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I AND LOVE AND YOU LOVINGLY SIMPLE DOG FOOD Review

Average Score

3.5
4 color scale
I and Love and You Limited Ingredient Lamb & Sweet Potato Dry Dog Food

Food scores are based on ingredient quality and safety. For more information, view our  evaluation criteria.

The Lovingly Simple line of kibble only has one recipe at present,  With a score of 3.5, this line is considered a high risk dog food. It’s a limited ingredient recipe that the company says is good for delicate or sensitive stomachs. 

The line loses ingredient quality points for its level of carbohydrates, calculated as 32%. Dogs have no nutritional need for carbohydrates, and excessive carbohydrate is an indicator of food quality as it can be used to reduce manufacturing cost. Foods that are high in carbs can raise insulin and cause obesity, and may cause changes to gut bacteria.  

There are excessive added vitamins and minerals in the recipe, which reduces the ingredient quality score because it’s best that nutrients come from the whole food ingredients without the need for fortification.  It’s also worth noting that the line contains sodium selenite as a source of selenium. Dogs need selenium, and it’s usually added in very small amounts. However, some research suggests that sodium selenite may be associated with potential toxicity, so selenium yeast is the preferred form of this mineral. 

Another ingredient quality concern is the use of canola and sunflower oils. Seed oils are highly processed and are high in omega-6 fatty acids which have a pro-inflammatory effect. The foods also contain an unspecified animal protein in the form of fish oil. Unnamed animal proteins (like “fish” instead of salmon, herring, or sardine, for example) are usually lower quality. There’s also no mention of whether the fish ingredients (fish oil and salmon meal) are from wild caught or farmed fish. Wild caught fish are more nutritious and have a better fatty acid balance.

When it comes to ingredient safety, the score is reduced because of ultra-processing in kibble. The individual ingredients in dry dog foods are heated several times during processing, which can cause a significant loss of enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. Processed foods are also linked to higher mortality rates in many species. 

Lovingly Simple loses significant ingredient safety points for multiple ingredients known to be high in pesticides/herbicide residues, like peas, lentils, chickpeas and tomato pomace. Legume crops are typically sprayed with Roundup before harvesting and are higher in Roundup than most other foods. In this case they’re further penalized for being in the top 5 ingredients. The company does state their kibble is all non-GMO, but non-GMO doesn’t mean pesticide-free. They also say the proteins are non-GMO< and that’s a difficult claim to make if you don’t specify what the meat animals were fed.  

The line also loses ingredient safety points for natural flavor, which is often either animal digest or MSG, low quality ingredients with limited safety studies. 

Lovingly Simple uses ingredient splitting on their label. Dog food ingredients must be listed by weight, from highest to lowest. In this recipe, dried peas and pea protein are listed individually. There is little difference between these ingredients but listing them separately moves them further down the label to make consumers believe there is more meat (and less peas) in the food than there probably is.  

The line also contains a glam ingredient. These are healthy sounding ingredients listed below the salt on the ingredient list, in this case dried chicory root. Because they’re below the salt on the ingredient list, this foods are present in such small quantities that they don’t provide any health benefits. That’s significant in this line because the company claims it as a prebiotic in the food, but it’s present in a tiny quantity that nay not benefit your dog.

However, it’s good to note that the line contains added probiotics and the label guarantees the amount of CFU (colony forming units). 

Finally, the food does not provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1. 

Lovingly Simple Benefits

Lovingly Simple Concerns

View All Lovingly Simple Dry Dog Foods

I and Love and You Limited Ingredient Lamb & Sweet Potato Dry Dog Food
I and Love and You
I and Love and You Limited Ingredient Lamb & Sweet Potato Dry Dog Food

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