Histamine intolerance, sometimes called histaminosis, is an over-accumulation of dietary histamine in the human body. Histamine intolerance is sometimes informally called an allergy; however, the intolerance is technically caused by the gradual accumulation of extracellular histamine due to an imbalance.
Histamine intolerance, also referred to as enteral histaminosis or sensitivity to dietary histamine, is a disorder associated with an impaired ability to metabolize ingested histamine that was described at the beginning of the 21st century.
Histamine intolerance (HIT) is assumed to be due to a deficiency of the gastrointestinal (GI) enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO) and, therefore, the food component histamine not being degraded and/or absorbed properly within the GI tract.
Follow a low histamine diet that eliminates high histamine foods and calms your body's inflammation. Incorporate fresh foods like fruits and vegetables (avoiding high histamine ones), fresh meat and seafood, and whole grains.
Drinking plenty of water every day is essential for all bodily functions, including the regulation of histamine levels. Water does aid in the removal of histamines from the body as more that 95% of excess histamines are removed from the body through the urine.
Coffee contains histamines in low amounts, but for people who are sensitive to them, it contains plenty to get a reaction out of them. While the natural histamine content in coffee is low, some coffee processes can increase histamine levels.
Foods and Histamines
When you accidentally eat or drink something you shouldn't, they'll work in your gut to trigger your allergic reaction. Some foods are also naturally high in histamines. These include aged and fermented foods and alcohol (especially red wine). Some people may be sensitive to that.
Histamine works with nerves to produce itching. In food allergies it can cause vomiting and diarrhea. And it constricts muscles in the lungs, making it harder to breathe. Most worrisome is when histamine causes anaphylaxis, a severe reaction that is potentially fatal.
Histamine Intolerance and Your Gut
Histamine intolerance results from an excess of histamine in the digestive system where sensitivity to high histamine foods causes both digestive and non-digestive symptoms. This sensitivity often results from poor gut health.
A blood histamine test must be collected rapidly, as soon as symptoms develop. Instead of a blood test, a histamine test performed on urine collected over a 24-hour period may be ordered instead to evaluate histamine production over a longer time frame.
This can trigger an immune system response resulting in symptoms such as diarrhea, shortness of breath, headaches, or skin irritation.
Since your intestines are where most of the DAO enzyme is produced, your body may produce less DAO when the gut is inflamed or damaged, thus leading to a build up of histamine. Healing the gut with diet, personalized testing, and using probiotics for histamine intolerance (when indicated) often leads to improvement.
Histamine intolerance can manifest a wide range of symptoms, ranging from inconvenient to completely debilitating. Autoimmune Disease and allergic disorders like histamine intolerance and MCAS share key features, including that both are the result of a hypersensitive immune system gone wild.
Food triggers (histamine liberators) are foods rich in biogenic amines (canned food, wine, beer, and cheeses), as well as alcohol.
What is the most powerful natural antihistamine? Researchers haven't yet established any natural product as the “best” or “most powerful.” Natural antihistamines with the most research backing their use include stinging nettle, vitamin C, quercetin, butterbur, bromelain, and probiotics.
Boiled, fried, or poached eggs aren't affected by cooking methods when it comes to histamine content. Eggs are low in histamines, this makes them ideal for the low-histamine diet. Chickpeas, peanuts, and lentils have been found to have low concentrations of histamines and may be safely consumed in a low-histamine diet.
Most gluten is eaten in the form of baked goods and processed foods. These foods are often high in histamine or seasoned with histamine containing ingredients.
Because dehydration can influence the body's natural histamine response, making sure you drink enough water can be an effective way to help keep your histamine response in check.
“Antihistamines” control allergy symptoms by blocking histamine activity. But our body can also produce enzymes such as histamine-N-methyltransferase and diamine oxidase (DAO) capable of inactivating histamine.
Learn More About Histamine Intolerance Treatment
Research indicates that readjusting your gut flora with low-histamine probiotics can reduce inflammation, alleviate symptoms, and reduce the effects of seasonal allergies.
Bananas are not directly high in histamine, but many people have reported that bananas are still a trigger for their histamine intolerance symptoms. Such a food is known as a “histamine liberator,” and should therefore be treated like a high histamine food.