Mush for a Cure

Sleddog Scientist, Michael Campbell and assisstant

Alaska is the fattest state in the West, according to a recent study — and with obesity comes a myriad of health risks, including Type 2 diabetes. But a solution to the state’s health problems may lie within an Alaskan’s best friend: the sled dog.

Sled dogs feast on a diet so high in fat it would lead to diabetes in almost any other animal. But because the dogs burn fat as their primary energy source, their insulin and glucose systems are less burdened than they would be in a human who eats a fatty diet, according to Michael Davis, a professor of physiology at Oklahoma State University.

Continue reading Mush for a Cure, by Joshua Saul.

Tags: Aliy Zirkle, Allen Moore, gastric ulcers in sled dogs, Iditarod, Joshua Saul, Michael Davis, Mush for a Cure, Oklahoma State University, sled dog research, SP Kennel, Type 2 diabetes