PET | TAO Holistic Pet Products, which combines Western nutritional science with Eastern Food Therapy, has launched a brand new line of treats. PET | TAO treats were created based on the Yin-Yang and Five-Element Theories. The Five-Element Theory is one of the two fundamentals of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) and is a powerful philosophy regarding food.
The Five-Element Theory consists of five distinct element-organ relationships:
- Wood - Liver
- Fire - Heart
- Earth - Spleen
- Metal - Lung
- Water - Kidney
Each of the five groups is associated with a season, direction, organ, emotion, and taste. Food helps promote these major organs, enhance each organs’ function and subsequently support the overall health of the body. This fact is key to understanding the use of the theory in feeding treats. For example, according to the Five-Element Theory, a dog with heart disease needs to strengthen the heart. Strengthening the heart can be accomplished by consuming heart. Additionally, healthy dogs can benefit from mindful treat feeding. Keep their organs strong by rotating treats. Many of these foods are not commonly eaten in Western cultures, yet have been a staple in Eastern culture diets for thousands of years to both maintain harmony and health, and serve as solutions for a variety of health issues.
Western nutritional science has set standards for nutrient profiles and food safety, while correlating nutritional adequacy with disease prevalence. However, the Western world is primarily focused on delivering a convenient, useable product to the consumer by balancing the availability and cost of ingredients, while meeting minimal nutritional standards. These decisions are often made without regard to the effect on the pet’s body.
Unfortunately, most commercial pet foods consist primarily of grains and preservatives, contributing to many common pet health problems, including obesity, tumors, vomiting, diarrhea, skin allergies and more. In contrast, in Eastern Food Therapy, food items are chosen and combined in ways to heal the body as well as keep it in balance. The focus is on the effect the food has on the body after it is eaten. Each food item has energetic properties such as warming, cooling, or flavors that act on the body in certain predictable yet different ways.
