When my clients start shifting toward low histamine foods, one of the main questions I get is:

What do I eat for breakfast?  

In the US, a lot of us are used to seeing breakfast foods that are high histamine.  

Sausage or bacon. 

Avocado toast. 

Certain fruits like grapefruit and strawberries. 

And even eggs. I didn’t tolerate more than 1 egg for a while. Now I can do 2-3 at a time.  

Another common breakfast food? Yogurt. 

I loved yogurt. It was one of my main breakfast options until I started eating low histamine. 

One of my favorite ways to eat it was to layer the yogurt with fruit and granola. 

I loved yogurt so much that it was also one of my go-to snacks. It was easy to grab. And I always liked the creamy texture. 

But yogurt is also off the menu when you are doing Phase 1 of the Low Histamine Diet.

That’s because yogurt is fermented with histamine raising cultures. 

So, I was determined to come up with a low histamine yogurt recipe that was just as satisfying for my low histamine diet.  And I wanted it to avoid the major allergens and food intolerances.  

This low histamine yogurt parfait recipe is:  

• Low histamine   
• Low oxalate to medium oxalate  
• Low lectin   
• Gluten free  
• Dairy free 
• Low carb  

I’ll share the recipe in a bit.  

First, let’s look at what makes yogurt a high histamine food.

Why Yogurt Is High Histamine   

Most yogurts have histamine raising probiotic strains. 

Research has shown that the probiotic strains Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus bulgaricus raise histamine levels . These histamine producing strains are in almost all yogurt for fermentation. 

And fermentation also increases histamine levels. That’s why foods like sauerkraut and kefir are high histamine.

Eating yogurt made with these probiotic strains adds to your levels of histamine.  

Are you working on reducing your histamine build up due to Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and Histamine Intolerance? 

That’s where eating a low histamine diet can help. That’s why I quit eating yogurt. 

Further, dairy can be a problem if you have MCAS. 

Not all dairy products are high histamine foods. However, you might have trouble with dairy because of casein or lactose.  

And dairy, wheat, and gluten can all be gut disruptors. 

Did you know there is a big connection between MCAS and Histamine Intolerance and your gut? 

A lot of mast cells are in your gut! In fact, a big part of your immune system is in your gut. About 70% – 80%! 

Unfortunately, even the non-dairy yogurts like coconut and almond yogurt have Lactobacillus casei and/or Lactobacillus bulgaricus. I haven’t found a non-dairy yogurt option that doesn’t include one of those strains.  

Now, I know that some of yogurt’s appeal is the probiotics. Certain probiotics can be helpful for increasing good gut bacteria and getting your gut microbiome in check.  

Fortunately, there are some good, low histamine probiotics that can help you with that. 

Related Article: Histamine Lowering Probiotic Supplements  

But are you like me and missing your yogurt parfait? 

Do you love the cold and creamy layers of yogurt layered with berries? 

I’ve got a low histamine yogurt recipe for you. Keep reading! 

Making Yogurt Low Histamine   

It’s important you know that this blog post is for informational and educational purposes. It’s not meant to treat any health condition or to be prescriptive for anyone. Always be sure to work with your healthcare practitioner.

Here’s how I put this recipe together. I like to share these swaps with you so you can convert your own recipes to be low histamine.  

In fact, I love it when you send in your low histamine recipes for my team to try! 

Let’s start with the base for our low histamine yogurt – coconut cream.

Coconut Cream   

For this “yogurt” parfait recipe, I use coconut cream. It gives that creamy texture like yogurt.  

Coconut is one of my favorite histamine-friendly foods.

Be careful about coconut cream you buy at the grocery store, though.  

Most coconut creams and milks almost always have xanthan gum or some other thickener.  

These thickeners are bad news for histamine problems. You want to make sure the ingredients only say coconut. And maybe water. That’s all.  

Also, watch out for coconut cream in cans. 

These can leach aluminum, BPA, or other chemicals into the coconut cream. 

Fortunately, I found a good brand of coconut cream. These cans are BPA non-intent.  

The company states that they select cans with no detectable levels of BPA. They also perform independent tests by a licensed, domestic, third party laboratory.  

I use Let’s Do…Organic coconut cream. 

Coconut is anti-inflammatory, which helps a lot in Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Histamine Intolerance! It is also full of healthy fats that support brain health, hormone balance, and the good cholesterol. 

TIP: You’ll want to put your coconut cream in the fridge overnight when making this recipe.  

If you enjoy coconut as much as I do, you might like this Easy Mango Ice Cream as a treat sometime, too!

Thickener  

You just read that when you are choosing coconut cream, you don’t want it to have any additives like the thickener, xanthan gum. 

But you will want a thickener when making this yogurt parfait. 

Eggs are commonly used as thickeners in recipes. Instead of eggs, though, we are going to use flax for this recipe. 

My favorite thickener is flax seed.

Or you can buy flax meal.

Flax seed becomes medium oxalate at half a cup. But this recipe only uses 2 Tablespoons of it. 

This will help make your low histamine yogurt the right, creamy texture.  

Low Histamine Vanilla  

When you think of vanilla, you probably think of vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is a histamine-rich product because of the alcohol content. The fermentation makes it high histamine.  

Instead, I like to use this vanilla powder.   

What I like about this one is that it’s 100% natural. The only ingredient is vanilla. 

Additionally, it’s brown which lets me know it hasn’t been highly processed. 

Low Histamine Sweeteners  

I keep my sugar consumption low.

Sugar is very inflammatory. It also triggers histamine release and mast cell inflammation. 

Instead, I like to use either monk fruit or stevia.  

What you need to know is that most monk fruit sweeteners are combined with erythritol, a sugar alcohol.  

And some of the ones I tried without any other ingredients had a bad after taste.  

The best tasting brand is Smart Monk.

Next, let’s look at how to jazz up your coconut yogurt with some tasty add ins.  

Parfait Ingredients   

I loved adding granola to my yogurt. It adds a nice crunch and textural variety. 

But granola is usually made with wheat, oats, and a lot of sugar. Let’s look at what I use in this recipe instead of granola.  

Substituting Granola 

I don’t eat wheat because of the inflammatory gluten. And wheat is a lectin. 

Oats are gluten free, but they may be processed alongside grains that have gluten. That’s why some oats are labeled gluten free, and others might not be. 

But what you may need to be even more concerned about is that they fall into the lectin category, too.  

Lectins can trigger mast cell degranulation. Lectins may also hurt your gut health. 

This is why most of my recipes are low lectin in addition to low histamine.  

Related Article: Lectin Intolerance   

So, what do you use instead of granola? 

Usually, I like chopped up nuts. They are crunchy and high in healthy fats. If you are used to eating sweet granola, you can sweeten the nuts with a little stevia or monk fruit.  

However, if you have Oxalate Intolerance, you’ll want to choose a low to medium oxalate nut.   

The low oxalate nuts are (from lowest to moderate oxalate):  

• Macadamias   
• Pecans 
• Pistachios  

If you are concerned about Mold Toxicity, then stick to the Macadamias. They are very unlikely to have mold.  

Pecans and pistachios can be contaminated with mold. If you use those, make sure they are very fresh.  

TIP: To be on the safe side, you can soak pistachios and pecans to remove the mold toxins (called mycotoxins).  Soak pecans and pistachios in very salty water for 6-12 hours. Then, drain and rinse them. Last, dry them in the food dehydrator until they are crispy. Store in the freezer.  

Lastly, let’s talk about fruit for this low histamine yogurt parfait. 

Low Histamine Fruits for Yogurt 

I like berries. Berries are very high in antioxidants. And they are very low in sugar which affects your blood sugar.  

Strawberries are very high histamine, though, so I don’t recommend those.  

Your lower histamine fruit options are:  

• Blueberries – are the lowest histamine, lowest oxalate fruit. Yes, I know many lists online say blueberries are high oxalate. But that’s wrong. I use lab tested levels to make my oxalate foods list.
• Raspberries – are a little higher in histamine. But I’ve found they have enough histamine lowering vitamin C and quercetin to balance out the histamine. I can usually have a handful of raspberries with no reaction. You’ll have to test them out for yourself, though. 
• Blackberries – are higher oxalate. So, depending on how significant your oxalate issues are, you might have to limit them or skip them. I can usually do only about 5 or 6 blackberries at a time. 
• Tart cherries – are a great anti-inflammatory option. Tart cherries are also lower in sugar. 
• Mango – is also anti-inflammatory. But mango is higher in sugar than the other options.  

So now you have all the details about the ingredients. Let’s get to the low histamine yogurt recipe!  

 
Enjoy!  

What toppings are your favorite on low histamine yogurt?

More Low Histamine Breakfast Recipes   

• Ginger Cardamom Breakfast Rolls – Low Lectin, Medium Oxalate
• Cherry Smoothie – Low Lectin, Low Oxalate
• German Pancakes Brunch – Low Lectin, Low Oxalate, Low FODMAP, Low Salicylate options
• Easy Mango-Basil Smoothie – Low Lectin, Low Oxalate

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References  

Baby, B., Antony, P., & Vijayan, R. (2018). Antioxidant and anticancer properties of berries. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 58(15), 2491–2507. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2017.1329198 

Deen, A., Visvanathan, R., Wickramarachchi, D., Marikkar, N., Nammi, S., Jayawardana, B. C., & Liyanage, R. (2021). Chemical composition and health benefits of coconut oil: an overview. Journal of the science of food and agriculture, 101(6), 2182–2193. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.10870 

Priyadarshani, W. M. D., & Rakshit, S. K. (2011). Screening selected strains of probiotic lactic acid bacteria for their ability to produce biogenic amines (histamine and tyramine). International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 46(10), 2062–2069. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2621.2011.02717.x 

Wiertsema, S. P., et al. (2021). The Interplay between the Gut Microbiome and the Immune System in the Context of Infectious Diseases throughout Life and the Role of Nutrition in Optimizing Treatment Strategies. Nutrients, 13(3), 886. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13030886