured proteins so that the proteins can be easily absorbed and digested. Thanks to the unique manufacturing process and its high value ingredients, Platinum succeeded in producing a dog Food that satisfies all of these requirements.