Are you wondering whether green beans are safe for your dog to eat? The answer is yes! In fact, green beans are a great addition to your dog’s diet. Not only are they high in fiber, which can aid in weight loss and promote healthy digestion, but they’re also rich in vitamins and minerals like A, C, K, B6, calcium, iron, and manganese.
However, it’s important to be aware of any potential adverse effects that green beans may have on your dog.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits and risks of feeding green beans to your pup so that you can make an informed decision about their diet.
The Amazing Health Benefits of Green Beans for Dogs
If you are wondering, ‘Are green beans good for dogs? Can dogs eat string beans?’ The answer is yes. Green beans, also known as string beans, are often recommended by vets as low-calorie dog treats. Because they are high in fiber, this veggie is a great snack for obese and overweight dogs.
Green beans are an excellent source of a wide range of nutrients. It is rich in vitamins A and C, which play big roles in keeping your dog’s immune system healthy and fighting off free radicals. They also promote good reproductive health and sharp eyesight.
Green beans also contain vitamin K, which is essential for blood clotting, bleeding problems, and injuries in dogs. Vitamin B6 can be found in this vegetable too. It serves multiple functions in your dog’s body, such as hormone response, glucose generation, and maintaining efficient nervous function.
Minerals, including manganese, iron, and calcium, are also found in green beans. These have several good effects on dogs, such as hastening wound healing, promoting healthy production of red blood cells, and supporting proper bone growth and development.
The Best Way to Serve Green Beans
Raw, cooked, frozen, and canned—what is the ideal way to prepare these green beans for your furry companion?
Raw Green Beans
It is okay to feed your dog raw green beans but be careful because they contain 5% to 10% lectin, a type of protein that can cause digestive problems if ingested in large amounts.
Thus, your dog should only eat small amounts of raw green beans to avoid diarrhea, vomiting, and flatulence.
Cooked Green Beans
Cooking, preferably lightly steaming, the string beans will greatly reduce the lectins in the green beans. This is also the best way to serve green beans to dogs. Steaming will not disperse its nutrients, unlike baking or boiling.
Some beans are larger than others. Make sure to break them into small pieces to prevent choking.
Cooking green beans with extra ingredients is not necessary. So, skip the oils, salts, spices, and seasonings. These ingredients are detrimental to your dog’s health. They may cause him to suffer from gastric problems and other health issues such as obesity, pancreatitis, kidney problems, and cardiovascular diseases.
Therefore, it is best to only serve cooked, plain green beans to your dog.
Frozen Green Beans
Feeding frozen green beans to dogs is not recommended unless they are thawed. These frozen beans can get lodged in their throats and cause choking, especially small dogs.
Canned Green Beans
Canned green beans are the least recommended for dogs. They are often high in salt, additives, and spices and offer little to no nutritional value. But, if you opt to feed canned beans to your dog, make sure to choose one that has low salt content.
Too much salt can lead him to experience dehydration and put him in great danger of sodium poisoning.
The Green Bean Diet: Is It Safe for Dogs?
Some dog owners put their overweight pooches on the ‘green bean diet.’ The proponents of this diet believe that it’s an effective method for dogs to lose weight.
This diet begins by supplementing 10% of the volume of the dog’s daily meals with green beans. Then, gradually increase the percentage to 50% until the dog achieves his target weight. This alternative diet should be only used for a short duration or until the ideal weight has been attained.
Once the weight goal is reached, the amount of green beans fed to the dog will be reduced over time till 90% of the dog’s food is made up of his regular diet again.
While the green bean diet for dogs may seem appealing, experts strongly discourage dog owners from trying it out without first getting advice from the veterinarian.
Dogs may have gained weight or have difficulty losing weight in the first place due to unchecked health conditions like hypothyroidism and Cushing’s disease.
Furthermore, this diet is not suited for all dogs, and blindly putting your dog on this diet could lead to dangerous consequences such as bad metabolic changes and nutritional imbalances and deficiencies.
Dog owners must also understand that this green bean diet will not work if the overweight dogs do not get any exercise.
How many green beans should you give your dog?
Can dogs have green beans every day? For those dogs who do not have weight issues, feeding green beans to them daily may not be a good idea.
Although the vegetable is packed with many vitamins and minerals, it is not an ideal everyday snack for dogs. Green beans are high in fiber, and they may cause digestive issues if consumed excessively or frequently.
Feeding your dog green beans should be done in moderation. Just like most human foods, green beans should only be served as an occasional treat and must not make up most of your dog’s diet. Add a small portion of green beans to your dog’s food once or twice a week.
Avoid overfeeding, especially if it’s your dog’s first time eating the veggie. Dogs have a sensitive digestive system, and sudden changes or additions to their dog food may cause gastric upset. If your dog experiences stomach problems, stop giving him green beans until his condition is back to normal.
Are Green Beans Okay for All Dogs?
Green beans are generally considered a safe food for dogs, but the nutritional needs of each of our canine companions vary greatly.
Green beans may be a good supplement to some dogs’ diets, but they may not be ideal for other dogs. So, it is best to check with your vet first to ensure that it fits your pooch’s dietary requirements.
Home-made Green Bean Dog Treats
If your dogs love and enjoy green beans, why not transform plain green beans into an enticing treat to make them even more palatable? Check out these green beans dogs treat recipes:
Green Bean Zucchini Crisps
Ingredients
- 1/8 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1 medium zucchini (about 1 cup), peeled and sliced into 1-inch
pieces - 1 cup fresh green beans, washed and sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 egg
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 4 teaspoon flaxseed
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine all of the ingredients in your food processor. Puree until smooth.
- Spread the mixture onto the greased baking pan.
- Bake for about sixty minutes.
- Remove it from the oven and let it cool.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Then, place the bottom side up on your greased cookie sheet.
- Bake again at 250 degrees for about three hours.
- Take it out of the oven and allow it to cool.
- Serve it to your dog. Store leftovers in an airtight container for later consumption.
Green Bean Crunchies
Ingredients
- 16 ounces of frozen green beans cut, thawed, and drained
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Procedure
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, mix the green beans and olive oil. Toss until the beans are well-coated with olive oil.
- On a large parchment-lined or non-stick baking sheet, evenly spread the green beans.
- Place the green beans in the oven. Let them dry for eight hours or until all beans are crunchy. If you have a dehydrator, dry them for eight hours or until crunchy.
- Take them out of the oven and allow them to cool completely.
- Serve them to your furry companion. Store leftovers in an airtight container.
