Yes, Vitamin C acts as a natural antihistamine by helping your body reduce histamine production and potentially breaking it down, rather than blocking histamine receptors like medications do, significantly lowering blood histamine levels, especially beneficial for seasonal allergies. Studies show taking around 2 grams of Vitamin C daily can decrease histamine levels by about 38%, reducing allergy symptoms like sneezing and runny nose.
It also stabilizes mast cells, preventing them from releasing histamine. Vitamin C can help break down excess histamine and clear it from the body and may reduce inflammatory responses and support immune system function, potentially decreasing the intensity of allergic reactions and skin issues.
When the ascorbic acid level falls below 0.7 mg/100 ml, there is a highly significant increase in the blood histamine level. Oral administration of ascorbic acid (1 g daily for 3 days) to 11 selected volunteers resulted in a reduction of the blood histamine level in every instance.
Vitamin C. Vitamin C is a very common and well-known nutrient to strengthen the immune system and reduce inflammation. Vitamin C is also required to produce the necessary enzymes for the process of histamine breakdown, making it a vital anti-histamine nutrient.
Currently, the only evidence-based strategy for alleviating or preventing symptoms is adherence to a low-histamine diet, often supplemented with exogenous DAO to enhance histamine breakdown at the intestinal level [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16].
How do you flush histamines out of your body? Staying hydrated, maintaining electrolyte balance, and supporting liver and kidney function can help flush out histamines. Consuming anti-inflammatory foods and supplements like vitamin C may be helpful.
Vitamin B 6: Often there is a deficiency
In studies and in practice, it was found that many affected people have histamine intolerance, a vitamin B6 deficiency. Some sources state that vitamin B6 is required for the synthesis of the enzyme dao and is involved in the breakdown process of histamine.
Some of the strongest over-the-counter antihistamines include cetirizine 10mg, fexofenadine 120mg, or loratadine 10mg. However, if you have more severe symptoms, you may need a stronger prescription-only antihistamine like fexofenadine 180mg or desloratadine.
A potent antioxidant, vitamin C protects your cells from damage, reduces the severity of allergic reactions and helps your body to fight infections. When taken during allergy season, vitamin C can slow down the overreaction of your body to environmental triggers by decreasing your body's histamine production.
Physiological Concentrations of Zinc inhibit the Release of Histamine from Human Basophils and Lung Mast Cells.
Excess histamine can cause a variety of different symptoms which very often mimic allergic reactions. The most common symptoms are rashes (e.g. hives), itching, flushing, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), indigestion, breathlessness, palpitations, migraines, dizziness, anxiety/panic, joint aches and nasal congestion.
Where possible, include low-histamine fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C in your diet. If dietary intake is insufficient, consider supplements. Typical doses range from 200 to 2,000 mg, but exceeding 1,000 mg per day can cause gastrointestinal side effects like nausea and diarrhea.
A greater abundance of histamine-secreting bacteria in the gut could lead to the development of histamine intolerance. Thus, the aim of this study was to characterize the composition of the intestinal microbiota of patients with histamine intolerance symptoms and compare it with that of healthy individuals.
First, vitamin C plays a valuable role in the treatment of nasal allergy, but is useful fundamentally in large doses ranging from a minimum of 250 mg. daily with an optimum dosage of 750 mg. daily.
What are the symptoms of histamine intolerance?
While no single "most powerful" natural antihistamine is definitively crowned, Quercetin is widely considered the top contender, acting by stabilizing mast cells to prevent histamine release, with Vitamin C and Stinging Nettle also being very effective natural options for allergy relief, often used in combination with Quercetin in supplements. Other beneficial natural remedies include probiotics, bromelain (pineapple), ginger, and turmeric for reducing inflammation and symptoms.
Vitamin C is known for boosting your immune system. Vitamin C can help allergies because a mere two grams of vitamin C can decrease histamine levels by around 38%.
Vitamin C has low toxicity and is not believed to cause serious adverse effects at high intakes [8]. The most common complaints are diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps, and other gastrointestinal disturbances due to the osmotic effect of unabsorbed vitamin C in the gastrointestinal tract [4,8].
To clear histamine, focus on a low-histamine diet (fresh, unprocessed foods), manage stress, get quality sleep, stay hydrated, and consider supplements like DAO or quercetin with medical guidance, as histamine is a natural body chemical, not something to "flush out" but rather to manage through diet and lifestyle to reduce overload.
Famotidine is typically less likely to cause drug-to-drug interactions than cimetidine. Famotidine is available by prescription and over-the-counter under different generic and brand names, such as Pepcid AC or Pepcid Oral, as well as intravenous and intramuscular forms.
These are some examples of prescription allergy medicines:
People with mastocytosis have an increased risk of developing a severe and life-threatening allergic reaction. This is known as anaphylaxis. The increased risk of anaphylaxis is caused by the abnormally high number of mast cells and their potential to release large amounts of histamine into the blood.
And it also plays a major role in histamine intolerance: Magnesium supports the enzyme dao (Diaminoxidase) as a co-factor, which builds histamine. A magnesium deficiency can reduce the DAO activity and thus help to reduce histamine.
Vitamin B12 supports the methylation process—a biochemical pathway that helps the body detoxify and regulate histamine levels. When B12 is lacking, methylation slows down, leading to higher histamine concentrations in the blood.