Basically, Histamine Intolerance (HIT) occurs when a body is slow to break down histamines. It manifests as chronic inflammation (mucus, cough, persistent seasonal allergies) which I can notice from whether or not my ring slips easily off of my ring finger and onto my index or middle finger; If I can get it onto my middle finger, then I consider it a low-inflammation day, while if I can barely get it off of my ring finger I can tell that I am dealing with a lot of inflammation.
Histamines are an essential part of the inflammatory response; your body generates them when it is damaged or it detects invaders. The histamines cause the immune system to focus its activity where those histamines are located.
Once the threat or damage has been dealt with the body starts to break down the histamines. In the case of HIT, it takes the body a lot longer than an typical individual to break those histamines down.
I have an auto-immune disease (Psoriasis), and a key aspect of my recovery has been to reduce my exposure to things which activate my immune system, particularly foods. So I have been avoiding foods which seem to cause my body to release histamines, and I have been focused on the advice from the Paleo Mom to guide me.
It turns out, though, in addition to foods which can cause an extreme immune response, there are many foods which are either natural sources of histamines or induce the body to generate histamines even though the food may not be considered a threat. And I have been eating some of them pretty regularly:
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Fermented vegetables, like sauerkraut
- Pickled vegetables
- Eggplant
- Tomatoes, tomato sauce, ketchup
- Avocado
- Spinach
- Citrus fruits
- Pumpkin
- Vegetables with vinegar
- Soy products like tofu, tempeh, and miso
- Cranberries
- Raspberries
- Loganberries
- Raisins and dates
- Dried fruit
- Bananas
- Papaya
- Spices and Seasonings
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Chili powder
- Nutmeg
- Anise
- Curry Powder
- Soy Sauce
- Others:
- Packaged foods with artificial food coloring, tartrazine, benzoates, sulphites
- Alcoholic beverages
- Tea
- Chocolate and cocoa powder
- Soft drinks
- Cider
- Homemade Root Beer
- Shellfish
- Aged cheese
- Wheat germ
- beans
Soft drinks are on that list because they almost always include sodium benzoate as a flavor enhancer. Unfortunately, that chemical also induces the body to generate histamines. I was using Coke Zero to help get through days when I was extra tired which was probably keeping me tired because of the extra histamines it generated.
Some websites also recommend avoiding canned/preserved meats including canned fish. This is because cells release histamines when they are damaged and preserving meats damages the cells in the meats. As meats age they produce histamines as well. The recommendation is to eat meats as soon after slaughter as possible to reduce histamine exposure (e.g. eat fish which was flash frozen within 12 hours of catch).
At the time I read about Histamine Intolerance I was eating 2 cans of fish (sardines or tuna) every day (one for breakfast, and one for lunch), along with a banana twice a day and some sort of large citrus (orange or grapefruit) with each meal. I use limes and avocados in my smoothies, and my salads were based on mixed greens which include spinach. I was basically adding histamines to my system all the time.
I don't have an extreme version of HIT, so I am not going to be a super zealot about eliminating all sources of histamines. However, by eliminating the common ones from my diet, within 2 weeks I lost an additional 10-15 pounds. This loss tells me that my body was under stress because of the constant presence of excess histamines, and eliminating the histamines reduced my body's stress levels, and allowed it to lose more weight.
Looking at my medical history, I should have seen Histamine Tolerance as something which would impact me. About 15-20 years ago my parents stumbled on something called MTHFR which impacts a wide variety of systems in the body. My understanding at the time was that a mutation in that gene basically meant my body had a tough time methylating B-vitamins.
There are 2 basic mutations which people are concerned about: C677T and A1298C. Because a person has 2 MTHFR genes (one from each parent), they can have neither, one, or both mutations. In terms of impact, C677T is the worst because it generates proteins which have the most difficult time methylating B-vitamins. A1298C generates proteins which have a difficult time methlyating, but not as bad as C677T.
My parents and I each got tested for the genetic mutation and we each came up positive. I am homozygous for A1298C, meaning I have 2 copies of that gene.
As I went back and looked at some of the documentation that came along with being diagnosed with MTHFR, one of the symptoms is histamine intolerance.
At the time I was mildly interested in MTHFR, but I didn't really think it was impacting me. I took methylated vitamins but I couldn't tell a difference in how I felt before or after taking them. My mood or headaches never seemed to improve so I eventually stopped concerning myself with it.
Looking back, the lack of results was probably because I was still consuming tons of histamine-inducing foods, as well as nightshades (mmmmm....potato chips).
Now that I understand my auto-immune disease and how to manage it through diet, I am eating much better. With an understanding of HIT, I cleaned up my diet even further. And then, after talking to my parents about HIT I made a connection to MTHFR. I am now regularly taking methylated B-vitamins so that my cells don't need to work as hard. I'm sure, though, that there is more to do to help my body feel safe and to work at its best.
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