Red wine. Aged cheese. Citrus fruits. Sauerkraut. Bacon. These foods are frequently consumed by those on a healthy whole foods diet, and are often found in a variety of Paleo-friendly recipes and meal plans. Even conventional doctors frequently recommend including many of these seemingly unrelated foods daily as part of a healthy diet. After all, even a raw vegan probably wouldn’t argue against eating foods like oranges, spinach, or cinnamon.
It may surprise you to learn that these and other popular foods are capable of causing numerous symptoms in certain people, including migraines, hives, anxiety, heartburn and GERD, and nasal congestion, just to name a few. If you’re experiencing strange reactions to certain foods that most would consider healthy, you may be suffering from a little known but not uncommon cause of food intolerance and disease: histamine intolerance.
Still having strange symptoms on a real food diet? You could be suffering from histamine intolerance.
Never heard of histamine intolerance? You’re not alone. This food intolerance is difficult to diagnose, has a multifaceted symptom profile, and is often confused with a variety of other conditions. Many doctors and nutritionists have never even heard of histamine intolerance, and often treat the symptoms without ever addressing the underlying cause. In my practice, I see it especially with headaches and migraines, skin problems and mental health issues. It’s a fairly common, yet poorly understood, food sensitivity.
Histamine Intolerance: Not Your Typical Food Allergy!
Deficiency in the DAO enzyme system, found in the intestinal mucosa, has been suggested as the most probable cause of histamine intolerance. (2) There are likely genetic variations in individual enzyme function, but when activity of either of these enzymes is insufficient, the resulting excess of histamine may cause numerous symptoms resembling an allergic reaction. Common symptoms of histamine intolerance include: (3)
- Pruritus (itching especially of the skin, eyes, ears, and nose)
- Urticaria (hives) (sometimes diagnosed as “idiopathic urticaria”)
- Tissue swelling (angioedema) especially of facial and oral tissues and sometimes the throat, the latter causing the feeling of “throat tightening”
- Hypotension (drop in blood pressure)
- Tachycardia (increased pulse rate, “heart racing”)
- Symptoms resembling an anxiety or panic attack
- Chest pain
- Nasal congestion, runny nose, seasonal allergies
- Conjunctivitis (irritated, watery, reddened eyes)
- Some types of headaches that differ from those of migraine
- Fatigue, confusion, irritability
- Very occasionally loss of consciousness usually lasting for only one or two seconds
- Digestive upset, especially heartburn, “indigestion”, and reflux
Histamine intolerance is unlike other food allergies or sensitivities in that the response is cumulative, not immediate. Imagine it like a cup of water. When the cup is very full (high amounts of histamine in the diet), even a drop of additional water will cause the cup to overflow (symptoms activated). But when the cup is less full, it would take more water (histamine) to cause a response. This makes histamine intolerance tricky to recognize.
In addition, histamine intolerance is closely related to SIBO and dysbiosis, which suggests that curing the latter may alleviate the former. Many integrative practitioners, including myself, believe that a primary cause of histamine intolerance is an overgrowth of certain types of bacteria that make histamine from undigested food, leading to a buildup of histamine in the gut and overwhelming the body’s ability to catabolize the excess histamine. This causes a heightened sensitivity to histamine-containing foods and an increase in symptoms that are commonly associated with allergies.
For more detailed information on histamine intolerance, including causes, symptoms, and treatment, check out this article by Dr. Janice Joneja, a Ph.D. in medical microbiology and immunology and former head of the Allergy Nutrition Program at the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre.
What to Do If You Have Histamine Intolerance
Histamine intolerance can be a challenging diagnosis to manage, since many foods contain histamine and for some patients, their gut bacteria is producing the excess histamine that is causing the symptoms. Fermented foods are some of the biggest culprits, since even beneficial bacteria produce histamine during fermentation. In fact, reacting to fermented foods is a classic sign of histamine intolerance, especially if probiotic supplements are well-tolerated. Other foods that are high in histamine include:
- Seafood: shellfish or fin fish, fresh, frozen, smoked or canned
- Eggs
- Processed, cured, smoked and fermented meats such as lunch meat, bacon, sausage, salami, pepperoni
- Leftover meat (After meat is cooked, the histamine levels increase due to microbial action as the meat sits)
- All fermented milk products, including most cheeses
- Yogurt, buttermilk, kefir
- Citrus fruits – eg. oranges, grapefruit, lemons, lime
- Most berries
- Dried fruit
- Fermented foods: sauerkraut, kombucha, pickles, relishes, fermented soy products, etc.
- Spinach
- Tomatoes- including ketchup, tomato sauces
- Artificial food colors and preservatives
- Spices: cinnamon, chili powder, cloves, anise, nutmeg, curry powder, cayenne
- Beverages: Tea (herbal or regular), alcohol
- Chocolate, cocoa
- Vinegar and foods containing vinegar such as pickles, relishes, ketchup, and prepared mustard
Individual sensitivity varies tremendously. I have one or two patients that cannot tolerate any amount of histamine in food, and others that are only sensitive to the foods highest in histamine.
In order to improve your tolerance to histamine-containing foods, it is crucial to heal the gut and address any dysbiosis or SIBO issues that may exist. I recommend working with a qualified practitioner who can help you address any bacterial imbalance and create a treatment plan that is tailored to your needs.
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What Can You Eat on a Low-Histamine Paleo Diet?
You may be feeling overwhelmed by the list of foods to avoid – I don’t blame you! It can be especially challenging to eat low-histamine foods on a Paleo diet. There aren’t many resources available for this condition, and everyone reacts in their own unique way to excess histamine and certain high histamine foods. For example, a person may do fine eating berries and citrus fruits, but they may have horrible reactions to wine or sauerkraut. If you’re dealing with histamine intolerance, you will need to determine your own trigger foods, and reduce or eliminate them accordingly.
For help figuring out what to eat, those with histamine intolerance may want to check out my Paleo Recipe Generator. It contains over 600 Paleo-approved recipes, and allows you to exclude many high histamine foods from your meal plan, including fermented dairy, eggs, tomatoes, eggplant, fruit, certain spices, vinegar, alcohol, and seafood.
Of course, you’ll have to pay attention to whether or not the recipe contains cured meats like bacon or sausage, other spices like cinnamon or cloves, and certain fruits and vegetables like citrus and spinach. Some of these issues can be addressed by excluding fruit and pork from the meal plan, which isn’t necessary but can help make your low-histamine recipe search a little easier. You’ll still need to double check the ingredients of each individual meal, but this search function makes it much easier!
Once you’ve made your selections for foods to exclude, you can plan meals for a full day, a week, or simply find a recipe for a single meal. Even with a histamine intolerance, you can still enjoy many delicious Paleo recipes: Lamb Roast with Fennel and Root Vegetables, Beef Brisket with Mushrooms, Sourdough Buckwheat Pancakes, and even Chicken Pot Pie, just to name a few.
There are few other online resources for low-histamine meal plans, and most are not Paleo compliant. The Low Histamine Chef has a “Low Histamine Diamine Oxidase Boosting Recipe Book” which some people may find helpful, though many of the recipes contain less-than-desirable ingredients such as grains, legumes, and sugar. It’s important to focus on healing the gut and identifying your specific trigger foods in order to reduce symptoms without indefinitely following a strict low histamine diet. Just remember, individual results will vary!
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Are very high IgE levels associated with Histamine intolerance? If so, what might be considered in the range of having the intolerance? This is the first I’m hearing about this syndrome. I don’t have unusual allergies, according to my allergist, but my IgE levels are pretty high. I’m currently getting Immunotherapy
treatment (allergy shots) and think I might be barking up the wrong tree. I get hives when wet, constant post nasal drip, asthma (which is new), scalp itching and hair loss, vision issues, low blood pressure, digestive issues, memory problems, all of which I’ve had before the allergy shots. Observing my 2 boys, I’m pretty sure they have some food sensitivities but not clear what yet. I’m pretty healthy avoiding artificial foods and working out often. Back to my question, is there an idea of what IgE levels might be considered in having a histamine intolerance? And does anyone know of a practitioner in Illinois that might be sensitive to these issues? TIA
I am so intrigued by this article. After 1 year on the MS drug Gilenya, I started having panic attacks out of the blue. I’m cool as a cucumber as a person, so I assumed that it was medicine related. I felt insane! Now that I look back- six months ago I gave up a passion -red wine. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it did NOT make me feel good, even just a little glass. I follow a gluten free diet since 2011 and it’s always been fine with me, so my question now becomes….after a good year on this medicine, have things started to change because of buildup of some sort?? I added activia for no reason a few months back, just cause it seemed like a tasty yoghurt. My neurologist wanted to put me on all kinds of meds for anxiety. They even thought I had epilepsy, but three day EEG showed no seizures. I tried Lorazepam for sleep which made everything worse! I have no idea what is happening to me, I just know I’m a bit better when I switched to EVERY OTHER day with the MS drug. BP is lower than my usual hypertensive self. I’m on Losartan as well. I’ve been doing great MS-wise, but man, I do NOT want to relive what felt like psychosis/insomnia for these past two months.
I spent 40 years on seizure meds, none ever worked. Go get your histamine and tryptase levels checked. See if you have a mast cell activation problem or histamine intolerance. It’s also not uncommon for an EEG to show nothing. Unless you are having frequent seizures, I don’t feel that the 24/7 side-effects of the anti-seizure meds are worth it. The MDs have you hooked if you’re on a lifetime med (and you need to see them for refills) Save that as a last resort. Try all natural options before the meds. Google low histamine chef’s site for detailed info.
My wife suffered from cold Urticaria for three years. It would show up a few hours after she ate. Went to 9 Drs.The alerigest told her she was alergic to histimine. That was her only alergy.
One told her she had no valve in her Stomach and put her on Tabimet. That was a stupid diagnosis but it lead us to a cure. Went to a Dr. that rebuilds Stomach valves. He examined her and said she had a perfectily good valve. but since she was loosing weight while on tagimet he started looking somewhere else. His diagnosis was that her gaul bladder was bad. WHAT!!! We went to a specilist to check it out and sure enough it had sludge in it. We had the gaul bladder removed and the hives went away. No Dr. seems to want to investigate this reaction. But some of you might have the same issue.
Worth a look with a simple test. She still has an alergy to histimine, but it rarely shows up.
I react to whole grains, any wheat product (sinuses), sesame seeds make me sick as a.dog and I don’t. handle any seeds well. I have to be very careful about how much milk I put in my system or I will throw up. Nuts are.a big problem with my ears. Soy puts all this noise in my ears and so does.tylenol. And I notice every time I eat fish , shrimp etc- my throat will feel a little sore. There are other reactions but I am overwhelmed by my list already! 🙂 I will definitely try a histamine sensitive diet. I have allergic rhinitis. Thank you.
The list of foods to avoid is overwhelming. Different sites list different foods. This list has eggs on it and not coffee. To avoid these food is not realistic in my opinion unless you are very wealthy and have a personal chef to adhere to all these restrictions. I am tryng histamine blocker supplements. But I am at least grateful for the discovery. I believe histamine tolerance is my issue. Too bad these supplements are not cheap.
My Histamine intolerance had become so severe I was extremely limited on what I could eat. It was frightening. I had severe flushing and my heart would race, very scary.
A Few months ago I was able to lower my Hypothyroid medication (likely thanks to eating paleo and losing weight) and my symptoms are almost non existent. Able to eat bacon again, drink an occasional glass of wine (alcohol was impossible for me to drink before) I am wondering if the histamine reaction is hormone related or even a side effect of the medication at the higher dose…
Google the med you’re taking + Histamine intolerance and see what comes up. I found 2 that I had taken for epilepsy on the list and advil and aleve are there too.
Is histamine Intolerance related to high or low brain histamine. Histadela or undermethylation?
This is a great question and I would love to know. Myself and my two children are undermethylators which means that we have a high blood histamine level. We are sensitive to high histamine foods / histamine liberator foods. Is this due to a methylation issue, or pathogenic gut bacteria? Could methylation issues (undermethylator) be a cause rather than SIBO or gut dysbiosis?
Apparently, I am in big trouble!
I have been so sick for a long time, with terrible debilitating headaches, inflammation, swollen tongue, throat which seems to be narrowing, difficulty swallowing, now my face is breaking out badly.
I had gone dairy, sugar, and gluten free, mostly, but that didn’t solve the problem.
I’m very allergic to alcohol, apparently in any form, which I never really consumed much of but it’s become almost life threatening. I need some immediate help.
I live in Washington state, NW of Seattle.
Can you please advise?
I don’t know where to begin today.
Thank You, Jerez
Alex and Jerez,
Here are the basics. Start reading about mastocytosis, mast cell activation disorder and histamine intolerance. All cause degranulation of mast cells. Masto is a disease which causes production of too many mast cells. Histamine Intolerance covers foods that are high in histamines that cause mast cells to degranulate and MCAD seems to be in between. Google Dr. Jonega for info in Hist., Drs. Cassels, Akin (Boston) and Maitland (NY) for Masto/MCAD. I’m seeing Dr. Maitland for MCAD and Hist.. There are only a few MDs in the states who cover this. Find an MD who will test your levels of tryptase and histamines before changing your diet, so you can compare before and after. The problem with MDs and histamines is that it breaks into 4 categories, H1, H2, H3, H4 which cover dermatology, gastro, allergy and neurology and when we see specialists, we don’t talk about other illnesses and they don’t look outside their field. After 50 years of seeing docs, a GP put it together. The most help I’ve gotten has been from other people with the same problems on websites. Check out the low histamine chef site. Dr, Jonega does an interview there. And BTW if you’re encountering old school docs who don’t believe in “intolerances” v. allergy, walk out. They’re outdated.
I could not figure out why I was still feeling sick sometimes on a paleolithic diet, I’d be fine for a week then what seemed like out of the blue I’d get anxiety and severe dizziness. I’ve noticed champagne, bone broth and kefir to be the worst, also a probiotic I took gave me severe anxiety, I now attribute that to histamine promoting bacteria. I believe my symptoms are worse in the spring and fall, histamine overload? Definitely when I’m dehydrated as well. I’m currently playing around with digestive enzymes for allergies, I’m on day 3 so I’m not quite sure about them yet, although I’ve noticed a decrease in depression. I also have a salicylate intolerance.
Does anyone have any advice or know of any doctors in the US that can help? I’m so glad ive finally put the pieces together to figure out what’s causing my anxiety and dizziness, but a low salicylate, low histamine, yet nourishing diet seems impossible 🙁
I’m considering trying histame so I’ll report back on that later.
I am pretty sure SIBO is the source of my issue, but I have not been to a doctor to confirm. I am thankful for this information.
My symptoms are a bit different, and I am trying to figure out if histamine intolerance is truly what I am dealing with.
Recently, I mowed our lawn (my husband usually does it). I felt fine, but then when I was done, my stomach started to feel hard, and I had extreme excess mucus, and had to spit instead of swallow. I didn’t feel any inflammation in my esophogus, it was just my stomach. This lasted for about 20-30 minutes, and I felt mild itching, with no hives, all over. (I have learned to not scratch, because it makes it worse). Tonight, I went to bed, feeling a little bloated, in my lower bowels. I woke up at 3 am, feeling the oncoming symptoms of the excess mucus again, and hard stomach. I read that water helps reduce excess histamine, so I drank a glass of water. Almost immediately, my blood pressure dropped, and I felt like throwing up, and I had cramping in my lower bowels. I never did throw up, because I kept myself calm, but my stomach was hard, and I had the extreme excess mucus again. After 10 minutes, my blood pressure normalized, and I could feel the itch starting, and it spread all over my body. There are no hives or anything, but eyes do get blood shot.
Anyway, this has happened to me a few times now. I mostly avoid it, by keeping my bowel movements regular, but I have noticed constipation can be a trigger. I have consumed a lot of sugar, and fattening foods this week, and I am thinking I wouldn’t be sitting here tonight, trying to figure this all out, had I stuck to my whole foods diet this week.:( I am not looking for diagnosis, but are my symptoms, classic histamine intolerance symptoms, or do you think there is something else I might need to check into? I have struggled with eczema for the past 10 years now, and an herbalist (that I have done cleanses with) told me my symptoms are from yeast, bacteria, and parasites. Thank you for your imput, and help! Julia
Is histamine intolerance related to eczema. The top 8 foods are the same for both conditions. My son has eczema and it is a nightmare trying to work out which foods are causative. It was at its worst at 5 months of age when he was fully breast fed but my diet included yoghurt camembert nuts chocolate and tomatoes.
My baby is 7 months. at 2 months she got bad cradlecap. At 4 months eczema. I cut out dairy, and after a skin prick test, egg and wheat too. her skin got a bit better but still flares up. The latest episodes flared up after I’d been eating 1) aubergine (eggplant) 2nd episode: oranges, 3rd: bacon and soy sauce. (admittedly I’m not great at moderation…I must learn portion control!) These seem to tie in with histamine. what is the link with salicylates- can anyone explain simply the relationship? Should I avoid tthem too? also, as a breastfeeing mum, are there ssupplements I could take? I have an app by Baliza called f Food Intolerances which I have just started using: it has a traffic light system of what foods to eat /avoid. I’m surprised that aubergine doesn’t come up red…
I have had a few memorable tummy aches after overdoing foods that seem to match histamine, (and some migranes/fuzzyvision i don’t recall a food trigger) but otherwise feel ok ish.
My baby was c-section and I know this has repercussions on gut flora/ bacteria.
Any suggestions on where to go next, any others with similar experiences to share?
I would recommend NMT (NeuroModulation Technique) as a means to train your baby’s system out of it’s allergies. The website is http://www.nmt.md. You can read about fantastic results there.
I also work with eliminating allergies and do distance sessions: http://www.HeartFullHealing.com.
I might guess that your pregnancy was somewhat stressful, which sets up a stress response in the baby. Even if mom is not particularly stressed, but people are around her are, the baby picks this up too! Here are some links to scientific articles demonstrating this principle in rats:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16469780
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10832006
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16455779
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20136688
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18164765
I hope your baby experiences some relief soon (and you as the parent!).
Chest pains, anxiety and faster heartbeat sounds like a panic attack. Did they tell you it was something else? I don’t know the official difference between anxiety attacks and panic attacks, but my differentiation of my own was being able to cope with them or not being able to and going to the ER. Here’s a good article
C:\Users\Ann\AppData\Local\Temp\mimics-of-food-allergy.pdf
Also look up the low histamine chef. She has interviews with Dr. Joneja, who is an authority on this topic. Read up on Histamine intolerance and mastocytosis.
all the symptons described above. It started about 5 or 6 weeks into drinking probitic drinks and the fermented foods. I was ignoring what I was feeling still waking up the next day and continued to have those foods (would eat yogurt only once in a blue moon) by the seventh week symptons were full blown and I went to ER…
Hi hope you can answer after about 7 weeks of adding fermented foods and drinking probitic drink I started experience, chest pain, bad reflux, anxiety, faster heartbeat, and at runny nose that then stuffs. I realize this is happening off an on throughout day and especially after I eat, it starts calming down somewhat than picks up again sometimes it feels like even after water. Actually went to Emergency Room with these symptoms a few days ago, they did all heart testing including sono on legs to rule out clots. All were negative. Do you think I built up a histamine reaction and if so when will this subside and what can I do for never. I very rarely had a reaction to food, in fact the only food that ever cause runny nose and stuffy was milk which I gave up. Thank you hoping you can answer
Sounds like possible dumping of mast cells due to excess histamine intake. Fermented foods are high in histamines. You added them to your diet, so you did change what you were eating. Sounds like your trip to the ER might have been due to a panic attack (I had done that once and of course they checked the heart and sent me home with nothing). I also had been sent another time from the allergist as my leg started to swell in front of him (once again the ER did nothing but bill me and send me home). BTW, they did the tests in the ER to bill you and cover themselves from lawsuits. If you have to pay the bills, I would avoid the ER in the future. Start googling for low histamine diets to see foods that you can eliminate. The hard ones for me were tea, red wine and tomatoes, but this week will be one year since I’ve gone without fainting or seizing for the 1st time since 1969 and that was do to cutting histamines from my diet. No other changes.
No panic attack, never had one in my forty years. This was something I never ever felt before and the only thing I could think of was the histmaine reaction. Does the over abundance of histamine go back to normal once the foods that caused it were removed. Thanks
What prompted you to go to the ER?
I have a degree in biochemistry and i just wanted to mention the link between raised histamine which causes a drop in blood pressure (causing fatigue and depression) and then the release of adrenaline (to get the blood pressure back up). The adrenaline has the secondary effects of anxiety, poor memory, aggressive tendencies, arrogant behaviour and poor sleep by keeping the heart rate up. Adrenaline and vitamin c are two items that actually can reduce blood histamine.
This is totally what I must be experiencing, because at night, I am awake ALL night long, but yet during the day, about 5 hours after I take my meds, I am sooo sleepy and no energy and cannot stay awake. So I started thinking I should take the zyrtec at night so that I could sleep and STILL no sleep. I am sooo frustrated with this.
But I have been dealing with sleep problems for the last 9 years, and exhaustion during the day as a result. It would appear that my sleep problems are related to the histamine then.
I was borderline for high blood pressure years ago but got that under control but have never been known to have low blood pressure that I know of.
Even if I do not sleep during the day, and am exhausted I still cannot fall asleep, even when I take antihistamines to make me sleep. I just really don’t know what to do about this anymore.
The supplements I bought are so nasty I cannot stomach them by mixing them in water. I should have gotten the capsules.
When I have taken vitamin C my face and lips swell up and it makes the hives worse. Probiotics were the same thing, I itched like crazy before I figured it out 🙁
This makes so much sense since 8 years ago I had to go for heart testing because my pulse was too fast and no one knew why. This was after my high ANA reading but after chronic pain and before FIBRO diagnosis.
I just came from the health food store and have gotten a digestive enzyme as well as Renew Life Intestinew capsules. I also got some homepathic tablets for the hives that is called Boiron Urtica Urens 30 c in case I have an outbreak. They are under control right now (most days) because I am taking zyrtec in the am and 50 – 75 mg of attarax at night. Even with that I am still having outbreaks of hives and swelling of the face and lips. I am hoping with the supplements to heal my gut and eventually start eating more foods!
In response to the above poster, this explains why I have had such horrible memory problems and focus problems the last 9 years or so.
I started to have rash around my neck and having dry skin effect after bathing. This have start around Jan. of 2013. I believed that I took the allergy pills for my running nose ( lortadine? ), about 3 time until the running nose stop. Then a month went by, I started to get the dry skin and rash in some part of my body. I don’t know if it is the medicine or the drink that I also started to drink this year that cause it but I have stop drinking it. I use eczema cream to get moisturizing to heal my skin and stop the itch. One odd thing is that I haven’t had a running nose like every year that I normally had. I guess I find another new medicine to try next. This article explained almost to what I am experince. I have no med. so avoiding to the clinic and buy medicine from the local store from learning through the internet.
Hi Chris,
I have been reading about histamine intolerance, then stumbled upon the paleo diet, then the autoimmune protocol while researching info for my chronic hives I’ve had for six months. They went away briefly for a time when I went dairy, gluten, wheat, and soy free. During this time I also found I had a bad reaction to eggs and was told to avoid citrus and melons as well as nightshades. I have done this but when I try to add back foods I find I react all over to them and additionally find I am getting hives again and am not sure why, even when I have been eating good. I am now covered in hives from head to toe again and am at a loss of whether it is histamine intolerance or leaky gut. Leaky gut sounds like what I am experiencing due to years of low energy, depression, years of taking NSAIDs for chronic pain and insomnia.
I have been experiencing symptoms for eight or nine years without knowing they were all related. Lack of energy, chronic sinus infections, digestion issues, IBS, Fibromyalgia, depression. I am on my way to totally eliminating nuts, seeds, potatoes as well as I have been eating a lot of potatoes because I thought they were safe.
As it is, on the elimination diet I am already pretty restricted but these new things I am showing an intolerance to like bananas, strawberries, eggs, etc, is reducing my safe food list daily. I am eating salad, lettuce, chicken, fruit (not citrus) and beef and veggies like celery, cucumber, asparagus (alot), caulilflower and brocolli and a lot of apples. I learned that apples are tolerated due to the quercitin.
I am worried with this limited foods I am eating that I will become intolerant to those as well and be in really big trouble. How do I know if this is a histamine intolerance or leaky gut or which foods to avoid? It seems lately that I get hives now and don`t know why…I am getting really confused. I hope you can help me.
Thanks.
Delahus, sounds like you need to do a gut-healing protocol because with leaky gut, you will react to foods because the gut is still letting the particles into the bloodstream. You are on a good path but you need to heal your gut.
Hi Mary,
Thanks for the reply.
Tuesday I had salad with chicken and lemon on it and the hives got worse within a few hours. I took meds and they got worse again the next day!
Thursday I had an appt with the allergist and said that there is nothing I can do and of course if I eliminate foods I will get better then react to more??? He didn’t explain why just said its autoimmune and nothing I can do about it except take rx meds. So he gave me another script. 🙁 However I was so bad after that I took the antihistamines (100 mg dose) took care of it.
Now of course, the hives are gone, I have had lemon and watermelon and NOTHING>
So I am thinking that while I have hives I react to everything but when they’re gone I’m ok without the worst offenders like wheat/gluten.
I am starting IntestiNew by Renew Life on Monday and a heavy dose of probiotics. I also got some plain gelatin as well but not sure what to mix it with. I am not sure how much of the IntestiNew to take or for how long?
Delahus,
Go to the website of “The Low Histamine Chef”. She did an interview with a dr. who has had in-depth studies on this matter. The interview was posted last week and I was astounded with the wealth of info. she gave.
Hi Kip,
I did just see this as a matter of fact. Thank you for the info. Here in Canada, there does not seem to be any doctors who are up on the leaky gut syndrome. My allergist told me to eat as normal and there is nothing I could do about it. I did eat something normal, and had an outbreak of hives so bad that lasted for three weeks 🙁 I am now on Zyrtec which I acquired from the states, plus taking an rx antihistamine at night. It is only suppressing the hives and barely. I really wish I could find a functional dr, here in Canada who knew about this, My allergist just dismissed me 🙁
I don’t think I’m sensitive to histamines, but I do have a lot of allergies and take antihistamines daily. Sometimes when I drink wine I notice that it seems that my allergy symptoms return much quicker almost as it the histamines(?) in the wine have counteracted the antihistamine that I have taken. Is that possible? If so, is there a way to test the histamine level in wine before drinking it?
I’m super confused! I googled foods that act as “anti” histamine and came up with a similar list as those in this article. Two sites are:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/134112-foods-that-act-as-antihistamine/
http://life.gaiam.com/article/natural-antihistamines-3-foods-fight-allergies
Anyone able to help?
Hi Chris,
I really enjoy your blog and podcasts. Thank you so much for getting information out to many struggling people. I am on the GAPS Diet (for about 15 months now) and I have seen a tremendous amount of healing. I have struggled with even the smell of homemade fermented foods (I was told to stay away from fermented cabbage due to my Hashimoto’s but have tried other things like fermented carrots, etc.) but nothing is okay with my system. I get sick and a fast heart rate or skipped heart beats when eating or even SMELLING sauerkraut! Lately I have a severe reaction to some 21 day sugar detox coconut flour muffins made with pumpkin, carrots and apple instead of honey sweetened. I had a severe reaction as though I ate gluten for the first time in months! Bloated, dizzy, feeling like I would pass out. I also can’t tolerate any coconut oil or coconut milk but I have had small amounts of the flour without incident so I thought it was okay. Does this look like it could boil down to histamine intolerance? I can’t understand the severe reaction to both the coconut oil (even putting a little on my body causes dizziness and fast heart rate) and the feremented foods, both important elements of a healing diet supposedly. I can handle eggs (as far as I know) and eat pasteured beef often with little problem except when it’s slow cooked. I am so limited already with the GAPS Diet and moving towards the autoimmune protocol, I can figure out where to go from here. I feel stuck. I have a Functional Medicine doctor but he is not sure why I have such trouble with fermented foods and I am even suspecting that the fermented cod liver oil is a culprit. Many of the most healing foods. I have access to raw milk from A2 grass fed cows but haven’t used it based on the GAPS protocol for dairy introduction and because of the fermentation issue, I can’t even start with the yogurt which a sensitivity test has shown sensitivity. I have tested the Array 4 and have no cross-reaction to gluten from dairy. Thank you for any thoughts on the situation. It is so frustrating! (I currently eat salads with olive oil and lemon juice and zucchini with good meat and eggs with either ghee, butter or beef tallow, chicken stock as much as possible, some almonds and in the past some almond flour treats included cocoa and that is pretty much my whole diet right now)