Clinical Nutrition

Clinical Nutrition Preventive Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Nutraceutical Medicine, Glandular Therapy

Preventive Nutrition. Preventive nutrition recognizes and compensates for deficiencies of key nutrients that can eventually lead to multiple and possibly irreversible health problems. Correct and balanced nutrition is the foundation for good health in your pet. For maximal effectiveness, food management must allow for the biochemical individuality of each animal. Dietary programs must include nutritional supplementation for borderline deficiencies that may not be evident. The combination of basic and preventive nutrition is a safe, effective approach that both reduces potential health problems and optimizes the well-being of the animal (C.A.V.M.).

Nutritional Therapy (Therapeutic Nutrition). Nutritional Therapy is the practice of using food or food products such as vitamins, minerals, oils, and amino acids in an attempt to alter the course of a disease process. Foods may have properties such as hot, cold, moistening, and drying (A.H.V.M.A.). These are Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts. Understanding these concepts can help the veterinarian to modify a pet's response to a disease process or a metabolic imbalance. Nutritional Therapy represents the integration of the nutraceutical and natural medicinal remedies into conventional medical practice (B.N.A.).

Nutraceutical Medicine. Nutraceutical medicine is the use of micronutrients, macronutrients, and other nutritional supplements as therapeutic agents (A.V.M.A.). The term nutraceutical comes from a combination of nutrition and pharmaceutical. Nutraceuticals are often highly refined chemically isolated individual compounds derived from natural substances. They are not new chemical compounds like pharmaceuticals, rather they are substances found in nature (A.H.V.M.A.).

Glandular Therapy. Glandular materials have tissue-specific activity and contain physiologically active substances capable of exerting significant biologic and therapeutic effects. Whole glandulars may represent tomorrow's pharmaceutical advances - today. Popular hormones such as insulin and thyroxine are commonly derived from animal glands (usually hogs or cattle). Bionutrtional Therapy uses whole glandulars (containing cells, cell extracts, and antibodies), combined with nutrients (containing vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and nutriceuticals) to promote cellular and tissue regeneration (C.A.V.M., B.N.A.).