Cannabis: An Ancient Crop with Claims of Health Benefits The…

In June of 2018, Lisa Freeman, a board-certified veterinary nutritionist from Tufts University published a blog titled “A broken heart: Risk of heart disease in boutique or grain-free diets and exotic ingredients.” This blog warned pet owners and veterinarians that ‘BEG’ (boutique, exotic, grain free) diets were causing heart disease in dogs. This left professionals and the public scrambling for more information, which was further fueled by media frenzy. As a result, the FDA launched an investigation which was complicated by sampling bias, overrepresentation of subgroups and confounding variables. For the past two years, despite additional commentary articles, scarce and vague scientific data and inconclusive FDA reports, information regarding DCM has been incomplete at best. Lack of information has been accompanied by abbreviated synopses of case studies with multiple variables and treatments, incomplete medical information and conflicting medical data and opinions from veterinary nutrition influencers.