What's in D-001
The ten ingredients, why each one is here, how each one works, and the research behind it.
D-001 has ten ingredients. Not forty, and never a hidden "proprietary blend." Each one is chosen for a specific job, sourced certified USDA organic, and tied to published research you can read for yourself.
D-001 was formulated by our co-founder Dr. Ashley Burgos, DVM, together with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist. Both are clinicians who have spent their careers working to better animal health. The brief they set was deliberately strict: the fewest, most bioavailable, whole-food ingredients that could do the job. Nothing added to lengthen the label. Everything here earns its place.
This is the long version. The whole formula, grouped by the systems it supports (the liver, the gut, the kidneys, and the nutrient-dense greens underneath all of it), with the mechanism and the citations laid out for each. Where the research is in humans or other animals, we say so. Where an ingredient has been studied directly in dogs, we say that too.
For the liver
The liver is the body's busiest filter. It runs constantly, processing what comes in and sending what's finished on to be cleared, and it leans on its own antioxidant systems to do that work day after day. Two ingredients in D-001 are here to support that normal, everyday function.
Organic beet root extract
The same beet you'd roast for dinner, concentrated down to its active compounds. That unmistakable deep red is betalains, a family of pigments with betanin chief among them, and they're the reason beets earn a place beyond color.
Betalains provide antioxidant support, but the more interesting part is how. They're studied for the way they engage the body's own antioxidant response, the built-in signaling system (the Nrf2 pathway) that cells use to produce their own protective antioxidant enzymes. So beet isn't only adding antioxidants from the outside; it's studied for supporting the antioxidant machinery the body already runs internally, which is part of normal liver function.
Most of this research is in laboratory and animal models rather than dogs, which is fair to know going in. A review in Nutrients collects the evidence on red beetroot's antioxidant and liver-supportive activity.
Organic dandelion root
The plant most people mow over has been used in traditional botanical medicine for centuries, almost always for the liver, and it does two jobs here, which is why it's one of the hardest-working ingredients in the formula.
First, the liver job: dandelion root is rich in compounds (taraxasterol among them) studied for antioxidant activity and for supporting the body's own antioxidant enzyme systems. Second, the gut job: dandelion root naturally contains inulin, a prebiotic fiber. That makes it a quiet bridge between two sections of this page: it supports normal liver function and feeds the gut microbiome, which is where the next three ingredients live.
The research base spans human and animal studies. A 2025 review in Pharmaceuticals walks through dandelion's biological activity and its liver-supportive properties in detail.
For the gut
Almost everything else depends on this system. Three ingredients are here, and they work two different ways: two of them coat and soothe the digestive tract from the outside in, and one feeds the microbiome from the inside out. Together they support the gut lining and normal digestion from both directions.
Organic marshmallow root
Not the campfire kind. This is the actual marshmallow plant, whose root is unusually dense with mucilage: a gel-like, water-loving soluble fiber.
When that mucilage meets moisture, it forms a soft, bioadhesive film (the specific polysaccharides are a rhamnogalacturonan type, if you want the technical name) that physically settles along the surfaces of the digestive tract. It's a mechanical action, not a chemical one: a soothing layer that supports a normal gut lining and a comfortable digestive tract. Beyond the coating, the polysaccharides have been studied for the way they support the viability of the epithelial cells that make up that lining.
A 2010 study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology looked directly at how marshmallow root polysaccharides interact with and support those lining cells.
Organic slippery elm bark
The inner bark of the slippery elm tree, used in North American traditional medicine for generations, and the natural partner to marshmallow root. It works the same way, through mucilage.
Like marshmallow, slippery elm is a demulcent, a word that simply means it soothes and coats. Its mucilage forms a protective layer along the gastric and digestive tract, supporting normal gut barrier integrity and everyday digestive comfort. We use the two together on purpose: stacking two mucilage botanicals gives the formula a more complete coating action than either alone, which is the kind of small formulation decision that doesn't show up on a label but matters in the bowl.
The NIH maintains a clear pharmacological profile of slippery elm, including its mucilage mechanism and its long safety record, in its LiverTox database.
Organic apple pectin
Pectin is the soluble fiber that lives in the cell walls of an apple. It's what makes jam set, and what makes an apple feel substantial instead of watery. We use it for what it does after it's eaten.
Pectin isn't broken down in the stomach or small intestine. It travels intact to the large intestine, where it becomes food for the beneficial bacteria already living there. As those bacteria ferment it, they produce short-chain fatty acids, primarily butyrate, which is the preferred fuel source for the cells lining the colon. In other words, pectin doesn't act on the gut directly; it feeds the microbiome that maintains it. That's the definition of a prebiotic, and pectin is one of the most-studied ones there is.
This is also why it pairs with the two mucilage ingredients above. Marshmallow and slippery elm support the lining from the outside, as a physical coating; pectin supports it from the inside, by feeding the microbiome that keeps the barrier and digestion working normally. Two mechanisms, one system. We source ours from apple rather than citrus to keep the whole formula to recognizable foods.
A randomized, placebo-controlled trial in healthy adults studied pectin's effect on gut-barrier function.
For the kidneys
If the liver processes and the gut absorbs, the kidneys clear, filtering the bloodstream and handling the body's normal, everyday elimination. Two ingredients support this side of the formula, and they happen to be two of the most ordinary-looking things in your kitchen.
Organic parsley
Yes, the garnish. Underneath the cliché, parsley is a concentrated source of antioxidant flavonoids (apigenin among them), and has been used traditionally to support the kidneys and the body's normal elimination.
In the formula, its role is to support normal kidney function and natural elimination pathways while adding another layer of antioxidant support. It's a reminder of the brand's whole premise: the standard you'd hold for a fresh, organic herb on your own plate is the standard we hold for what goes in the chew.
Most parsley research is in animal and limited human studies. A 2024 review in Frontiers in Medicine gathers the renal and antioxidant research in one place.
Organic nettle leaf
Stinging nettle, but dried: the sting is entirely gone, and what's left is one of the more genuinely nutrient-dense greens in botanical medicine.
Nettle leaf brings real micronutrient density (iron, calcium, magnesium) alongside antioxidant polyphenols, and has been used traditionally to support normal circulation and elimination. It works alongside parsley on the elimination side of the formula, and adds to the antioxidant support running through the whole thing.
A 2022 review in Molecules details nettle's nutritional composition and bioactive compounds.
The greens, and one trace mineral
Three ingredients don't belong to a single organ. They're the nutrient and antioxidant layer the rest of the formula sits on, and one of them is the reason we can answer "has any of this been studied in dogs?" with a straight yes.
Organic spirulina
Spirulina is a blue-green algae humans have eaten for centuries, exceptionally rich in antioxidants (that deep color is phycocyanin, its signature pigment), and it provides antioxidant support that runs system-wide rather than for any single organ.
A 42-week randomized controlled trial in thirty dogs, published in Frontiers in Nutrition, found that dietary spirulina supported gut and immune function, measured by higher fecal IgA and greater gut microbiota stability over the course of the study. In a category that runs almost entirely on human and rodent data, a long-term canine RCT is rare, and it's a meaningful part of why spirulina is in here.
Organic chlorella
Spirulina's freshwater cousin: a single-celled green algae with an exceptionally dense nutrient profile of complete protein, chlorophyll, iron, folate, and B12, the last of which is unusual to find in a plant-source ingredient at all.
In the formula, chlorella is a whole-food source of antioxidant support that also supports the body's natural elimination pathways. It's one of the most nutrient-rich single ingredients we could have included, which is the point: where most of the formula is targeted, chlorella is foundational.
Most chlorella research is in humans and other models. A review in Nutrients lays out its composition and the human research on it as a dietary supplement.
Selenium, from yeast
The smallest ingredient by quantity, and one of the most essential by role. Selenium is a trace mineral the body cannot produce on its own (it has to come from diet), and we use the form bound to organic yeast, which is its most bioavailable, food-based version.
Selenium's job is foundational: it's a core building block of selenoproteins, including glutathione peroxidase, one of the body's own premier antioxidant enzymes. Put plainly, several of the antioxidant systems the rest of this formula supports can't run properly without selenium present. It's the small, structural piece that lets the bigger antioxidant story work.
A review in Antioxidants explains selenium's role in the body's antioxidant system in depth.
Why ten, and not fifty
Every ingredient on this page earns its place, supporting the liver, gut, kidneys, and antioxidant systems, each one for a specific reason we can point you to, and each one sourced certified organic so the raw material is as clean as the standard you already keep for your own shelf. Nothing added to pad a label. Nothing hidden behind a blend name. Nothing in here we can't explain to you, or show you the research for.
That's the whole idea behind a daily foundation: one thing you can give every single day, built to support the systems already doing the quiet work of keeping a dog well.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your veterinarian before starting any supplement, especially if your dog is pregnant, nursing, under 12 months, on medication, or has a known health condition.
