Knowledge base
Descriptions of the nutrients BARFLAB analyzes in dog and cat diets.
AAFCO
AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) publishes the American nutritional profiles for dog and cat foods [[1]](https://www.aafco.org/consumers/understanding pet food/reading labels/). They are what sta...
ALA (Omega-3) - Plant-based
Alpha linolenic acid is a plant based acid from the Omega 3 family. In humans and herbivores it serves as the base for producing anti inflammatory EPA and DHA, but in carnivores this mechanism is insufficient: a dog c...
ALGAE_IODINE_RANGE
Research on algae products shows a very wide range of iodine: approximately 500-1,200,000 µg/100 g of dry product.
ALGAE_IODINE_VARIABILITY
This is not a single brand problem. Iodine supplements based on algae, including kelp algae, naturally vary in iodine content from batch to batch.
Arachidonic acid (ARA - Omega-6)
An essential fatty acid from the Omega 6 family. While fish acids put out fires, ARA serves to deliberately trigger controlled inflammatory states, without which wounds could not heal and blood could not clot [[1]](ht...
Arginine
An exogenous (strictly essential) amino acid for dogs and cats. Besides building proteins, its key task is to drive the urea cycle in the liver. Digesting large amounts of meat releases toxic ammonia, and thanks to ar...
B3 (Niacin / Vitamin PP)
It belongs to the water soluble vitamins. It is part of the coenzymes NAD and NADP, which are the foundation of cellular respiration, and the metabolite NADPH fuels the glutathione system — the body's main antioxidant...
BARFLAB Score
The BARFLAB Score is a single number that summarises the quality of the whole diet. Instead of reading through every nutrient, every ratio and every limit one by one, you get a shortcut: how well this particular varia...
BARFLAB Standard
BARFLAB Standard
Bibliography
Bibliography
Biotin (Vitamin B7 / Vitamin H)
It belongs to the water soluble vitamins and is sometimes called the "beauty vitamin" — it is crucial for the health of skin, coat and claws, and as a cofactor of four carboxylases it participates in the metabolism of...
Calcium - Ca
Together with phosphorus it is the main component of bones and teeth — in the body of a dog and cat about 99% of calcium is found in the skeleton [[1]](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10668/nutrient requirem...
Calcium : phosphorus ratio (Ca:P)
Calcium and phosphorus are always considered together, because it is not so much their absolute amounts as their mutual proportion that determines the health of bones and teeth [[1]](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/...
Carbohydrates
Neither the dog nor the cat has a physiological requirement for carbohydrates — the body produces all the glucose it needs on its own from protein and fat through gluconeogenesis [[1]](https://nap.nationalacademies.or...
Chloride - Cl
Chloride is the main anion of the extracellular fluid. Together with sodium it regulates water balance, osmotic pressure and the acid base balance of the blood, and it is also the main building block of hydrochloric a...
Cholesterol
Article coming soon.
Choline (Vitamin B4)
It belongs to the vitamin like compounds of the water soluble B group. It is part of the phospholipids that build cell membranes, it is necessary for the production of acetylcholine (a key neurotransmitter) and it act...
Copper - Cu
Essential for the formation and activity of red blood cells, it acts as a cofactor in many biochemical reactions. Without copper, iron is not properly incorporated into hemoglobin — a dog or cat with a copper deficien...
Crude ash
"Crude ash" sounds alarming, but it is simply a measure of the total mineral content in food. The name comes from the measurement method: a sample is burned at a high temperature, and what remains after burning off th...
Cystine
Article coming soon.
DHA
Article coming soon.
Energy (kcal)
The energy of a diet is the number of kilocalories that the animal actually uses — technically we call it metabolizable energy (ME) . It is what decides how much the animal should eat. Energy comes from three componen...
EPA
Article coming soon.
EPA + DHA (Long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids)
EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) is one of the strongest natural anti inflammatory factors — it modulates the production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes, "extinguishing" inflammation in the joints, gut, kidneys and skin...
Fat
Fat is the most concentrated source of energy in the diet — it provides more than twice as many calories as protein or carbohydrates (9 kcal/g versus 4 kcal/g), so even a small change in its amount significantly affec...
FEDIAF
FEDIAF (the European Pet Food Industry Federation) issues the European nutritional guidelines for dogs and cats [[1]](https://europeanpetfood.org/self regulation/nutritional guidelines/). It is the European counterpar...
Fibre
Fibre is the fraction of carbohydrates that a dog's or cat's body cannot digest with its own enzymes. It is not an "essential" nutrient in the nutritional sense — there is no established minimum requirement in the NRC...
Folic acid (Vitamin B9)
It belongs to the water soluble vitamins and is responsible for DNA synthesis and rapid cell division — especially where tissues renew the fastest: in the bone marrow and the intestinal mucosa [[1]](https://nap.nation...
Histidine
Article coming soon.
How the generator works
The generator builds a diet from real products and supplements. It doesn't simply enter percentages into a table. It tries to find a set that fits the animal, the diet settings and the nutritional standards. The stand...
How to read the standards
NRC is the base for composing BARF diets, because it describes a dog's and cat's requirements for nutrients [[1]](https://doi.org/10.17226/10668). In BARF, we look above all at whether the diet covers the body's needs.
How to safely switch to a BARF diet
Dogs: Once you decide to switch to a BARF diet, do it from the next day on — don't mix kibble with raw meat. For the first 3–7 days feed only lean meat from a single species, e.g. turkey or beef (at this stage no bone...
Insoluble fibre
Article coming soon.
Iodine - I
It is an essential building block of the thyroid hormones (thyroxine T4 and triiodothyronine T3), which regulate the rate of metabolism, thermoregulation, heart and nervous system function, and also determine the prop...
Iron - Fe
It is a key component of haemoglobin (the red blood cell protein that carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues) and of myoglobin (which stores oxygen in the muscles). It also participates in energy production in t...
Isoleucine
Article coming soon.
Leucine
Article coming soon.
Linoleic acid (omega-6)
An essential fatty acid from the Omega 6 family, which the body cannot produce on its own — it must get it from food [[1]](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10668/nutrient requirements of dogs and cats). It is...
Linoleic to alpha-linolenic acid ratio (LA:ALA)
Linoleic acid (LA, omega 6) and alpha linolenic acid (ALA, omega 3) are the two "parent" polyunsaturated fatty acids that compete for the same enzymes that desaturate and elongate the chain. That's why, when assessing...
Lysine
Article coming soon.
Magnesium - Mg
In the body it works closely with calcium and phosphorus — about 60% of magnesium is found in bones and teeth. While calcium is responsible for muscle contraction, magnesium enables their proper relaxation. It is a co...
Manganese - Mn
Manganese is essential for the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans — the basic components of joint cartilage, ligaments, and the bone matrix. Without an adequate amount of manganese, the quality of these tissues gradually...
Methionine
Article coming soon.
Methionine and cystine
Methionine and cystine are two sulfur amino acids that the calculator shows together — because together they form the pool of sulfur available for many key processes. Methionine must come from the diet (the body won't...
Monounsaturated fat
Article coming soon.
NRC — Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats
NRC is the study Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats published in 2006 by the American National Research Council [[1]](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10668/nutrient requirements of dogs and cats). It is...
Omega-6 : omega-3 ratio
Omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids compete for the same enzymes and for space in cell membranes, which is why the inflammatory profile of the diet is decided not by their amount alone, but by their mutual proportion . Th...
Pantothenic acid (B5)
It belongs to the water soluble vitamins and builds coenzyme A (CoA) — one of the most important cofactors of the entire metabolism. Without it, the burning of fats and carbohydrates (beta oxidation, Krebs cycle), the...
Phenylalanine
Article coming soon.
Phosphorus - P
Together with calcium it constitutes the main building component of bones and teeth — about 85% of the phosphorus in the body forms hydroxyapatite of the skeleton with calcium [[1]](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/c...
Polyunsaturated fat
Article coming soon.
Potassium - K
Potassium is the most important intracellular electrolyte — about 98% of the potassium in the body is located inside the cells, while its partner sodium dominates on the outside [[1]](https://nap.nationalacademies.org...
Protein
Protein is the foundation of a carnivore's diet. It builds muscles, enzymes, hormones and antibodies, takes part in wound healing and oxygen transport [[1]](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10668/nutrient req...
Protein : fat ratio
Protein and fat must be considered together, because it is not only their amounts, but their mutual relation that decides whether the body will use the amino acids to build tissues or burn them for energy. Fat is the...
Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6)
It belongs to the water soluble vitamins and is responsible for the metabolism of proteins and amino acids (transamination, decarboxylation). It takes part in the production of red blood cells, supports immunity and c...
Quick supplement cheat sheet
Cooked BARF (BACF): Add all supplements after cooking and completely cooling the mixture — high temperature destroys vitamins and valuable fatty acids [[1]](https://agdatacommons.nal.usda.gov/articles/dataset/USDA Tab...
Retention after processing
Cooking and steaming change the composition of the diet. Some of the water evaporates, so the weight of the portion drops while the concentration of some nutrients rises. At the same time, heat destroys some of the vi...
Riboflavin (B2)
It belongs to the water soluble vitamins. It plays the role of a catalyst in the processes of cellular respiration — without it cells cannot obtain energy from nutrients — and is key for the health of the skin, coat a...
Saturated fat
Article coming soon.
Selenium - Se
Selenium is a key antioxidant — it is a component of glutathione peroxidase and, together with vitamin E, forms a shield protecting cell membranes from damage [[1]](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10668/nutr...
Sodium - Na
Sodium is the main extracellular electrolyte, working closely with potassium (the sodium potassium pump). It is responsible for the body's water balance (regulating osmotic pressure), blood pressure, and proper nerve...
Sodium : potassium ratio (Na:K)
Sodium and potassium are a pair of electrolytes that together regulate blood pressure, fluid volume, nerve and muscle function — sodium is the main cation of the extracellular fluid, potassium of the intracellular [[1...
Soluble fibre
Article coming soon.
Starch
Article coming soon.
Sugars
Article coming soon.
Sulfur - S
Sulfur is a macroelement which in the body of the dog and cat does not function on its own, but as part of other compounds — above all the sulfur amino acids (methionine and cysteine), from which keratin of coat and c...
Taurine
A specific sulfur amino acid that does not build muscle proteins, but occurs in free form in the tissues. Its highest concentration is found where cells work hardest: in the heart, the retina of the eye, the brain and...
Thiamine (B1)
It belongs to the water soluble vitamins, which means that the body of the dog and cat does not store it — reserves are depleted within a dozen or so days and it must be supplied regularly with food [[1]](https://nap....
Threonine
Article coming soon.
Trans fat
Article coming soon.
Tryptophan
Article coming soon.
Tyrosine
Article coming soon.
Valine
Article coming soon.
Vitamin A (Retinol)
It is a fat soluble vitamin, which means the body does not excrete its excess in the urine, but stores it in the liver and fatty tissue. It is essential for proper vision (it forms rhodopsin in the retina of the eye),...
Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)
It belongs to the water soluble vitamins, but is the only one of them that can be stored in the liver. Its structure contains cobalt. It is essential for the formation of red blood cells (erythropoiesis), DNA synthesi...
Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)
It is a water soluble vitamin and a strong antioxidant. It supports the immune system and is essential for collagen synthesis (the building material of joints, bones, and blood vessels). Unlike humans, dogs and cats p...
Vitamin D (Cholecalciferol)
It belongs to the group of fat soluble vitamins. In the body it acts as a powerful hormone, and its main task is to manage calcium phosphorus balance — without it calcium will not be absorbed from the intestines into...
Vitamin E (Tocopherol)
It belongs to the group of fat soluble vitamins. In the body it acts as the main antioxidant — it protects cell membranes from the destructive action of free radicals and oxidative stress, in which it works closely wi...
Vitamin K
It belongs to the fat soluble vitamins. It is responsible for regulating the blood clotting process (it is a cofactor in the synthesis of clotting factors II, VII, IX, and X) and for bone metabolism — it activates pro...
Water
Water is the most important and most often underestimated "ingredient" of the diet. It takes part in digestion, the transport of nutrients, temperature regulation, and kidney function. Without food the body will hold...
Zinc - Zn
Zinc is part of more than 200 enzymes. It plays a key role in maintaining healthy skin and coat, in wound healing processes, and also supports the proper functioning of the immune system [[1]](https://nap.nationalacad...
Zinc : copper ratio (Zn:Cu)
Zinc and copper compete for the same absorption pathways in the gut, which is why it matters not only how much of each there is, but also what proportion they form . The optimal Zn:Cu ratio in a dog's and cat's diet i...