Histamine intolerance may be the answer to a range of generalised symptoms you are experiencing. Could you have a histamine intolerance? Let's look into this some more!
WHAT IS 'HISTAMINE'?
Histamine is a compound that is essential to your body. It is involved in your body's immune response and inflammatory response.
Histamine is also a neurotransmitter which acts as a messenger in the body and helps to control our mood & gut function.
Histamine is not 'bad'. It just needs to be in balance.
Histamine is released when your immune system is triggered by an external threat, e.g. pollen in the environment. Histamine then travels through your blood, causing blood vessels to dilate, resulting in an 'inflammatory response', such as those experienced in hay fever i.e. runny nose, itchy eyes, red, puffy face or a rash/hives.
Anti-histamine medication is typically taken in cases of allergies to calm and reduce this histamine response. In many hay fever and allergy cases though, this is a temporary fix. Taking anti-histamine medication, long-term, can come with other side-effects because of the essential role histamine plays in our mood regulation and gut function.
WHAT IS HISTAMINE INTOLERANCE?
Histamine intolerance is when histamine levels have built up in your body. This is either due to something producing or increasing high histamine levels in your body and/or that your body is having trouble breaking down and clearing histamine out of your body.
Symptoms differ from case-to-case, because histamine has an impact on many different parts of the body.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF HISTAMINE INTOLERANCE'?
- Mood disturbance/Neurological: irritability, depression, brain fog, anxiety, vertigo, tinnitus, headaches/migraines, insomnia and unexplained fatigue
- Skin: rashes, flushing, hives, eczema, tissue swelling
- Inflammation: joint pain and stiffness
- Cardiovascular: palpitations, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, racing heart
- Gut symptoms: diarrhoea/constipation, abdominal pain & cramps, IBS symptoms, nausea, food intolerances, reflux/GORD or heartburn, bloating after meals
- Allergies/Hay fever: nasal congestion, sinusitis, post-nasal drip, chronic cough, sneezing, trouble breathing, asthma
- Reproductive/Hormonal: abnormal menstrual cycle, pre-menstrual symptoms, period pain, oestrogen-driven conditions, hot flushes
WHAT CAUSES HIGH HISTAMINE BUILD-UP?
- Allergies or food intolerance
- Bacterial overgrowth - e.g. SIBO/Dysbiosis
- Leaky gut or gut bleeding/damage
- Histamine-rich foods/fermented foods
- Genetics (issues with DAO enzyme)
WHAT CAUSES POOR HISTAMINE BREAK DOWN?
Histamine is broken down by an enzyme: DAO (diamine oxidase). This is produced in the body's intestinal lining. If there is damage to this gut lining, DAO activity can be reduced. An imbalance of gut bacteria can also cause poor histamine break down.
WHAT CAN INCREASE THE RELEASE OF HISTAMINE FROM MAST CELLS?
- Allergens - pollens or other irritants, dust mites
- Sulphites - 220-228 added to foods/used in processing - e.g. dried fruits, wine, cider, soft drinks, yoghurts
- Benzoates - 210, 211, 212, 313
- Tartrazine - 102 Yellow dye found in 'cheesy' and other processed foods
- Lectins - found in grains, legumes & nuts
- Others - egg whites & large quantities of cocoa, MSG/glutamates, yeast extracts & other food additives
WHAT FOODS ARE HIGH IN HISTAMINE?
- Meats and fish that are 'stale' or 'left-overs'
- Bone broth
- Fermented/smoked foods
- Matured cheeses
- Vinegars/sauces
- Soy milk/products
- Canned/pickled fish
- Really ripe bananas
- Papaya/kiwis/pineapple
- Citrus
- Avocado/eggplant
- Red fruits that use histamine to ripen - strawberries, raspberries, plums, tomatoes
- Processed Meats
- Spinach
- Peas/legumes/beans
- Wine/Beer/Alcohol/Energy drinks/Cola
- Coconut yoghurt
- Walnuts & Peanuts
- Wheat germ
- Chocolate
- Artificial food additives
WHAT FOODS ARE LOW IN HISTAMINES?
- Lettuce
- Zucchini
- Endive/Rocket
- Pumpkin
- Carrots
- Sweet potato
- Watermelon
- Broccoli
- Chinese Cabbage
- Fennel
- Cucumber
- Asparagus
- Apple
- Beetroot
- Chicken
TIPS FOR REDUCING HISTAMINES
Avoid left overs and foods that have been pre-prepared. Histamines rise the longer they sit, so avoid bulk food prepping and cook and buy foods fresh.
Avoid processed foods as the additives can cause issues. Another reason to eat a fresh, whole food diet!
Stress and gut health are also factors, so addressing these may be a key part of increasing your histamine intolerance.
If you heal the gut, manage stress and reduce your histamine levels, you can then introduce some of the high-histamine foods back in to the diet. A low-histamine diet should see a reduction of symptoms in a week or two.
Please book in with our Naturopath, Trish if you suspect histamine might be an issue for you.
