Getting Started With A Low Histamine Diet
This post includes information about getting started on a low histamine diet to help manage troublesome symptoms and reduce histamine in the body.
Note: this post is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider for recommendations related to your individual situation.
What is Histamine?
Histamine is a neurotransmitter involved in several of your body’s processes including your immune system and nervous system. Histamine is also a component of stomach acid, making it key for proper digestion. As part of the immune system, histamine triggers your body’s inflammatory response to attack infection and illness. It dilates your blood vessels and sends white blood cells to the site of inflammation.
Normally, histamine should be at safe levels in the body and cause you no issues. However, some people may have histamine intolerance or sensitivity. Histamine intolerance occurs when you have a buildup or overproduction of histamine and are unable to fully break it down. If histamine builds up in the body, then troublesome symptoms can occur, including typical allergy symptoms.
For many people, histamine intolerance occurs due to a gut infection or leaky gut. Histamine is broken down by the N-methyltransferase enzyme in the central nervous system and by the diamine oxidase (DAO) enzyme in your gut. Since DAO is responsible for metabolizing the majority of ingested histamines, a deficiency can contribute to symptoms of histamine intolerance.
Symptoms
Issues with histamine sensitivity and histamine intolerance can present as a wide range of symptoms. The majority of people with histamine issues experience symptoms such as:
- Itching or hives
- Accelerated heart rate
- Nasal congestion/sinus issues
- Tissue swelling
- Irregular periods
- Difficulty falling and/or staying asleep
- Abdominal cramps
- Dizziness and vertigo
- Anxiety
- Headaches and migraines
If you’re suffering from these or other unexplained issues, and they cannot be reasonably contributed to other ailments, it’s worth looking into potential histamine intolerance. You should also check out my article on natural ways to reduce histamine in the body.
Getting Started with Diet Changes
What is a low histamine diet?
A buildup of histamine can happen due to an excess of your body’s natural production of histamine (produced by a species of bacteria found in our guts) and from overconsumption of histamine-releasing foods.
A low histamine diet will not completely solve a sensitivity or intolerance to histamine or address the root cause, but it can help provide symptom relief. A combination of healing your gut and following a low histamine diet can resolve histamine intolerance for many people.
Again, going on a low-histamine diet may not cure the root cause of the intolerance, but it can help manage the symptoms. Here is a list of foods to eat and foods to avoid on a low-histamine diet.
Foods to Avoid
In general, you’ll want to avoid foods that have been naturally preserved in some way, such as through fermentation, souring, drying, smoking, or curing. Even though fermented foods can be helpful for gut health, they also produce histamines due to the bacteria strains.
Keep in mind that trigger foods will be different for every individual. The best approach to determining if a food is worsening your symptoms is through an elimination diet. For each food listed, remove them all for thirty days, and then add each back one at a time, leaving several days between reintroductions to help attribute symptoms to the correct food.
- Alcohol and fermented beverages (especially wine and kombucha)
- Citrus, bananas, avocado, and dried fruit
- Fermented foods (kimchi, sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, etc.)
- Soured foods (sourdough bread, buttermilk, etc.)
- Aged cheese and cow’s dairy
- Chocolate, cocoa, and cacao
- Processed, cured, smoked, or leftover meat. Meat should be as fresh as possible
- Vinegar and vinegar containing foods (pickles, relishes, etc.)
- Teas (green, black, mate)
- Spinach, eggplant, and tomatoes
- Artificial food colorings and preservatives
- Seafood (fin or shellfish, in any preservation such as canned, smoked, etc.)
- Spices such as curry, cayenne, chili, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg
- Yeast
- Pineapple and papaya
While it can seem very restrictive to avoid high-histamine foods, there are still plenty of nutritious foods to enjoy!
Foods to Enjoy
- Olive oil and coconut oil
- Freshly cooked meat
- Fresh caught seafood (avoiding fin or shellfish)
- Cooked eggs (be mindful of the whites if you are particularly sensitive)
- Gluten free grains such as rice, quinoa, and buckwheat
- Fresh fruits (excluding avocado, citrus, bananas, pineapple, and papaya)
- Dairy-free milks
- Leafy herbs and greens (excluding spinach)
- Freshly ground spices (avoiding curry, cayenne, chili, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg)
- Pure nut butters
- Carob as an alternative to cocoa
- Coconut products (coconut oil, coconut butter, coconut meat, coconut milk)
- Hemp, chia, and flax seeds
- Fresh vegetables (excluding spinach and tomatoes)
- Herbal teas
FAQs
What can you eat on a low histamine diet?
It’s best to focus on a nutrient-dense whole foods diet that can help heal your gut and manage your symptoms. See the list above for foods to incorporate, and stick to a diet rich in fresh foods.
How long does low histamine diet take to work?
Provided that you are also investigating and addressing the root cause of your histamine sensitivity, you should begin to see symptom alleviation very quickly once the triggering foods are out of your system. You should aim to be on a strict low-histamine diet for 30 days before beginning a reintroduction phase, or for as long as your healthcare provider recommends.
What foods are good antihistamines?
Some natural antihistamine foods include apple peels, artichokes, arugula, ginger, red onions, and pomegranates. Most of these foods contain beneficial compounds such as quercetin or polyphenols and act as histamine blockers in the body.
Can I drink coffee on a low histamine diet?
Coffee is allowed on a low histamine diet, however, particularly sensitive people may want to avoid it. Coffee contains caffeine (even decaf coffee) which may block DAO, an enzyme necessary for breaking down histamine. If you don’t notice any relief from a standard low histamine diet, try eliminating coffee as well.
Can I drink alcohol on a low histamine diet?
Probably not. This is because alcohol is another food that blocks DAO, which will inhibit the breakdown of histamine in your body. Alcoholic beverages are also usually fermented, which is another class of foods to avoid on a low histamine diet.
Conclusions
A low histamine diet can help with symptoms of histamine intolerance, although the long-term priority should be on healing the gut and improving health so that a wider range of whole foods can eventually be enjoyed.
READ NEXT: NATURAL WAYS TO LOWER HISTAMINE IN THE BODY
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I cannot find any low-histamine recipes on your site. Please create a sub-category for this widespread issue such as you have for gluten-free, dairy-free, etc. Looking forward to it and THANKS!
I am working on it. Thanks, Hannah!!!
After 20 or so years, finally been diagnosed with Mast Cell Disorder. Prior to me becoming ill years ago i was so so healthy and ate a good diet. I got pneumonia and lots of other issues followed from there, with so long on Antibiotics. Did this cause this, too many antibiotics and not replenishing my gut with good bacteria after as they talk about now. Also put a hair colour in my hair and while it was sitting on head my nose blocked and tummy bloat and lots of other symptoms which have never resided after 20 years. I have been to so many normal drs & specialists, natropaths, herbalist, you name it tried it, things have helped a bit but i just keep on going. I use no chemicals, gluten free & dairy free food and all home made, no sugars , list goes on. A few years ago a g astrologist in Sydney diagnosed me with gut dybiosis and blastocystic homminus parasite. Now just recently diagnosed with Mast Cell Disorder, could the parasites and gut dybiosis be causing the Mast Cell problem. I will always keep searching for answers for why my Mast Cells are reacting so badly and what is causing it.
Ask your doctor or do some research on low dose naltrexone. It may be impossible to find the cause, but it may be possible to manage your symptoms and prevent further decline.
And check out this article if you haven’t already! https://www.jillcarnahan.com/2019/04/25/9-proven-treatments-for-mast-cell-activation-syndrome-plus-a-surprising-new-comer/
I have been looking into histamine intolerance as the cause for some of my health issues. I came across your site and I do have questions. There is a section advising foods to avoid and then later in the site it put the same foods in to eat category. I am confused is there a reason for this? I was some guidance in food choices.
Can you tell me exactly which part is confusing?
I apologize when I did a first read through I read including when you stated excluding. So, I was able to find my error in interpreting what you wrote. Example, the banana, citrus, spinach, etc. In reading the high histamine foods list and then the low histamine foods list I thought it was stated to eat when you stated they were excluded in the low histamine foods list and I read including. Anyway, my error.
I have followed a medium to low oxalate diet for years, but it is no longer working for me as a way to minimize pelvic pain. Now I suspect that mast-cell activation and histamine release may be the primary simulators of the peripheral pain neurotransmitters in my pelvis. Do you have an histamine elimination diet plan that is also low-oxalate, or do I just forget about oxalates and concentrate on the histamine issue? BTW, I also have Celiac Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and Hypothyroidism.
Hi Ann, this would be something you should discuss with a functional health practitioner. I like the site re-findhealth (no affiliation) to get a referral to someone skilled in functional medicine.
Appreciate your info on this condition, it’s concise and clear to help me make necessary changes in healing my body
I’m so glad the article was helpful, Holly!
I have been on a low histamine plan for over 5 weeks! I was taking antihistamine reactine everyday! I am now introducing higher histamine foods! Started with strawberries! Shud I stop taking the reactine to fully see the effects if any of the higher histamine foods!? What shud I take if there is a reaction to strawberries? Thirdly, when do I introduce another food?
Hi Susan, these are great questions, but they should be directed at your healthcare provider. I am not qualified to give nutritional advice. Thanks!