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Do you suspect you have histamine intolerance? Do your health issues fluctuate without any discernible pattern?
In this article, you’ll learn about histamine: what it is, its function, and how it can cause unpleasant symptoms. Then, most importantly, you’ll discover some natural ways to alleviate histamine intolerance.
What is Histamine?
Histamine is a natural substance produced by your body as part of its immune response. Its role is to allow white blood cells to destroy and repel pathogens. It does this by temporarily boosting inflammation. As a consequence, blood vessels dilate, mucus production increases, and airways are constricted. All these reactions serve as a short-term strategy to deal with an invader by expelling it rapidly. Many people associate histamine with airborne allergies like hay fever. This is because if you do develop an allergy to pollen or dust, your body will release histamine to rid itself of the perceived intruder.
You might be thinking of histamine as a villain, but it does serve a crucial and useful role. As well as supporting immunity, histamine helps brain cells communicate, regulates sleep, and enables the release of stomach acid.
Once it’s done its job, your body should break down and excrete histamine. Therefore, the initial adverse effects should only last for a brief time, with histamine levels then falling.
What Happens in Histamine Intolerance?
Some people don’t break histamine down very well when it’s no longer needed. This can be down to a deficiency in the enzymes needed to metabolise it. These enzymes are diamine oxidase (DAO), active in the gut, and histamine-n-methytransferase (HNMT) which works in the lungs and nervous system.
Histamine then accumulates in the body and causes unpleasant symptoms. Excess histamine can also arise because of excessive production or high dietary intake of histamine, as it’s present in certain foods.
So, as you can see, symptoms aren’t caused by an allergy, but from ineffective metabolism of histamine. For this reason, the condition is sometimes called histamine imbalance.
What are the Symptoms of High Histamine?
Because histamine is involved in so many different areas of the body, raised histamine can provoke many varied symptoms. Some common ones include:
- Skin rashes and itching, flushing
- Shortness of breath and racing heart rate
- Headaches
- Runny nose, sneezing, congestion, itchy eyes
- Digestive symptoms including bloating, nausea, upset stomach.
- Swelling of tongue and lips
- Fatigue, brain fog
- Sleeping issues, anxiety
- Menstrual irregularities, PMS
Because your body naturally produces more histamine at night, some people experience histamine-related symptoms at this time, with night sweats, heartburn, or itchy skin disturbing sleep.
Which Foods Contain Histamine?
These include fermented or aged foods like wine or beer, aged cheeses, parmesan, blue cheese, dried fruit, camembert, processed meats, and some fruits such as tropical fruits. Histamine is contained in certain vegetables including aubergines and spinach, shellfish, and fermented foods like kefir, kimchi, kombucha and sauerkraut.
You might think you’re having an allergic reaction to these foods. However, the histamine they naturally contain is simply not being cleared efficiently from your body.
Other foods can cause histamine to be released by the body, although they don’t contain it themselves. These include bananas, strawberries, avocados, citrus fruits, some nuts, certain food additives, and tomatoes.
Yet other dietary components block the action of DAO. Culprits include alcohol, tea, coffee, and certain medications.
Some people find they can eat certain high-histamine foods without experiencing symptoms, but not in combination or too often.
Diagnosing Histamine Intolerance
Histamine intolerance is often unsuspected because of the wide array of symptoms it produces, frequently with no obvious pattern and mimicking those of other health conditions. This is why it’s invaluable to work with a practitioner who can look closely at your diet and symptoms and see how they align.
Natural Strategies for Managing Histamine Reactions
- Although not a cure, and not recommended long-term, it may be helpful to temporarily avoid high-histamine foods while your body balances itself. Low-histamine alternatives include fresh fruits and vegetables apart from those listed above, oily fish, healthy fats, gluten-free whole grains, and organic meat and poultry. Avoiding high-histamine foods for a short while can be useful to help identify whether histamine intolerance is playing a role in your health issues. However, because many high-histamine foods form part of a healthy diet, avoidance should not be seen as a solution.
- Gut health is closely linked to histamine intolerance because some bacteria in your gut’s ecosystem support histamine clearance. For example, Bifidobacteria dampen down histamine release and down-regulate histamine receptors (1). Other less favourable types of bacteria encourage the release of histamine. Meanwhile, an inflamed gut lining may impede the release of the enzymes needed for breaking down histamine. Therefore, good digestive health and a balanced gut microbiome support healthy histamine metabolism.
- Certain nutrients, including vitamin C, are needed for optimal DAO levels. Other nutrients involved in clearing histamine include magnesium, vitamin B6 and B12.
- Ongoing stress will exacerbate histamine intolerance by boosting histamine release from mast cells. Here at The Forbes Clinic we have a wide range of mind/body therapies to help you manage stress and reduce its impact on your health.
Help and Support for Managing Histamine Intolerance
Some people are genetically predisposed to producing less of the enzymes needed to break down histamine. Genetics also influence how your body releases and metabolises histamine. Therefore, genomic testing can be useful to determine whether you have an enhanced need for specific nutrients or targeted gut support to optimise your histamine metabolism.
The GI Map test will reveal the makeup of your microbiome, and whether your gut lining is inflamed or leaky. This self-test can be done in the comfort of your own home.
The results of these tests, alongside a thorough deep-dive into your diet and lifestyle, will enable our expert practitioners to construct a 360-degree health plan, completely personalised to you.
We will always look into the root causes of your health issues, and work with you to put them right. Start your journey by booking an Integrative Medicine Discovery Call today.
