I felt compelled to start a blog because even as a successful veterinarian practitioner for over 15 years, I have never heard of these compounds before… until now. My current journey about the obsession I have developed for nutrition started when I was trying to eat better, get lean and slow down aging (I am 46 now). As a vet student, we were exposed to minimal education about nutrition. We were introduced to Hills science diet and Royal Canine and their numerous types of prescription diets formulated for our patients and even took a tour of their facility where they make their food. For years, I would recommend their diet for different conditions not being aware of the detriments of A.G.Es.

While learning about my own nutrition, I started understanding how some vegetables can have lectins (toxins that naturally plants make to keep predators off) and create a cascade of inflammation in our bodies. So I eliminated those from my diet. I kept going down a rabbit hole learning more about anti aging nutrition and started to follow couple of well renowned human doctors (Dr. Gundry and Dr. Eric Berg). I have always heard about highly processed this and highly processed that…………… but in reality, WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT REALLY MEAN? When I learned about A.G.Es, it all made sense.

There two types of A.G.Es:

• Endogenous (made inside the body)
• Exogenous (made outside of the body)

Both of these can harm our bodies long term and cause fast aging, disease and cancer.

Endogenous A.G.Es form when there is high sugar (like high carb fed daily with kibble) circulate in our bloodstream for a while, they combine with either one protein or one fat molecule and they become GLYCATED (glucose-protein/fat bond). They form a strong irreversible bond. When the doctor measures your A1C for risk of diabetes, is measuring an A.G.E. High glucose circulating in your body long term binds to a hemoglobin protein and becomes glycated. In animals the A.G.E we measure is called FRUCTOSAMINE.

A.G.E compounds are sticky and abnormal and circulate in the body binding to collagen, DNA, or blood vessels. The immune system detects these and starts creating an inflammatory reaction trying to get rid of them, damaging other cells next to them. Long term, our body can’t keep up with these and many conditions such as kidney disease, tumors, and collagen damage occur. Diabetic animals and people have a really high amount of sugar in their blood causing a excessive amount of A.G.Es formation. This will explain why they get so many co-morbidities secondary to the high glucose in their blood.

Exogenous A.G.Es are fed to us or to our pets. They are made outside the body by cooking. Dry kibble food is heated 4 TIMES before it is converted into kibble at high temperatures. Canned food is heated as well before is canned. LOTS of. A.G.Es are formed, and we feed them to our pets daily, twice a day. A nice steak or a fried chicken makes thousands of A.G.Es, and we humans ingest daily.

The less heating the food is cooked, the less A.G.Es are given to your pet, the less inflammation. It is not too late to stop giving your dog kibble. I recommend you provide a home made balanced diet (please talk to your veterinarian) low in carbs (sugars) and heated at low heat (croc pot) for a short amount of time. Balanceit.com can provide you with guidance on recipes for your pet or your veterinarian.

References:

Advanced glycation end products in foods and a practical guide to their reduction in the diet – PubMed (nih.gov)

Urinary excretion of advanced glycation end products in dogs and cats – PMC (nih.gov)

Toxicity of advanced glycation end products (Review) (spandidos-publications.com)