Are my recipes really low histamine?
Yesterday I received an email from a reader of my site who confronted me on the fact that one of my “low-histamine” recipes was not actually low histamine.
I really appreciate her reaching out about this important issue. It’s not an easy one to solve, as the list of foods free from histamine is so small, since most foods are not completely fresh when we purchase them.
Any degree of age in a food can increase bacteria and biogenic amines that add to histamine content. To further complicate things, most histamine food lists contain inconsistencies, making it difficult to find a clear-cut way to eat.
So I thought today I would share with you my response to this woman’s very legitimate concern. The good news is that the solution is NOT always to find better, more exact ways to avoid histamine in foods. Quite the opposite actually.
Our correspondence is below.
Her letters are in italics, mine in bold caps.
Hi Marya,
I noticed that lemon juice and cashews are two of the ingredients in your low histamine Ranch dressing. I’ve been treating my fiance’s histamine intolerance for over 4 years, and both lemon and nuts rate high on the histamine scale. This is a real condition for people, and it seems to work on a points-system, so misinformation can have a really profound negative impact for sufferers. I recommend checking out the SIGHI literature on the subject, as they are the only legit organization with published studies (for now). Low histamine may not mean what you think it means, and it’s important that folks don’t continue living with low level inflammation. As you know, this leads to far more devastating illnesses. Thank you,
A. T.
Hi A.T.,
Thanks for reaching out about this. I agree it’s important people don’t get misinformation about foods that could be triggering if they’re suffering from histamine intolerance. I’d also like to explain how my perspective on histamine intolerance has evolved over time since I first posted that recipe. I’m willing to think about how I can update my recipes in a way that gives more accurate information.
It’s a very fine line between offering people better food options (that still contain some histamine, but less) versus being super strict about avoiding ALL foods that contain histamine or liberate histamine – which as you know is a very large list. Histamine is an essential neurotransmitter and exists to some degree in most foods.
Sauces and dressings are the hardest category because of the need for an acidic flavour. So yes, I do believe that my recipes containing citrus and nuts are lower histamine and/or less triggering of migraine than ones containing fermented vinegar or other ingredients like glutamates present in most salad dressings.
It’s a hard call though between vinegar and citrus, and for the sickest people neither option will do, because both contain salycilates as well which most people with histamine intolerance are also intolerant to. Beyond this salycilate issue, I believe actually that anything containing acetic and citric acids will be problematic for those with histamine overload to the extent they may break the ceruloplasmin bond which will interfere with getting copper into the cells to break down histamine. I’ve written about that here.
I also don’t believe that it is possible or even healthy to get rid of all histamine in foods. This could make someone even less able to process histamine in foods. That is why this is considered a low-histamine, not histamine-free recipe. Perhaps “lower-histamine” would be a better word. I have tried in general to point out in many blog posts that of course, it’s up to people to navigate food according to their own understanding of their particular sensitivities and based off their own independent research.
There are many, many symptoms of so-called “histamine-intolerance” that overlap with other conditions like glutamate and salycilate intolerance, etc. – all of which are metabolic disorders caused by enzyme deficiencies from nutrient and mineral depletion. So in my view, in order to heal, the focus needs to be not on avoiding all high histamine, glutamate, or salycilate foods, but on recognizing the root cause of all of the enzyme deficiencies that cause these sensitivities.
Many high-histamine food lists have conflicting information, and so I appreciate you sharing the link to what you believe is the most comprehensive food list that includes not only high-histamine foods but also histamine liberators as it relates to how food can trigger mast cell degranulation. I like the SIGHI list. However, if it were taken as THE definitive list, people would end up eating some foods that are quite a bit more triggering of histamine than cashews or citrus.
For example, I don’t see any mention of the fact that cinnamon and clove contain histamine in that list. I also don’t see any warning about chili or any spices containing capsaicin, which is perhaps one of the biggest culprits in causing the histamine bucket to overflow, and not just because of the histamine contained within it. Let me explain that statement.
One cause of histamine overload is from too much glutamate and histamine produced in the gut, and I believe the histamine load in food is only problematic to the extent that it is only ADDING to the load being produced by bacteria in the gut.
The environment that allows those bacteria to thrive has a lot to do with acid / alkaline balance regulated by kidney and lung function and by stomach acid and bile flow. So ANY substance that negatively affects bile flow whether it contains histamine or not (or liberates histamine from mast cells or not), will still be contributing to histamine load in the body because of the way this compromised bile flow, affects the environment of the gut, and leads certain bacteria to thrive over others.
Perfect example would be capsaicin-containing foods, which compromise Phase II detox pathways and bile flow by inhibiting glucuronidation. Chillis that contain capsaicin also contain histamine, but even if they didn’t, they’d still contribute to histamine overload by slowing glucuronidation. Conversely, it has also been shown that certain bacterial populations in the gut can produce an enzyme (beta-glucuronidase) that inhibits glucuronidation, (ie, liver detox via bile flow). So it’s a perpetual feedback-loop of inflammation.
Low histamine is just a catch-phrase. I use it because it helps people who have high histamine symptoms find me, but my thinking has moved beyond it. I do still suggest people eat relatively low histamine while they are stabilizing in the early phases of a nutritional balancing program.
But ideally this phase of avoidance is only temporary – with mineral balancing most people are able to reincorporate some or all histamine-rich foods back into their diet without problems. That’s the goal – not elimination of histamine foods.
In the meantime if you have any good histamine-free or lower histamine salad dressing recipes you’ve discovered let me know, I’d be happy to publish and/or credit you.
Thanks again,
Marya
P.S. Looking closer at the SIGHI list, I’m seeing a few more issues. Citric acid is not mentioned as problematic (it breaks the ceruloplasmin bond needed to get copper into cells). Folic acid and folate can cause HUGE problems in people with “histamine” intolerance because they are also almost always sensitive to glutamate as well and both of these vitamins increase glutamate and excitotoxicity in the brain.
In the vitamins section there seems to be zero mention that most probiotics contain histamine-producing bacteria and are a major trigger of high histamine symptoms. Anything with glutamic acid in this list will likely be a trigger for someone with histamine intolerance. Acacia is on the list as a histamine liberator. It is usually well tolerated by those with high histamine and will actually help to increase the healthy flora in the gut to lower the proportion of histamine-producing gut flora. Prebiotics like acacia can be a really big help in reducing histamine load.
Hi Marya,
Thank you for your response!
If I come up with anything good on my own, I’ll let you know! I’ve been trying to use ACV in this round of low histamine eating, because I agree that cutting everything out may be overkill, and possibly detrimental in the long run. My fiance has been able to go off of low histamine eating/lifestyle a couple of times, but we go back to it every now and again when symptoms return. This time around, I was shocked to find so many sites dedicated to low histamine. You’re right – it’s become a catch phrase.
When we started this four years ago, it was because he had hives that had persisted for a year and a half. I did a ton of research, because there was almost nothing available on the subject except for the SIGHI studies and the Alison Vickery site. Now, everyone is talking about it, and there are a lot of massively conflicting things out there.
Our first time around, it was an elimination diet with one thing added back at a time. I still keep that list in my phone, just in case. We used a combination of the odd article I could find and that SIGHI list, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. I’m not 100% convinced there isn’t some underlying allergy, due to the presence of eczema, so we may be in for another food adventure soon!
I appreciate you getting back to me, and since I’m a migraine sufferer myself, I’m planning to spend some more time on your site just for me.
Thank you again,
A.T.
