It is impossible to eat a deliciously-looking meal alone with your dog in the same space. They will stare at you with eyes that show how desperately they want to join you. As a good pet owner, you usually don’t deny them a bite or two. But, what if what you’re eating at that time is kimchi? Can dogs eat kimchi, or will it be harmful to them?
The possibility of a dog eating kimchi and not getting affected is very slim. Kimchi has significant health advantages for humans. But, we can’t say the same for dogs. Dogs can eat it too, but it has to be onions and garlic-free.
This article will tell you what kimchi is and what happens when you give your dog kimchi. Read more to learn.
What Is Kimchi?
Kimchi is a Korean side dish. Its major ingredients are salt and fermented vegetables like cabbage and radishes with a mixture of other seasoning and spices. It is an essential meal in Korean families and gradually gaining popularity in other parts of the world.
Usually, they serve kimchi as a side meal, alongside your main. However, you can still take it as your main meal.
Fermented food such as kimchi, pickles, and sauerkraut contain probiotics. It is a beneficial bacteria that keep your digestive system fresh. Also, it helps in maintaining your teeth and decreasing blood pressure. Aside from the listed, other significant health benefits are associated with probiotics.
A Brief History of Kimchi.
The creation of kimchi was over 3000 years ago, and it is a traditional Korean dish. It started when Koreans fermented and stored vegetables when hunger killed many of them in the winter. Kimchi is so important to the South Koreans that they sent it along with their first astronaut launch to space in 2008.
The dish was void of spices from its origination. There was no mention of ginger, garlic, or what currently makes kimchi spicy. As ages changed, the taste of kimchi moved along till it is what it is now.
Can Dogs Eat Kimchi?
You can feed your dog a little amount of kimchi as it is not spicy. However, some contents of kimchi, like garlic and ginger, are not healthy for your dog. So when feeding kimchi to your dog, you should watch the moderation of the spice and quantity you feed them.
Concerned dog owners usually ask can dogs eat kimchi? To understand the basics of the above facts, we will break down how dogs react to the parts of kimchi. The key aspects of this dish are vegetables and fermented food. But, since this age makes kimchi spicy, we will look at that too.
Vegetables and Dogs.
Vegetables are great for dogs. However, it is important to know that not every vegetable is good for your dog. Some of them are very toxic, and you will be endangering your pet if you feed them with it.
Cabbage is the main vegetable for kimchi, although some people use other vegetables to make this dish. Whichever vegetable you use, it is mostly mixed with other vegetables. So, it is essential to examine them one after another to confirm how safe they are for dogs.
Vegetables like garlic and onions are harmful to dogs. A negligible amount of garlic and onions in a dog’s system can damage many things if not sorted early. However, when your dog takes too many onions, it can harm its red blood cells. This can lead to issues such as anemia, which is a critical health condition.
If your dog has anemia, it means that the dog’s red blood cells destroy faster, even more than it can recreate them. Therefore, the possibility of your dog dying is very high as the dog gets poisoned. Your dog reacts the same way to garlic.
Kimchi does not contain too much garlic and onion, but it is not enough reason to take that chance. So, it is safer to keep both garlic and onions away from your dog completely.
Cabbage is a vegetable that is great for dogs. You can feed your dog in large quantities without it having any side effects. It has a large number of health benefits for both dogs and humans.
Fermented Food and Dogs.
Fermented food is safe for your dog. Your dog can eat an overstayed snack or anything from the garbage, and it is not harmful to them. It looks or sounds irritating, but the dog system permits it, and it even has healthful bacteria for them.
Wild dogs go as far as eating the fermented animal body. The stomach part holds plenty of nutrients for them. So, before you domesticate some dogs, they might have gotten a level of indigestible antioxidants and phytonutrients. They got this from what they ate from the digestive organs of their prey.
Probiotics are healthful for dogs as much as they ate for humans. Fermented food has a load of probiotics in them. So, kimchi promotes your dogs’ health and boosts their immune system.
Furthermore, fermented food has detoxifiers in them that help flush poisons out of your dog’s system. Their content also includes enzymes that participate in the production of important choline, acetylcholine, amino acids, and choline. Also, it contains vitamins like vitamin C, K2, and B complex.
Additionally, when food ferments, it produces lactic acid. Lactic acid helps in slowing down cancer cells from growing and preventing cancer. We can categorically say that fermented food is great for dogs.
Spice and Dogs.
You should never serve spicy food for dogs. They don’t have a well-equipped system to deal with spicy food.
With this, you should know the kimchi that is safe to give to your dog. Kimchi is good for your dog in the absence of garlic, onion, and spice. We advise that if you must give your dog kimchi, hand make it for them.
When you are giving your dog kimchi, you may have to start with a negligible quantity and monitor their reaction to it. Then, if the reaction is positive, you can start increasing the quantity.
How to prepare kimchi.
Home-made kimchi is not tasking, but it requires time and patience. The unique procedure for making kimchi includes fermenting vegetables. Fermenting was an excellent food preserving method long before they invented the refrigerator. We will take you through 7steps to make kimchi.
- Step One: Cut the cabbage
The first step to making kimchi is getting a knife, a cutting board, and 4 napa cabbages. Clean-cut the cabbage cores, split each of the cabbages into half and cut 2inches through the middle of each half. The cabbage leaves should be free and still connected to the core so that you can salt the cabbage when it’s time.
- Step Two: Soak the cabbage.
The next thing is to wet the cabbage leaves by soaking them in water. Take it out, put on your gloves and apply salt through the cabbage leaves. Allow the salt to gain good penetration through the cabbage for 2hours. Then, turn over the cabbage every 30minutes till the cabbage becomes soft.
Rinse off the salt and dirt from the cabbage after 2hours. Then, cut each of the cabbage into another half and properly empty it from water.
- Step Three: Make the Paste
Now you have to make kimchi paste with a combination of sweet rice flavor and water in a pan. After an excellent mixture, allow it to cook for 10 minutes until it bubbles. Then you add sugar and let it cook for additional 1minutes while you continuously stir it. Finally, turn it off into a mixing bowl and allow it to cool off.
- Step four: Prepare other vegetables.
The fourth step is peeling carrots and daikon, cutting them thin, chop green onions, and keep them apart. Now, put ginger, garlic, and white onions in a food processor and process them to look like a paste.
- Step five: Mix the ingredients
For the fifth step, put the mixture from the processor and fish sauce into the completely cold paste base. Also, add your preferred seafood and hot pepper flakes according to how spicy you want them. It will give your kimchi a red look. Then, put in the carrots, daikon, and green onions and mix it properly.
- Step Six: Mix the Kimchi
The sixth step is pressing each cabbage into the kimchi paste till every part is completely covered by the paste. Then take them out and pull leaves towards the core. Finally, put each cabbage you have soaked in a container.
- Step Seven: Ferment
The last thing to do is cover it and allow it to stay for 1 or 2 days a room temperature to ferment. Afterward, push the kimchi to check if it has fermented. If it produces bubbles, then it has. Then you can put it in the fridge to enhance slower fermentation.
Kimchi Recipe for Dogs:
1. Mixture of salt and herbs
- 2 teaspoons of sea salt
- 4 cups of water
- 2 tablespoons of sesame seed
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
- 2table spoon of ground ginger root
2.Fruits (take out all the seeds)
Apples, bell peppers, and pears.
3.Vegetables
Green cabbage, red cabbage, Napa cabbage, carrots, red radishes, daikon radish, and tomato.
4.Fermentation
Add up the mixture of salt and herbs with the fruits and vegetables in an accommodating can. Cover the can with a slight opening and keep it for 5days in a room temperature, allowing it to ferment.
5. Storage
Refrigerate the kimchi after 5 days.
6. Feeding
Mix kimchi with your dog’s regular food and feed it daily.
With this, you don’t have to worry anymore about your dog’s safety with kimchi. This recipe is completely free from the substance that can be harmful to your dog.
What Happens when a Dog Eats Kimchi or Fermented Vegetables?
When dogs eat fermented food, probiotics, which generates from fermented vegetables, help them digest food. Also, it decreases the chances of them having diarrhea.
The same probiotic is in some supplements your veterinarian proposal for your dog. Nutrients in fermented vegetables include enzymes, vitamin B, C, K, and lactic acid. So you will save money if you let your dog eat fermented food.
The benefits of fermented vegetables are:
- Better weight control
- Leveling of blood sugars
- Healthier dentition
- Stronger immune system
- Minimal skin infection
- Security from leech
- Lessens the possibility of stomach ulcer
- Lessens the possibility of hypothyroidism
Conclusion.
Kimchi is safe for your dog with all its wealth of health benefits. In fact, it’s an excellent addition to your dog’s daily meal. Your dog can maximize its strength and usefulness with kimchi as a part of its diet. So, the question of can dogs eat kimchi shouldn’t worry you again.
But, the kimchi you feed your dog should not have as much as a drop of onion and garlic in it. Also, it should be spice-free. Give your dog enough fermented food because it is good for their health. The healthiest fact of kimchi for your dog is that it gets fermented.