Sensitivities to food don’t have to be all about allergies. Sometimes reacting to foods has nothing to do with an “intolerance,” or an allergy. We forget that foods actually have histamines. Some foods more than others. Histamine intolerance has been linked to migraines and GI symptoms. If you already struggle with allergies, food allergies, stomach issues, and migraines, this list may be something that you print out and keep handy.
What are histamines?
Histamine is a chemical involved in the immune system, digestion, and nervous system. It also communicates messages from the body to the brain. Histamines can also be found in the stomach acid. They aid in the breakdown of food.
Histamines in your body cause the blood vessels to swell and dilate. This allows the white blood cells to find and attack infections and problems in your system. While these little guys can be a good things, build up of histamines can cause a negative affect. This build up is what causes physical reactions such as headaches, rashes, itchiness, and other intolerance based reactions. While histamines are part of the body’s immune system, if you don’t break them down properly, you can develop a histamine intolerance.
Since histamines travel throughout the immune system, they can affect your stomach, lungs, brain, skin, and the whole cardiovascular system. This can cause a wide array of issues.
Common symptoms of histamine intolerance include:
- Difficulty falling asleep, easily arousal
- Vertigo or dizziness
- Arrhythmia, or accelerated heart rate
- Difficulty regulating body temperature
- Nausea, vomiting
- Abdominal cramps
- Nasal congestion, sneezing, difficulty breathing
- Abnormal menstrual cycle
- Tissue swelling (source)
What Could Be Causing Histamine Intolerance?
- Overgrowth of Bacteria
- Leaky Gut
- Fermented Foods and Beverages such as wine, and beer
- Diamine Oxidase (DAO) deficiency
- Foods high in histamines
- GI bleeding
If you think you have any of the issues listed above, reducing histamines in your daily food choices could make a huge difference in your body, your intolerances, and your reactions. Foods can do three things, contain histamines, cause the release of histamines, and block the enzymes that your body needs to break down histamine (diamine oxidase).
- Fermented alcoholic beverages, especially wine, champagne and beer
- Fermented foods: sauerkraut, vinegar, soy sauce, kefir, yogurt, kombucha, etc
- Vinegar-containing foods: pickles, mayonnaise, olives
- Cured meats: bacon, salami, pepperoni, luncheon meats and hot dogs
- Soured foods: sour cream, sour milk, buttermilk, soured bread, etc
- Dried fruit: apricots, prunes, dates, figs, raisins
- Most citrus fruits
- Aged cheese including goat cheese
- Nuts: walnuts, cashews, and peanuts
- Vegetables: avocados, eggplant, spinach, and tomatoes
- Smoked fish and certain species of fish: mackerel, mahi-mahi, tuna, anchovies, sardines
- Cow’s Milk
- Wheat Germ
- Many artificial preservatives and dyes
- Energy drinks
- Black tea
- Mate tea
- Green tea
After reading these lists, I was blown away by how many of them I was sensitive to. It’s clear that I have a system that has an imbalance and intolerance of histamines. If you’re like me, you may need to decrease your consumption of these trigger foods. If you’ve been paying close attention to your reactions, chances are you’ve already started doing that on your own!
The other option is to check to see if you are low in Diamine Oxidase (DAO). If this is out of balance it cause an overreaction for all foods that have a moderate to high amount of histamines.
Intolerances can be a huge nuisance. It may seem as though the list of foods you can eat is getting smaller and smaller every day. Hopefully, this information sheds some light on ways to reduce and control histamine intolerances.