Histamine Intolerance

Histamine Intolerance is a common issue that manifests with symptoms such as hives, irritability, profuse sweating, or becoming red in the face when exercising, exercise-induced asthma, psoriasis, eczema, insomnia, nosebleeds, anxiety, and sweaty hands and feet.

Too much histamine in your body can contribute to symptoms such as flushing, a runny nose, sleep difficulties, and/or headaches. These pesky symptoms can result from slowed enzyme activity in your histamine pathway.

Some people react to food-derived histamines (fermented foods, aged cheese, wine, etc.).

Others are more sensitive to the histamines created by probiotics or gut bacteria.

And still, others are sensitive to histamines in their environment (seasonal sinus issues, runny nose, etc.)

Histamine Triggers

Histamine Intolerance Originates in the Gut: Dietary changes and environmental factors are thought to contribute to the increase in allergies seen over recent years. Increased consumption of a “Western diet”, including fewer fruits and vegetables and more processed grains, fats, and meats, leads to a significant decrease in dietary intakes of beneficial compounds such as flavonoids, antioxidants, and polyphenols found in fresh fruits and vegetables.

Histamine-containing foods: Histamine, a part of the body’s biological defense system, is also found in many common dietary sources such as fish, meat, cheese, fermented foods such as miso, pickles, sauerkraut, aged food such as parmesan, smoked food such as smoked salmon, red wine, champagne, acid food such as tomatoes, citrus fruit, vinegar, alcohol, citrus juices, and leftovers.

❌ Avoid aged, fermented food. Eat only the freshest meat and fish available to you.

❌ Avoid aged cheese, especially parmesan, considered a great offender.

My naturopath told me to eliminate: gluten, beans and lentils, onions, garlic, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, whole-grain bread, and grains. I saw a big difference right away! No hives!!

Other foods contain histidine, which is converted to histamine during digestion by certain bacteria in the gut. At healthy levels and in the right places, histamine is needed for a normal digestive process and sleep-wake cycle, and for a functioning immune system. On the other hand, too much histamine can cause unpleasant side effects like rashes, itching, a stuffy nose, swelling, headache, and gastrointestinal complaints.

I also created a diary where I record the food I had after a hives episode to help spot the food that creates intolerance.

Histamine elimination diet

Provided by my acupuncturist-dermatologist in LA, Yin Yang Dermatology

To do a histamine elimination diet, it is recommended to avoid common allergens and focus on low-histamine foods for four weeks. After the four weeks, you can slowly begin reintroducing foods, evaluating your symptoms as foods are reintroduced. Certain foods contain histamine, and others release histamine.

These foods should be avoided:

❌ Dairy: especially milk, yogurt, aged cheeses, buttermilk, sour cream and kefir, Alcohol, Fermented foods – like sauerkraut, kombucha, and fermented meats like sausages, salami and ham
❌ Pickles and Pickled vegetables, Fermented soy-like miso, tempeh, and soy sauce, Shellfish and Fish (although fresh salmon, cod, and trout are OK)
❌ Egg whites, Spinach, Avocado, Eggplant, and Tomatoes (contain histamine). Some fruits release histamine: Kiwi, Strawberry, Pineapple, Plum, and Most Citrus
❌ Sourdough Bread and Yeast Breads, Vinegar and Ketchup, Walnuts, Cashews, and Peanuts

Your diet can contain low-histamine foods such as:

✅ Organic and FRESH Meat and Chicken,
✅ Fresh Vegetables, Fresh herbs
✅ Fresh Fruits: Watermelon, Apples, Pears, Mango, Grapes
✅ Rice, Bread, Rice Noodles, and Rice Crackers
✅ White and Brown Rice, Millet Bread, Oats, Quinoa, Pasta, Chickpeas, Kidney Beans, Black Beans, Fresh Herbs, and Spices
✅ Herbal Teas, Chia seeds, Flax Seeds, Hemp seeds, Egg yolks
✅ Some sources say that goat milk and sheep milk are OK. Some sources say that young, fresh organic cheese, such as mozzarella cheese and cream cheese is OK
✅ Organic Milk alternatives: organic almond milk, organic coconut milk, cashew milk, hemp milk,
✅ Organic Cooking Oil: Organic Olive oil, Organic Coconut oil

Histamine levels in foods will vary, so there is no perfect histamine-free diet. Just do your best and track symptoms. After four weeks of maintaining this sort of diet, you can slowly, one by one, start incorporating additional foods to test them out, cook your own organic food as much as possible with approved cookware, eat fresh organic whole foods, and avoid processed foods.

Environmental Stress: It worsens histamine intolerance and can also contribute.

For me, it is the conventional laundry products’ smell coming from the neighbors’ laundry rooms.

✅ Choose always organic laundry products. I hope there will be more awareness and protection from the unhealthy cause-and-effect of fragrances.
✅ If you are allergic to dust mites, wash your bed sheets with water at higher temperatures.
✅ Choose organic skincare and organic hair products without harsh preservatives such as sodium benzoate, classified and identified as capable of causing contact urticaria.

Enzyme DAO and HNMT

People with histamine intolerance often have low levels of either of two very specific enzymes—diamine oxidase (DAO) and histamine-N-methyltransferase (HNMT)—that process histamine in your body.

Some of us do not produce enough of this important enzyme called DAO, produced by our digestive system, to help break down histamine.

For this reason, we need to follow a low-Histamine diet and avoid external stressors, and supplements with anti-histamine supplements. I listed here all the products to help you with histamine. I found them too great for my occasional hives.

🌸 A healthy gut is a key factor in normal histamine metabolism and healthy histamine levels throughout the body.

🌸 If you are dealing with Hives, Urtica, and Histamine Intolerance, I can recommend reaching a naturopath.

Anti-Histamine Products

🌸 Here you can find natural supplements and tea that helped me with my hives.

I listed here all the products to help you with histamine. I found them to be great for my occasional hives.

I recommend that you use organic unscented products for your shower and skincare, and this Allergy-free Certified Organic cotton clothing brand.

Histamine Intollerance Protocol

✅ Low-histamine diet and keep a food journal
✅ Reduce your stress levels
✅ Minimize exposure to allergens
✅ Support a healthy gut
✅ No alcohol

The Best Histamine Intolerance Brands

My number one supplement brand for Histamine Intolerance is:

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Seeking Health Histamine Intolerance

💚Seeking Health is my number one brand recommendation if you are dealing with histamine intolerance!

👉I discovered this brand years ago when I was dealing with hives and my naturopath recommended their products!

🌿Since then I have been using their histamine supplements for histamine intolerance and Quercetin! Quercetin is also great for reducing inflammation around your period!

🌿I also use their multivitamin B which has a great ratio of vitamins

Seeking Health is
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HistaminX: Healthy immune system support, support for healthy lungs, nose, and airway, supports healthy inflammatory responses.

Histamine Digest: Digests histamine fast using the patented DAO2 TM enzyme. It supports healthy histamine levels in the small intestines, colon, uterus, bladder, prostate, and breast milk.

ProBiota HistaminX: Histamine-friendly probiotic formulated without strains known to produce high levels of histamine, it supports microbiome balance and a healthy gut response to ingested histamine, it supports the health of your immune system and skin