Do you get headaches, itchy or get flushed in the face?
Are you a light sleeper, have a runny nose or are intolerant to wine?
If you have these symptoms you could have histamine intolerance. Other symptoms of histamine intolerance include food allergies, runny nose, nasal congestion, large or swollen mosquito bites, dizziness when standing, low tolerance to alcohol, fatigue, feeling panicky or having trouble concentrating.
Histamine intolerance is when you have too much histamine in your body either due to, too higher level of production or intake or due to a reduced ability to breakdown histamine.
Histamine is made in the brain and stomach as well as in specific cells in the nose and mouth.
Each area in the body produces histamine for a different function:
The histamine in our brain helps keep us awake and prevents sleep
In the stomach histamine helps the release of gastric acids that we need for digestion
Histamine in our nose and mouth is released as an immune response to foreign invaders
So what can cause histamine intolerance?
Over growths of specific gut bacteria
Nutrient deficiencies such as B vitamins, zinc and copper
Excessive intake of high histamine producing foods such as red wine, fermented food, aged foods, leftovers, citrus and fish
Environment – high pollen count or dust mites
Genetic variations which mean your body may have a reduced ability to breakdown the histamine
To improve tolerance to histamine we need to:
Rebalance the gut bacteria
Restrict histamine foods
Support the adrenal glands
Remove environmental triggers