Utilizing Food Energetics to Help Dogs with Allergies

Traditional Chinese Medicine teaches that all food has a natural energy that can interact with your pet’s energy. Food energetics refers to this holistic approach to canine health, understanding that foods have warming or cooling properties that can either warm or cool your pet’s body. Any imbalance, either too hot or too cold can cause symptoms such as food sensitivities, skin irritation and/or itchiness. 

For those of us not familiar with Chinese Medicine, think of this way. On a hot day, do we tend to eat cold watermelon or a salad and drink ice tea? What about when it is cold outside, do you prefer a warm soup or chili and maybe a hot tea or cocoa?  That is your body telling you what foods you need to balance your own natural energy.  This same concept can be applied to dogs to help control allergies, decrease inflammation and improve their immune system.

So let’s first determine if our dog is hot, cold or neutral.

A “hot” dog doesn’t actually refer to their physical temperature, it means they have an excess of energy. This is a dog that is naturally active, excitable or restless. They prefer cool places to lie, like tile rather than a warm place on carpet or by the fire.  They may suffer from dry skin, inflammation, hot spots or other allergy symptoms. This is a dog that may be impacted seasonally by environmental allergens also.

A “cold” dog looks for warm or sunny spots to nap in. They like to snuggle under blankets and may have a poorer appetite. They may be stiff after resting or have more joint problems.

“Neutral” dogs don’t fall into either of these categories. They don’t seem to be excessively hot or cold. They may occasionally have signs of excess cold or heat but usually are not prone to one or the other.

So, once you have identified which of these your dog resembles, let’s look at choosing a food appropriate for their energy.

Your hot dog generally needs a cooling food whereas your cold dog would benefit from warming foods. Matching their food to their energy can help addresses health issues, especially allergy symptoms.  The immune system of a dog with allergy is usually over-reacting to an allergen and will respond with heat and inflammation.  You will see signs of itching and/or red and inflamed skin. Using cooling foods can make a huge difference to balance and calm, alleviating allergy symptoms.

All foods fall somewhere on the food energetics spectrum, but proteins have the greatest impact.  So let’s look at which common proteins in your dog’s food can help or hinder your dog’s health.

Hot Proteins should always be fed in moderation, even to cold dogs. Venison, Trout, Lamb, Goat and Mutton are considered hot. Feeding your hot dog, hot proteins is just adding fuel to the fire.

Warm Proteins can be beneficial in the colder months, especially for a dog with achy joints. Warm proteins include chicken, turkey and pheasant.

Cool Proteins can help reduce inflammation (the root cause of allergic reactions). Cooling proteins include duck, rabbit, whitefish, cod and minnows. They can have a calming influence on dogs with hot energies.

Neutral Proteins balance both warm and cold and are a great option for most dogs. Neutral proteins include pork, boar, beef, bison, salmon, quail, herring, mackerel and sardines. This food should be the foundation for any dog having allergic symptoms. Regardless of whether their allergies are seasonal or food related, changing their food can make a dramatic improvement. Food is medicine.

The concept of food energetics works best with minimally processed ingredients or a raw diet. Unfortunately, most dry kibble diets have been subjected to high heat processing which destroys or alters the nutrients and ingredients. High quality, fresher diets have fewer extraneous ingredients, fewer starches/carbs which fuel sugar and also feed allergic responses and inflammation. It is our recommendation to not only pay attention to the proteins you are eating, but feed a freeze-dried, air-dried or pre-made raw patty to support their immune health.

Balance and variety are key. Prevent imbalances by providing a diverse diet with a variety of nutrients. Don’t only feed your hot dog cool proteins or your cold dog warm proteins. Incorporate a variety but with a slant towards the proteins that best balance your dog.

Any new diet requires a slow transition, usually over two weeks. Once exclusively on the new food, it can take 6 to 8 weeks to see improvement. So be patient but if your dog is struggling with allergies, always consider a superior diet to improve your dog’s immune system from the inside out.