When you look through the ingredient list of any of our Nutram Optimum Combinations you'll notice that many of the ingredients are things that you yourself would consume. This is because if something is good for you, why not share its goodness with your pet too! With the holiday season coming up there are a lot of treats that are off limits to our cats and dogs, such as chocolate or candy. Luckily one festive ingredient is available to our pets and is in some of our recipes: peppermint! Not only is peppermint extremely refreshing, but it also happens to be full of health benefits! 

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Minty fresh peppermint is a very versatile ingredient, containing a whole slew of key nutrients. It's a great source of copper, iodine, inositol, iron, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins A and C, which are all necessary for your cat or dog's healthy functioning. Aside from being full of these essential vitamins and minerals, peppermint boasts some other very important health benefits. 

It's been found that peppermint just so happens to contain a high volume of anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants have been shown to demonstrate many different beneficial effects for pets, such as fighting against age-related neurodegeneration and carcinogenesis. This means that peppermint helps to protect your pooch or kitty from the negative cognitive side effects of aging, as well as from diseases, such as cancer. 

While we love our canine best friends, they sometimes have horrible breath! We know they can't help it, so if there's anything we can do to help this problem, then as pet parents we will do it! Peppermint is not only a great flavour enhancer, but it serves to freshen our pet's breath as well! When you think of the gum we chew, and our favourite toothpaste flavours, this completely makes sense. If peppermint helps our breath, then why wouldn't it help our pet's too?

The main benefit of peppermint, is its soothing effect on our pet's gastointestinal system. Have you ever found that drinking peppermint tea helps to ease your own stomach? Well, the same rules apply to your pet! Peppermint is great for calming a cat or dog's upset stomach. Peppermint serves as an antisposmadic, meaning that it relaxes the muscles of the stomach. Not only does this relaxation soothe the stomach, but it improves the digestive process by allowing the flow of bile, which helps the body digest. If your pet tends to get gassy, including peppermint in their diet should help! It's been shown that peppermint helps to decrease flatulence in dogs! 

Our recipes that feature peppermint: 

• S2 Nutram Sound Balanced Wellness Natural Puppy Food
• S5 Nutram Sound Balanced Wellness Adult and Senior Natural Cat Food
• S6 Nutram Sound Balanced Wellness Adult Natural Dog Food
• S7 Nutram Sound Balanced Wellness Small Breed Natural Dog Food
• S8 Nutram Sound Balanced Wellness Large Breed Adult Natural Dog Food
• T23 Nutram Total Grain-Free Chicken and Turkey Recipe Dog Food
• T27 Nutram Total Grain-Free Chicken & Turkey Dog Food

What recipe is the best option for your pet? Take our Nutram Number quiz to find out!

Header Image via Forest and Kim Starr on Flickr