07/07/2026
🍠 Sweet potatoes are a great add to your dog’s bowl. They’re packed with beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant that dogs convert into vitamin A to support healthy vision, skin, immune function, and overall cellular health.
And sweet potatoes are also great for your dog’s gut. They contain resistant starch, pectin, and other prebiotic fibers that feed beneficial gut bacteria. As these fibers are fermented, they produce beneficial short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, which help support the gut lining, immune system, and a healthy intestinal environment. Interestingly, a recent peer-reviewed study found that dogs with skin allergies had fewer gut bacteria that produce these beneficial compounds, highlighting the close connection between gut health and immune health.
One of my favorite nutrition tricks is to steam, cool, and serve sweet potatoes. Steaming helps preserve beta-carotene while making it more available. Refrigerating cooked sweet potatoes overnight converts some of the starch into gut-friendly resistant starch that feeds beneficial bacteria. Finally, serving sweet potatoes with plain full-fat yogurt, a hard-boiled egg, sardines, herring, or fish oil helps your dog absorb more beta-carotene.
Whenever possible, choose organic sweet potatoes and leave the peel on, as the skin contains extra fiber and polyphenols that help nourish beneficial gut bacteria while also reducing exposure to pesticide residues.
Sweet potatoes come packaged in a whole-food matrix rich in beta-carotene, vitamins, minerals, and prebiotic fibers. Cooling them overnight also helps reduce the blood sugar response by increasing resistant starch.
🍠 How much should you feed?
• Small dogs (under 20 lb / 9 kg): 1–2 teaspoons daily
• Medium dogs (20–50 lb / 9–23 kg): 1–2 tablespoons daily
• Large dogs (50–90 lb / 23–41 kg): 2–4 tablespoons daily
• Giant dogs (over 90 lb / 41 kg): Up to ¼–½ cup daily
Remember, healthy add ins can make up about 10% of your dog’s daily calories.
