FUNCTIONAL HEALTH GUIDE -- NUTRITION

Functional Health — Your Pet’s Nutrition

A Longevity-Focused Guide for Dogs & Cats
By Dr. Kevin Toman, The Longevity Vet

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Why Nutrition Is a Functional Health Issue

Nutrition is not just fuel.
It is information.

Every meal sends metabolic signals that influence:

  • inflammation

  • immune balance

  • insulin and glycemic control

  • kidney and urinary chemistry

  • microbiome health

  • cancer risk

  • lifespan and healthspan

Functional nutrition asks a different question than traditional feeding advice:

“What diet best supports this individual pet’s biology over time?”

This worksheet is a decision-support tool, not a prescription diet.
It is organized around The 3 Core Goals.

The 3 Core Goals

This worksheet is designed to help you:

  1. Clarify what matters most right now

  2. Determine the next best test 

  3. Choose the most appropriate next step

Core Goal 1: Clarify What Matters Most Right Now

The Core Principle: Food as a Biologic Signal

Food actively shapes physiology every day. Functional nutrition evaluates how diet affects:

  • inflammatory signaling

  • glycemic load and insulin response

  • digestibility and nutrient bioavailability

  • microbiome balance

  • immune reactivity

  • urinary pH and mineral balance

  • long-term organ stress

There is no universally “best” diet—only the best match for your pet’s current biology.

Where Diet Most Often Goes Wrong

Ultra-processed foods (most kibble):

  • cooked at high heat and pressure

  • fats oxidized during coating

  • proteins denatured

  • Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) formed

AGEs are pro-inflammatory molecules linked across species to:

  • accelerated aging

  • insulin resistance

  • kidney stress

  • cardiovascular disease

  • cancer progression

Chronic exposure increases long-term inflammatory burden.

When Less-Processed Foods Help

Minimally processed diets (gently cooked, balanced home-prepared, or carefully selected raw) often offer:

  • higher nutrient bioavailability

  • lower inflammatory load

  • better glycemic control

  • improved stool quality

  • better skin, coat, and energy

For many HPLL households, gently cooked diets offer the best balance of nutritional integrity and safety.

Core Goal 2: Determine the Next Best Test 

Functional nutrition is measurable. We do not guess.

Tests That Help Match Diet to Biology

  • CBC & comprehensive chemistry

  • Urinalysis (pH + sediment are critical)

  • SDMA (early kidney stress)

  • Phosphorus

  • Cholesterol & triglycerides

  • Blood glucose ± fructosamine

  • Taurine (cats and at-risk dogs)

  • B12 & folate (absorption markers)

  • Fecal analysis or microbiome testing (selected cases)

These data help determine:

  • protein tolerance

  • carbohydrate handling

  • kidney and urinary safety

  • inflammatory burden

  • absorption efficiency

Without data, nutrition decisions are guesses.

Diet Categories That Require Extra Scrutiny

Raw diets

  • benefits: digestibility, palatability, low carb load

  • risks: bacterial contamination, toxoplasmosis (cats, pregnant or immunocompromised humans)

Raw feeding is not inherently wrong—but must be carefully sourced, handled, and balanced.

Home-cooked diets

  • powerful longevity tools

  • commonly deficient if unbalanced

Mandatory rule:

Home-cooked diets must be professionally balanced.

Services like BalanceIt.com adjust recipes for:

  • species

  • age

  • size

  • disease state

Home-cooked + balanced = one of the most powerful nutrition strategies available.

Core Goal 3: Choose the Most Appropriate Next Step

Protein Simplicity & Immune Clarity

Food allergy and intolerance are driven by immune recognition of proteins.

Single-protein, limited-ingredient diets help:

  • reduce immune stimulation

  • improve skin and ear disease

  • stabilize GI signs

  • identify triggers

Especially valuable in pets with:

  • chronic itching or ear infections

  • vomiting or diarrhea

  • anal gland disease

Simplicity creates clarity.

Vegetarian Diets: Clear Boundaries

Dogs

  • can thrive on properly formulated vegetarian diets

  • useful in selected allergy or inflammatory cases

Cats

  • obligate carnivores

  • cannot safely be vegetarian

Cats require animal-derived nutrients including taurine, arachidonic acid, retinol, and specific amino acids. There is no safe workaround.

Taurine & the Grain-Free Confusion

Taurine deficiency is linked to:

  • dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM)

  • retinal degeneration

  • weakness and lethargy

Risk factors include:

  • poorly formulated grain-free diets

  • exotic or novel proteins

  • heavy legume content

  • unbalanced home-cooked diets

This is a formulation problem, not a grain problem.
Functional nutrition focuses on measured adequacy, not marketing trends.

Diet & Urinary Health: Where Mistakes Become Emergencies

Diet directly affects:

  • urinary pH

  • mineral concentration

  • hydration

Male cats are uniquely vulnerable.

Crystals or stones can lodge in the narrow urethra and cause life-threatening blockage within 24–72 hours.

Longevity nutrition for male cats requires:

  • high moisture intake

  • careful mineral balance

  • avoidance of excessive dry food

  • ongoing urinalysis monitoring

These are not optional choices—they are survival decisions.

Putting It Together: How to Use This Worksheet

Monitor With Intention When:

  • labs are normal

  • weight and appetite are stable

  • no urinary, skin, or GI red flags

Add Targeted Nutrition Changes When:

  • inflammation, weight, or GI signs emerge

  • early kidney or urinary trends appear

  • food sensitivity is suspected

Escalate When:

  • multiple systems are involved

  • urinary or kidney markers are abnormal

  • diet changes feel confusing or conflicting

  • you want a long-term, integrated plan

When to Escalate Beyond the Worksheet

A PET LONGEVITY CONSULT  is appropriate when:

  • nutrition must balance kidney, heart, urinary, or metabolic disease

  • home-cooked or specialty diets are being considered

  • supplements and prescription longevity tools need coordination


Start a Pet Longevity Consult

For ongoing adjustment, monitoring, and oversight:

Explore Longevity Protocols

Your Next Step

Most pet parents start with:

  • Functional Health — Foundations to establish baseline risk

  • then layer in nutrition decisions with data, not guesswork

There is no perfect diet—only the right diet for your pet today, adjusted over time.

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The Functional Nutrition Takeaway

Longevity nutrition is not about extremes.
It is about:

  • precision

  • balance

  • measurement

  • adjustment

Your pet’s diet can quiet inflammation, reduce disease risk, and extend healthy years—but only when it is thoughtful, balanced, monitored, and individualized.

Nutrition is not just what your pet eats.
It is how long—and how well—they live.

 

About These Worksheets


This worksheet is part of the Functional Health system developed at PetFunctionHealth.com, designed to identify early decline and guide long-term longevity strategy.

 

Dr. Kevin

The Longevity Vet