Blueberries are a type of fruit that is typically small and round. They are a deep blue color and have a sweet, tangy flavor. As a fruit with high nutritional value, blueberry is one of the five healthy fruits recommended by the World Food and Agriculture Organization they are considered the Queen of fruits because they are rich in various nutrients. It's no secret that blueberries are good for you. Loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, these little berries are nutritional powerhouses.
They have certain molecules in them that activate a body to start looking for problems and heal the problems. These problems are too tiny for you to notice which indicates that your body system is the only thing that can fight them. Can guinea pigs eat blueberries as humans do? Do blueberries offer the same benefit for guinea pigs? All the answers to this question and all other related questions will be discussed in this article
Can Guinea Pigs Eat Blueberries
The straightforward answer is yes. Blueberries can be an incredible expansion to a solid guinea pig diet, especially when served to them in the correct proportion. In any case, very much like people, guinea pigs need a balanced eating regimen to flourish. All in all, blueberries are high in both vitamin C and sugar. Vitamin C is indispensable for your guinea pig's wellbeing. They don't create it all alone its deficiency can lead to scurvy. If the lack is adequately terrible, it can lead to death. Nonetheless, an excess of sugar can be adverse to your guinea pig's wellbeing. They may get a stomach hurt, acquire a lot of weight, or even create diabetes even if the fruits offer much more benefits than disadvantages
What is The Right Proportion For Feeding Blueberries To Guinea Pigs (serving Size)
Blueberries are a superfood fruit for pets and their pet owners, this is because of the number of beneficial nutrients it possesses in some cases, they are known for curing cancer in humans. But you should know that every good thing has its detrimental issue which is why guinea pigs shouldn't be overfed with blueberries. The best way to introduce these fruits to your pet is to do it slowly and carefully (one at a time) because some guinea pigs love it while some have an allergic reaction to it hence, you need to find out which one does your own belong to.
One or two blueberries fruits should be given to your pets twice a week because of the high sugar and acidic content present in them. This small piece is enough to provide beneficial nutrients for your pets without them suffering from possible health risks.
What Are The Nutritional Benefits of Feeding Blueberries To Guinea Pigs
It has been discussed above that blueberries contain various nutritional nutrients that range between vitamins, minerals, sugar, calcium, etc each of these nutrients offers help in keeping your pets healthy as long as they are kept in moderation. Therefore, the bullet point below will provide some of the nutritional benefits of feeding blueberries to your guinea pigs in standard proportion.
High level of antioxidants
Antioxidants are a nutrient that helps to protect bodies by neutralizing free radicals that can cause damage to cells. These free radicals, when too many of them are present in high proportion in the body system can cause aging, health diseases, cancer, and other chronic diseases thereby, antioxidants help to render this molecule powerless by keeping them in check. Blueberries have the highest amount of antioxidants and when given to your pets can help them to prevent anti-aging and other chronic disease
Low in calories and calcium content
To maintain a healthy diet for your pet, they should be given food with low calories and high nutritional value to avoid obesity. A healthy diet also requires a low calcium content because it is only needed to keep their teeth and bones growing properly, and since their bloodstream can not regulate calcium their body absorbed it too much of this absorption can cause kidney or bladder stones. Blueberries, therefore, have saved you from this health risk by containing a small amount of these nutrients.
Rich in Vitamins
Blueberries are rich in vitamin C and K essential nutrients that can keep your pets from suffering from a common disease called scurvy. Guinea pig's body system can not produce their vitamin C, and this makes them eligible to suffer from this deficiency while for that vitamin K can lead to poorly clotting of blood since they are responsible for blood clotting.
Health Risk Of Serving Blueberries to Guinea Pigs
Blueberries have been established as a safe food for your guinea pigs when served in moderation however, eating a large portion of these fruits will cause concern because of the amount of highly nutritional nutrients present in them. So, what are the potential risks if they are been overfed with these fruits
Fairly acidic
Blueberries are fairly acidic, but when fwd in excess to you guinea pugs can harm some tissues in the digestive and oral system Examples of what it will lead to are mouth sores, discomfort, mouth ulcers, and some urinary tract infections
Sugary content is high
Blueberries are tasty because of the high amount of sugar content present in them unfortunately, this makes guinea pigs gravitate toward them. If pet owners are unable to feed them in the correct proportion it may lead to health risks like obesity, diabetes, or diarrhea since they can not digest them
Fiber complication
Blueberries also contain a decent amount of fiber, but when present in excess in the body system of your guinea pigs can cause health risks like digestive issues, bloating, constipation, stomach pain, and discomfort.
Conclusion
Blueberries are one of the fruits considered a superfood because of the high amount of beneficial nutrients present in the fruits. The fruits also contain a high amount of sugar which indicates that they should be fed in moderation. All other things like health benefits and risks that relate to blueberries have been discussed in this article, and all you need to do as pet Owners is to read through it to avoid severe health complications for your pets.