Low Histamine Foods For Allergic Dogs

Not everything in a fresh food diet is appropriate for all dogs and this is even more relevant to dogs with allergies

Histamine is a necessary response in bodies however when the body produces too much this becomes problematic especially for allergic dogs. A healthy diet contains moderate amount of histamines, however plenty of healthy foods are high in histamines and these are the ones we want to avoid in allergic dogs.

Puppy Jack russell with scratching himself and bite fleas..jpg

Consider avoiding or minimising:

Fermented foods such as Kefir, Kombucha & Fermented Veggies
Avocado
Dried Fruits
Eggplant
Spinach
Bone Broth
Shell Fish
Aged Cheese
Processed or smoked meats
Frozen, salted, or canned fish, such as sardines and tuna
Vinegar
Legumes, such as chickpeas, soybeans, and lentils
Yogurt
Green Tea
Pineapple
Strawberries
Cherries
Cloves
Cinnamon

Low Histamine
Here are some of our top picks for fruits. Fruits generally make up under 20% of your dog's plant matter ratio that you may like to consider including in your dogs diet.

Here are some of our top picks for non-fruit plant matter.

Plant matter is generally fruit, veggies, seeds, nuts, and herbs combined make up no more than 25% of your dog's diet under our recommended guidelines.

In addition to foods that are high in histamines, there are foods that trigger a histamine response in the body such as:

Tomatoes
Bananas
Wheat Germ
Beans
Nuts
Citrus Fruits
Food Dyes

Here are some great foods that are low in histamine that you may like to consider:

Fresh meat and freshly caught fish
Non-citrus fruits
Eggs
Gluten-free grains, such as quinoa
Dairy substitutes, such as coconut milk and almond milk
Fresh vegetables except the ones listed above
Olive oil
Cream Cheese
Butter
Coconut Milk
Most leafy greens except spinach

There are also probiotic strains that aren't ideal that you may want to see if you're giving in probiotic products:

Histamine Producers:

Candida
Citrobacter
C. perfringens
E. coli
H. pylori
Lactobacillus bulgaricus
Lactobacillus casei
Lactobacillus reuteri
Staphylococcus
S. thermophilus

Histamine Degraders (a good thing):

Bifidobacterium infantis
Bifidobacterium longum
Lactobacillus gasseri
Lactobacillus rhamnosus
Lactobacillus plantarum
Lactobacillus salivarius

Now, in saying all of this, it also comes down to how many histamine receptors are in the gut, some individuals have many, and some have none so whilst food may be high in histamines or trigger histamine production, it may not mean anything to the individual - this is where food elimination trials are helpful.

Free Recipes

This recipe uses grass-fed Beef because it comes to dogs with allergies, we want to try and avoid triggers where possible, and grass-fed beef does not get fed grains that could trigger your dog. We also use free-range eggs but if you can get backyard/pastured eggs, that is the gold standard. Seaweed Calcium powder is used in this recipe, you can buy it in either pet or human versions but make sure it is Seaweed Calcium and not just seaweed. As many of the foods we would normally use for Vitamin D can be triggering for histamines, we have used Vitamin D liquid, just 1 drop is necessary - we use Ostelin 400iu.

In this second recipe, we use Goat, a nice gentle white animal protein and many dogs accept well, it is also more budget-friendly than grass fed Beef.

Here are some of our top picks for fruits. Fruits generally make up under 20% of your dog's plant matter ratio