{"id":4903,"date":"2021-03-08T12:07:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T17:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefarmersdog.com\/digest\/?p=4903"},"modified":"2025-01-14T18:14:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T18:14:50","slug":"the-science-of-fresh-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes when you change something, you don’t notice a big impact right away. It’s often these changes that are the most powerful, and lasting. <\/p>

When you feed your dog fresh food, the changes may not be visibly dramatic immediately, but the science is clear—fresh food has real benefits that, short-term and long-term, can contribute to your dog’s health span. <\/p>

Think of it as a vitality plan—you add to it each day and the results compound over your dog’s life. <\/p>

Here are some of the seemingly “invisible,” yet potentially health-boosting benefits of feeding precisely portioned, human-grade food.<\/a><\/p>

Easy weight management for the best shot at a long, healthy life<\/h4>

Our fresh-food plans are precisely portioned for your dog’s unique needs, making weight management straightforward. Maintaining a healthy weight is a proven longevity booster—research<\/a> shows that lean dogs can live up to 2.5 years longer!
\nAnd keeping your dog at the right weight can help stave off a raft of health issues—including arthritis. Studies show<\/a> that even a small weight reduction can alleviate this painful condition. <\/p>

Our fresh recipes also contain healthy Omega-3 fatty acids, powerful nutrients that can support joint health. And because our food is lightly cooked, it means your dog actually gets these benefits.
\n<\/p>

\"\"<\/h4>

Nutrients that promote a healthy heart<\/h4>

Our fresh recipes start with real muscle and organ meat (instead of the powdered “meals” in kibble) and we gently cook them at low temperatures. This means the food retains more of its important nutrients, including the amino sulfonic acid, taurine. (We also supplement our food with taurine for extra peace of mind.) Research has shown that this compound may be associated with keeping canine hearts healthy and ward off heart ailments like DCM<\/a>. <\/p>

Proven immunity boosters<\/h4>

Our fresh food is gently cooked, instead of highly processed at high heat, like kibble. This gentle cooking method ensures our food is safe for dogs to eat, while preserving vital nutrients which can help support their immune system function.<\/p>

The powerhouse Omega-3 fatty acids in our fresh recipes are like nutritional Swiss Army knives—they work on so many areas of your dog’s health. Recent research<\/span><\/a> show that these same long-chain fatty acids that provide glorious gloss to your dog’s coat and help brain health, can also boost immune function. And because our food is lightly cooked, it better retains these powerful nutrients.
\n<\/p>

The phytonutrients found in fresh, gently cooked vegetables (like the carrots and sweet potatoes in our food) have also been shown<\/a> to improve immune system function in dogs. <\/p>

\"\"<\/h4>

Quality protein that can make for a better mood<\/h4>

Fresh, high-quality protein does more than safeguard your dog’s heart health. Research has shown that real food with real meat is more digestible than rendered scraps and provides nutrients that can affect<\/a> mood-related hormones like serotonin. That means a happier dog.<\/p>

We hear it all the time from customers—when they start feeding fresh their dog’s physical health improves, but along the way they also notice a big change in their behavior. And nothing beats a smiling dog. <\/p>

Proven highly digestible<\/h4>

All our recipes are clinically proven to be highly digestible. Digestibility is an important indicator of a food’s quality—it means how much of a food’s nutritional value can be absorbed into an animal’s bloodstream.<\/p>

Your dog absorbs more nutrients from fresh, gently cooked food than highly processed options, which is a big health-booster—and dogs eating it produce smaller poops!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The invisible yet powerful benefits of feeding your dog fresh food, including better joints, improved immunity, and a healthier heart. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[234,167,174],"tags":[194],"class_list":["post-4903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fresh-food","category-health","category-nutrition","tag-fresh-food"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food - The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The invisible yet powerful benefits of feeding your dog fresh food, including better joints, improved immunity, and a healthier heart.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The invisible yet powerful benefits of feeding your dog fresh food, including better joints, improved immunity, and a healthier heart.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thefarmersdog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-08T17:07:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-14T18:14:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Dog-green-field-1024x685.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"685\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Farmer's Dog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@thefarmersdog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@thefarmersdog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Farmer's Dog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Farmer's Dog\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb41ee744d2227c8d6d8263c2313476a\"},\"headline\":\"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-08T17:07:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-14T18:14:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":591,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Dog-green-field_lwsoptimized.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"fresh food\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Fresh Food\",\"Health\",\"Nutrition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/\",\"name\":\"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food - The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Dog-green-field_lwsoptimized.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-08T17:07:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-14T18:14:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"The invisible yet powerful benefits of feeding your dog fresh food, including better joints, improved immunity, and a healthier heart.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Dog-green-field_lwsoptimized.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Dog-green-field_lwsoptimized.webp\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1338,\"caption\":\"Dog,On,The,Field,In,Cabbage.,Funny,Jack,Russell,Terrier.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/the-science-of-fresh-food\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digestwp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/logo-banner.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digestwp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/logo-banner.png\",\"width\":149,\"height\":135,\"caption\":\"The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/thefarmersdog\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/thefarmersdog\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stage.tfd.engineering\\\/digest\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb41ee744d2227c8d6d8263c2313476a\",\"name\":\"The Farmer's Dog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e6c7080e9d7c566f2060d26f36521ac1fce888b98307b6ad09890acafe98ffef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e6c7080e9d7c566f2060d26f36521ac1fce888b98307b6ad09890acafe98ffef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e6c7080e9d7c566f2060d26f36521ac1fce888b98307b6ad09890acafe98ffef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Farmer's Dog\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food - The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest","description":"The invisible yet powerful benefits of feeding your dog fresh food, including better joints, improved immunity, and a healthier heart.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food","og_description":"The invisible yet powerful benefits of feeding your dog fresh food, including better joints, improved immunity, and a healthier heart.","og_url":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/","og_site_name":"The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thefarmersdog\/","article_published_time":"2021-03-08T17:07:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-14T18:14:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":685,"url":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Dog-green-field-1024x685.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Farmer's Dog","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@thefarmersdog","twitter_site":"@thefarmersdog","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Farmer's Dog","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/"},"author":{"name":"The Farmer's Dog","@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/#\/schema\/person\/fb41ee744d2227c8d6d8263c2313476a"},"headline":"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food","datePublished":"2021-03-08T17:07:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-14T18:14:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/"},"wordCount":591,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Dog-green-field_lwsoptimized.webp","keywords":["fresh food"],"articleSection":["Fresh Food","Health","Nutrition"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/","url":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/","name":"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food - The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Dog-green-field_lwsoptimized.webp","datePublished":"2021-03-08T17:07:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-14T18:14:50+00:00","description":"The invisible yet powerful benefits of feeding your dog fresh food, including better joints, improved immunity, and a healthier heart.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Dog-green-field_lwsoptimized.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Dog-green-field_lwsoptimized.webp","width":2000,"height":1338,"caption":"Dog,On,The,Field,In,Cabbage.,Funny,Jack,Russell,Terrier."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/the-science-of-fresh-food\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 Science-Backed Benefits of Fresh Food"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/#website","url":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/","name":"The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/#organization","name":"The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest","url":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digestwp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/logo-banner.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digestwp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/logo-banner.png","width":149,"height":135,"caption":"The Farmer\u2019s Dog - Digest"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thefarmersdog\/","https:\/\/x.com\/thefarmersdog"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/#\/schema\/person\/fb41ee744d2227c8d6d8263c2313476a","name":"The Farmer's Dog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6c7080e9d7c566f2060d26f36521ac1fce888b98307b6ad09890acafe98ffef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6c7080e9d7c566f2060d26f36521ac1fce888b98307b6ad09890acafe98ffef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6c7080e9d7c566f2060d26f36521ac1fce888b98307b6ad09890acafe98ffef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Farmer's Dog"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13812,"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4903\/revisions\/13812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.tfd.engineering\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}