Food Freedom Friday Edition 297 - Histamine

Histamine is a vital signaling molecule in the immune, digestive, and nervous systems. It is released during an immune reaction to help fight a foreign agent or allergen. Histamine triggers the release of stomach acid to help digestion, and it serves as a neurotransmitter, carrying chemical messages between nerve cells.

You may have heard of “histamine intolerance” and are wondering what it is and how it may be impacting you and your health. Histamine itself is not a problem, it actually serves many purposes within the immune, digestive & nervous systems.

Histamine In The Body

Decarboxylase convert amino acids (histidine) to biogenic amines (histamine) by chopping off the carboxyl group.

During immune reactions, histamine is released and encourages the immune system to fight pathogens. Within the digestive system, histamine aids in the digestion of food by triggering the release of stomach acid. In the nervous system, histamine serves as a neurotransmitter, carrying chemical messages between nerve cells & modulating a number of important processes in the brain (wakefulness, cognitive ability and food consumption).

After histamine delivers a message, it’s usually broken down by neutralizing enzymes (DAO & HMNT). This process allows the body to maintain optimal amounts of histamine.

Histamine intolerance results from a disequilibrium of accumulated histamine and the capacity for histamine degradation. Diamine Oxidase (DOA), a substance produced by the kidneys, helps break down the histamine. This means that if the body is unable to produce sufficient (or any) DOA the likelihood is high that you may be experiencing a histamine intolerance problem.

Everyone has their own threshold -- a level of histamine they tolerate without symptoms. Intolerance occurs when more histamine accumulates in the body than we are able to break down effectively – so ‘histamine intolerance’ can be viewed as an enzyme deficiency.

Certain prescription and over-the counter medications are often prescribed or recommended. These have significant side effects including drowsiness and generally feeling awful.

Another way to combat this problem is with the supplementation of DOA. Some people get a chemically produced version while others eat fresh beef kidney or take beef kidney supplements.

Symptoms Of Histamine Intolerance

Individuals with an inability to breakdown and remove histamine may experience a number of different symptoms including

·       Allergic reaction-like symptoms (such as hives, itching, swelling, nasal congestion, and runny nose)

·       Headaches

·       Fatigue

·       Heartburn

·       Indigestion, nausea, reflux, or other digestive issues

In women, histamine tolerance can change during different phases of the menstrual cycle.

Determining Your Histamine Tolerance

It is estimated that 3-5% of the Western world suffers from histamine intolerance. However, a lot of individuals go undiagnosed, and of this percentage, 80% are middle-aged women.

Histamine intolerance is a symptom of a deeper problem, including:

·       Gut issues, such as SIBO and Kelly gut. With a combination of a compromised gut lining and inefficient histamine breakdown, histamine can leak through the intestinal lining and cause immune responses.

·       Genetic abnormalities (low levels) in DAO (diamine oxidase - you can learn more about it here). DAO deficiency accounts for over 70% of all histamine intolerance.

·       Vitamin and mineral deficiencies, such as Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Zinc, & Copper), which are required for DAO to properly break down histamines.

Reducing Histamine Intolerance: Creating a Low Histamine Diet

While histamine is made in the body, levels can be amplified by diet. Some foods are naturally high in histamine, can trigger the release of histamine, or can block the enzymes that break down histamine (DAO and HMNT).

A few strategies to reduce histamine intolerance symptoms include

Increase DAO levels

DAO is one of the enzymes that breakdown histamine. Beef kidney is high in DAO, so eating more kidney or taking a desiccated kidney pill from Ancestral Supplements can help.

Avoid alcohol and be mindful with medications

Alcohol is a is cumulatively problematic, it is high in histamine and it inhibits DAO activity. Some medications can also interfere with DAO activity, such as Aspirin.

Consume a low histamine diet

Unfortunately, once histamine is in food, there is no getting rid of it via cooking or freezing. You will need to consider food choices, food handling, and food preparation to limit your exposures to histamines via food.

To adopt a low histamine diet, follow these guidelines:

Low histamine diet food choices: generally, fresh foods have low histamine. These would include animal proteins. This is why a carnivore-type diet can be powerful in dealing with histamine intolerance. Preparation is also important to maintain freshness – read on for the optimal methods

Foods With High Histamine Levels:

·       Alcohol

·       Aged cheeses

·       Pickled and fermented foods

·       Aged, processed, fermented, smoked, and cured meat (such as sausages, ham, bacon, salami)

·       Vinegar

·       Some fish (especially smoked or canned)

·       Chili powder

·       Cinnamon

·       Cloves

·       Yogurt (depends on cultures used)

·       Breads and cakes with yeast

·       Certain plants (avocados, spinach, and eggplant)

Foods That Can Release Histamine:

·       Some fruits (citrus, bananas, strawberries)

·       Chocolate and cacao

·       Shellfish

·       Tomatoes and mushrooms

·       Raw egg whites

·       Nuts

·       Food additives such as glutamates, benzoate, and colorants

Foods That Interfere With Enzymes That Breakdown Histamine:

·       Alcohol

·       Some teas (green, black, and mate)

Preparation is also important to maintain freshness and appropriate food preparation and handling can also play a role in the histamine build up in foods. A few tips to ensure you are handling food properly to reduce histamines include:

Food Handling

·       The longer meat or food is left at room or fridge temp, the more time enzymes in bacteria have to convert amino acids to histamine.

·       The fresher the better, so avoid leftovers

·       Freezing food prevents and slows histamine development

Food Preparation

There’s some evidence that histamine levels can increase based on cooking method.

·       Thaw, cook, and consume meat on same day Limit slow cooked meat (brisket, braised meat, etc.) and instead sear meat

·       Limit slow cooked bone broth. When making broth, use a pressure cooker to speed up cooking time

Determining If You Are Histamine Intolerant

If you are unsure whether you suffer from histamine intolerance, design your own n=1 experiment!

There are a few methods, such as measuring DAO activity in the blood & urine, but these results do not seem to correlate significantly with symptoms.

1.     Assess symptoms. If you experience any unexplained allergy-like symptoms…

2.     Try consuming a low histamine diet & following the tips provided above for about 2 weeks.

3.     Assess again. Did your symptoms resolve? Did the symptoms return after reintroducing any higher histamine foods?

Self-experimentation will be your best tool to determine your histamine threshold!

Beyond Histamine

Unfortunately, symptoms of histamine intolerance are not simply about how much histamine is in the foods you eat. There are many other things that influence how you may respond to histamine in foods, which can make things quite confusing for patients and doctors alike. Some common reasons why you might have different reactions to the same food on different days.

·       Some medications interfere with DAO activity, including NSAIDS such as Ibuprofen

·       Estrogen stimulates histamine production

·       Stress and physical injury trigger immune cells to release histamine and other pro-inflammatory substances

·       Alcohol interferes with DAO activity, which can increase your exposure to histamine

·       Histamine is always accompanied by a posse of other “biogenic amines” which can worsen our response to histamine depending on which ones are present and how high the levels of each of them are.

Most people likely do not have to worry about histamines, however, many cases do go undiagnosed.

You best strategy for overall health and symptom resolution would be to eat a fresh, carnivore or meat-based diet