What is NRC? What is their role in dog nutrition?

NRC stands for National Research Council and is an operating agency of the National Academics of the USA. National Academics is a not-for-profit private organisation dedicated to science and technology and its usage for the welfare of humanity.

NRC took the initiative to support research on dog and cat nutrition. Every few years, they study and curate new research in dog and cat nutrition and health and publish a complete book on nutrient guidelines for dogs and cats.

It is the best and most comprehensive dog and cat nutrition resource. That is why the two major nutrient guidelines for commercial foods, FEDIAF (European Pet Food Industry Federation) and the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials), treat NRC as the gold standard in dog and cat nutrition and base their guidelines on it.

NRC nutritional requirement for adult dogs

For dogs, NRC publishes nutritional requirements for adult dogs and puppies. This article will talk about the adult dogs. 

An adult dog requires two categories of nutrients for optimal health - Macronutrients and Micronutrients. 

Macronutrients: 

Macronutrients are the nutrients needed in larger quantities, which mainly contribute to a dog’s day-to-day energy needs and other bodily functions. There are three primary macronutrients: protein, fats, and carbohydrates.

Protein and amino acids:

Proteins are amino acids that are the primary staple food of the dog (carnivore). Protein serves two major purposes:

1. It provides essential amino acids that a dog cannot synthesise (essential amino acids) but are required for protein synthesis, the creation of enzymes, the creation of hormones, and energy.  

2. Protein provides dispensable amino acids (that can be synthesised if appropriate nitrogen and carbon sources are provided) that animals need for maintenance, growth, gestation, and lactation. Dispensable amino acids provide nitrogen and carbon for the synthesis of any needed dispensable amino acid and carbon for gluconeogenesis and energy.

Protein is essential for good organ and tissue health, a strong immune system, healthy skin, and a shiny coat. Plant proteins are considered ‘incomplete’ as they lack amino acids l-carnitine and taurine. Also, plant proteins come with a lot of carbohydrates, which again is not needed (or in substantial quantities). 

Amino Acids: Proteins comprise 22 smaller building blocks called amino acids. Some amino acids can be manufactured within the body, and some must be obtained through the diet. (Dogs can synthesise 12 amino acids on their own, while cats can synthesise 11.) The amino acids that cannot be synthesised are known as essential amino acids: histidine, methionine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, leucine, tryptophan, arginine, valine, lysine, threonine, and taurine (cats only).

Essential Amino Acids: 

NRC mentions the following protein recommendations for adult dogs per 1000kcal consumed:

Minimum: 20g

Recommended Allowance: 25g

Fat and fatty acids:

Dietary fats provide a concentrated energy source for storage and utilisation and supply essential fatty acids (EFAs) that are not otherwise synthesised. They also serve as carriers for fat-soluble vitamins and thus provide vital substrates in cell processes during all life stages.

Fats in diets also improve palatability, especially animal fat used in homemade diets. Fat is also highly digestible, depending on the type and amount and the presence of other dietary components. Dietary n-3 fatty acids help decrease the risk of coronary artery disease. Multiple studies highlight the importance of fatty acids for optimal health.

Fatty acids: Essential fatty acids (EFAs) or their derivatives are required for optimal growth and physiologic integrity and cannot be synthesised adequately by the body.

Essential fatty acids:

NRC mentions the following fat recommendations for adult dogs per 1000kcal consumed:

Minimum: 13.8g

Maximum: 82.5g

Carbohydrates:

As per NRC, dogs do not require carbohydrates except for puppies and pregnant/lactating mothers. However, most canine nutritionists, books and research papers, like ‘The Forever Dog’, recommend 10-20% of daily calorie intake can come from healthy carbohydrates. 

Dietary carbohydrates include sugars, starches, and dietary fibres. Sugars can be absorbed directly and, therefore, do not require hydrolysis by gastric enzymes. Dogs can make glucose from protein so dietary sugar is not needed. Starches are chains of glucose molecules that convert to sugar in the digestive system. Again, they are not needed as their main contribution is energy.

Fiber are roughage or non-digested food ingredients that beneficially affect the dog by stimulating the growth and activity of several bacterial species in the gut, known as microbiomes. Recent research on the gut microbiome validates this and encourages fibre in all dog’s diets.

For ease of reference, sugars (sucrose, fructose, sugars) and starches are bad carbohydrates. Dietary fibres are good carbohydrates as they contribute to faecal bulking, reduce intestinal transit time, and help grow the gut microbiome.

Micronutrients:

Micronutrients are essential nutrients needed in small quantities and generally used by the body for non-energy purposes. The micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. 

Vitamins: 

Vitamins are broadly classified in ‘Fat Soluble’ and ‘Water Soluble’. As the name suggests, the fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed along with food lipids (fats), and the water-soluble vitamins are absorbed along with water. Avoid giving extra vitamins, especially fat-soluble ones, as their excess quantities cannot get washed away in urine.

Every vitamin plays a different role in our body, and we will cover each vitamin and its functionality in detail in later articles. 

Here is the dog's daily vitamin requirement for 1000 kcal.

Minerals: 

Minerals are naturally occurring elements or compounds found in food that have a definite function in our body for growth and maintenance. Macrominerals are needed in larger quantities, and micronutrients are required in small quantities in dogs. We will cover nutrients in detail in our future articles. Here is the the daily requirement:

Balance homemade meals as per NRC requirements:

All the nutrient requirements, macro and micronutrients mentioned above are for adult dogs per 1000 kcal consumed. 

So, if your dog consumes 1500 kcal a day, multiply the recommended allowance by 1.5, i.e., 1500/1000, and you will get the daily minimal and recommended allowance for your dog.

If your dog consumes 600 calories daily, multiply the above minimal and recommended allowance by 0.6, i.e., 600/1000.

To know the exact amounts, use our calculators. Link to our calculators:

1. Calorie calculator for adult dogs.

2. NRC nutrition calculator for adult dogs. 

Closing comments

Balancing your dog’s diet for optimal growth and body maintenance is important. NRC provides a minimal, recommended, and in some cases, maximum daily allowance for all essential nutrients.

Macronutrients, which are protein, fat, and carbohydrates, are required in large amounts and mainly contribute to daily energy needs.

Micronutrients, which are vitamins and minerals, are required in small amounts and generally have definite functions in maintaining, repairing, and growing body cells.

A dog’s diet can be balanced over time. Balancing diets over a 7-10 day period is well accepted.