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Histamine: The Good, Bad, & How to Fix it.
Most of us know about histamine via seasonal allergies, reactions to certain chemicals, or due to an allergy to pet dander - all of which is capable of giving us headaches, runny itchy eyes and nose, brain fog, fatigue and headaches.…
But what is it exactly....
Histamine is an organic nitrogen compound (biogenic amine) involved in local immune responses as well as regulating physiological functions and triggering the inflammatory response.
As part of an immune response to foreign pathogens, histamine is produced by basophils and mast cells in nearby connective tissues.
Histamine increases the permeability of the capillaries so that the immune cells (like white blood cells and some proteins) can pass freely through them, to allow it to engage pathogens in the infected tissues.
Some people have unstable mast cells that release too much of it or just have too many mast cells all together. Some folks have allergies which means they can also have too much histamine.
Either way, histamine plays an integral part of our immune system and histamine is involved in immune system disorders and allergies. So, when you come into contact with something that’s a trigger to you (ie allergen, chemical, dust etc), your immune system knows it and launches a chain reaction to defend you.
How it Works
Histamine is usually a friend and it’s a signaling molecule that sends messages, via a chemical signal, to our cells. It tells the stomach cells to make stomach acid, helps digest foods, and helps our brains to stay awake. It regulates physiological functions in the gut, regulates our hormones, regulates sleep, runs our digestive system, fights illness/infection/injuries, and acts as a neurotransmitter.
It also sends a signal to your mast cells (and basophils) and it tells them to release more histamine. When they leave the mast cells, the chemical reaction that occurs causes inflammation and also lets other chemicals in your immune system step in to do the repair work. Where repairs are needed, mast cells are standing by to respond, and they release more histamine to continue the cycle of healing.
Histamines ‘dock’ at receptors in your body - there are currently 4 known histamine receptors H1-H4 and its suspected there may be more. We've only just recently discovered H4.
When histamine is our friend, it works WITH our immune system and it helps to protect us from foreign invaders. When the immune system discovers a foreign invader, immune cells, called B cells, make Ig-E antibodies. The IgE are like “wanted signs” (BOLO-Be On the Look Out) that spreads throughout the body telling other immune cells what specific invaders to look for.
Eventually, mast cells and basophils pick up the IgE and become sensitized. When they come into contact with the invaders they spew histamine and other inflammatory chemicals.
Blood vessels become leakier so that white blood cells and other protective substances can sneak through and fight the invader. Histamines actions are great for protecting the body.
So histamine is actually necessary in our bodies, especially in key areas such as:
- Intestinal Tract: your gut releases histamine to digest the food.
- Central Nervous System: as a neurotransmitter it is involved in many brain functions such as arousal, control of the pituitary hormone secretion, suppression of eating, and cognitive function, wake/sleep etc.
- Immune System; parasites, injuries, virus etc.
But histamine has a double-edged sword; too much can be detrimental, causing damage and making us tired along with a slew of other symptoms.
To most of us, it is one of the most annoying chemicals in the body – because it’s the stuff that drives allergies crazy.
With allergies, the immune system over reacts to harmless substances that are not parasites. This is when histamine becomes a problem. Leaky vessels cause tearing of eyes, congestion in the nose, and swelling anywhere.
Excessive histamine in the body is basically histamine poisoning and has many negative side effects. These are only a few of the symptoms (photo above) experienced by those who suffer from histamine issues; to include memory, cognitive & motor function issues, temporary blindness, and many more.
Food allergies can cause inflammation, vomiting, diarrhea, and it can constrict muscles in the body and in the lungs. Making it harder to move, breathe, think, function properly, and can cause debilitating fatigue.
Histamine also works with the nerves to produce itching (and why we're also more sensitive to pain).
What’s most worrisome is when Histamine contributes to anaphylaxis - A severe reaction that is potentially fatal. Swollen airways can prevent breathing; and a rapid drop in blood pressure can starve organs of vital blood and oxygen. Anaphylaxis can strike anywhere in the body and be a localized reaction, or a systemic reaction (meaning whole body) causing a cascade of confusing symptoms. But it’s important to note that anaphylaxis comes in more forms than just breathing difficulties and can be just as dangerous.
You can have a chronic low-grade anaphylaxis (local or systemic) and it can make you extremely sick.
Where as, too much histamine can cause allergic responses and anaphylaxis; not enough histamine can cause many health issues as well. These health issues can be felt in any system in the body, any organ, any location. Again, it can be localized or systemic.
Histamine as a Neurotransmitter
As a neurotransmitter, the cell bodies of histaminergics (the neurons which release histamine), are found in the posterior hypothalamus, in various tubermammillary nuclei.
From here, these neurons project throughout the brain, to the cortex through the medial fore-brain bundle. Histaminergic action is known to modulate sleep. Classically, antihistamines (H1 histamine receptor antagonists) produce sleep. Likewise, destruction of histamine releasing neurons, or inhibition of histamine synthesis, leads to an inability to maintain vigilance. Finally, H3 receptor antagonists increase wakefulness.
What does that mean?
The difference between the two is that when something triggers your H1 receptors, it can make you sleepy. Whereas, something triggers your H3 receptor, it can trigger heightened wakefulness -inability to sleep, and even anxiety.
It has been shown that histaminergic cells have the most wakefulness-related firing pattern of any neuronal type thus far recorded. They fire rapidly during waking, fire more slowly during periods of relaxation/tiredness and completely stop firing during REM and NREM (non-REM) sleep. Histaminergic cells have been found firing just before waking.
While histamine has stimulatory effects on neurons, it also has suppressive ones that protect against the susceptibility to convulsions, drug sensitization, de-nervation super sensitivity (sharp increase of sensitivity), ischemic lesions and stress.
It’s been hypothesized that histamine may control the mechanisms by which memories and learning are forgotten. Histamine can lead to many different psychiatric conditions, and other brain related autoimmune diseases. This is because of the way they transmit histamine and how they interact with other neuronal chemicals. (ie Alzheimer’s, MS, turrets syndrome, schizophrenia, bipolar etc)
Too low histamine in the brain can cause convulsions and seizures. The release of histamine may even have a role in the recovery of brain trauma. Neuronal Histamine (histamine in the neurons) is also involved in pain perception.
Studies (post-mortum) have revealed alterations in the histaminergic system in neurological and psychiatric diseases. Brain histamine levels are decreased in Alzheimer’s patients, where high histamine concentrations are found in the brains of Parkinson’s and schizophrenic patients.
It has also been found that histamine H2 antagonists (like cimetidine and rantinadine) can cause libido loss and/or erectile failure; suggesting that H2 antagonists can cause sexual difficulties by reducing the uptake of testosterone.
Its important to note that even antihistamines targeting certain receptors can become an antagonist for other histamine receptors. For example, it’s been suggested that some H1 antihistamines can cause histamine buildup in the brain (H3). (Hence, why diet and lifestyle changes are the 'best medicine' to get as chemical free as possible to return to homeostasis)
Metabolites of histamine are increased in the cerebrospinal fluid of people with schizophrenia, while the efficiency of H1 receptor binding sites are decreased. Many atypical antipsychotic medications have the effect of increasing histamine turnover.
Histamine therapy for treatment of MS is currently being studied because scientists have discovered a lack of DAO in the brain of MS patients. The different histamine receptors have been known to have different effects on the treatment of the disease.
The H1 and H4 receptors, in one study, have been shown to be counterproductive in the treatment of MS. (Remember, H1 antihistamines antagonize the H3 receptors found in the brain)
The H1 and H4 receptors are thought to decrease permeability in the Blood Brain Barrier, thus increasing infiltration of unwanted cells in the Central Nervous System. This can cause inflammation, and MS symptom worsening. The H2 and H3 receptors are thought to be helpful when treating MS patients.
Histamine has also been shown to help with T-cell differentiation. This is important because in MS, the immune system attacks its own myelin sheaths on nerve cells (which causes loss of signaling function and eventual nerve degeneration). By helping T cells to differentiate, the T cells will be less likely to attack the body’s own cells, and instead attack invaders.
As you can see from what we've covered so far, Histamine can be our friend or our sworn enemy. When histamine levels go unchecked for long periods of time and there’s chronic inflammation, it will start damaging the body.
So let’s take a look and see what can play an impact on your histamine levels.
Things that effect your Histamine Levels:
There are many things that affect your histamine levels. From inflammation, injuries, virus, bacteria, high histamine foods, leaky gut – basically, anything that your body has to fight.
In today’s world - with the plethora of convenience foods (filled with chemicals); we tend to be the most overfed and under nourished nation. The very chemicals, preservatives, hormones, and antibiotics that have been added to our food chain drastically raise the histamine levels in our bodies. The human body was never designed for the popular western diet that is RICH in histamine foods and ingredients.
Other things that effect your histamine levels are:
Leaky Gut (antibiotics/steroids)
Nutrient Deficiencies
Poor Diet
Genetic Factors (like DAO/HNMT/MTHFR)
Stress
Socioeconomic Factor
Environmental factors
SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth)
GLUTEN Intolerances (lowers DAO/HNMT enzyme that neutralizes histamine overload)
Medications (NSAIDS, Pain Meds, Antibiotics etc)
Heavy metal toxicity
Chronic Inflammatory Response (CIRS)
Certain Autoimmune conditions (although I suspect there’s many more)
Antibiotics (longer exposure)
Poor Methylation in the Liver (Alcohol and drugs)
Steroids
Methylation Impairments (MTHFR)
What Can be Done About Histamine?
Antihistamine blocks cells from seeing histamine and can treat common allergies. Medicines like steroids can calm the inflammatory effects of allergies. (However, prolonged steroid use can further damage the gut, worsening the overall problem)
Severe anaphylaxis needs to be treated with a shot of epinephrine which opens up airways, restores blood vessels, reduces inflammation in organs rapidly, and increases blood pressure.
Where drugs are excellent for acute cases, they can cause even more problems in the long run. With that said, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU TAKE YOU'RE SELF OFF YOUR MEDS!!! You may need your medications in order to help you to make a full recovery.
However, if you reduce your histamine load and reduce the amount of histamine you’re adding into your body via products and foods, and implement a healthy lifestyle you’ll soon start to notice you'll need them less and less. And the more chemical free you are, the better (this includes caffeine etc)
Fixes for Histamine
HISTAMINE IS WATER SOLUABLE!! That means, water helps neutralize histamine and flush it out of your system. So drink plenty of fluids! Especially water and juiced fruits and veggies.
Support production of DAO
- Make sure you’re Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and Copper levels are good or increased.
With higher levels of Estrogen in the body you’re DAO actually decreases. So during menses, ovulation, and a few days before your menses your DAO levels decrease (which means higher histamine levels in the body).
So those with mast cells issues, this is also why you’re more symptomatic. DAO levels are dropped, and estrogen is a mast cell liberator.
Also, this can often be mistook as a hormone imbalance because if estrogen levels rise, you're DAO is down. Which means - histamine is higher in your body and histamine calls in more mast cells; which then also releases/raises estrogen levels further.... and it all can become a vicious cycle)
Which means - every woman that has severe menstrual symptoms - brain fog, cramps, tender breasts (ie lymph nodes), debilitating fatigue, irritability, migraines, headaches etc... it all comes back to histamine and mast cells causing your symptoms and your body trying to clear it out. (This will make more sense when we go over the immune system and lymphatic system and you start to see how it all fits together.)
However, with pregnancy your DAO levels increase and stay high. This is, in my opinion, why many women during pregnancy see a remission in their symptoms. You're body is more than able to clear out the histamine. Exception to the rule? (Because there always has to be exceptions right?) If you have DAO gene mutation which means you're DAO levels are lower to begin with, or you have a severely damaged gut, kidney, and/or liver.
2. Supplemental DAO (DIAMINE OXIDASE)
What is DAO and HNMT?? DAO and HNMT is an enzyme that neutralizes the excess histamine in the body. DAO is primarily the enzyme for your gut and your body. However, according to a recent research article I found, DAO is also supposed to be in the brain - and a lack of DAO has been associated with MS and other disorders.
I used chemistry and made a video demonstrating how DAO and HNMT work in the human body, and you can watch it here.
Video: https://youtu.be/aUFavbrKao
Natural grass fed, freeze dried kidney can also be very beneficial for providing extra DAO enzyme, and Liver to increase the natural protein bound healthy iron. (we’ll get into that in the next section: Inflammation)
- Placenta
- Kidney Dao is produced in the kidney and taking freeze dried ground up all natural kidney can really increase your DAO levels temporarily, especially if taken before a meal. This will help you to tolerate the elevated histamine in the gut during digestion and reduce the histamine load from eating.
- Liverwurst (because Liver helps as well, and Kidney is almost always ground up in it). However, unless getting an organic version of this, it’s filled with plenty of other ingredients that cause a histamine buildup. Read your Labels carefully.
EXCELLENT BRANDS to TRY:
Ancestral Supplements (Kidney)
Seeking Health Histamine Block or DAO
NeuroBiologix GI Hist Support
3. Support your Methylation:
Where DAO is important in the gut and outside the cells, methylation is more important IN the cells.
Methylation is one of the principle ways to metabolize and clear histamine (and other toxins).
In terms of supporting your immune cells, such as the basophils and mast cells, they are likely to release histamine and contribute to your histamine bucket – by supporting your methylation you can actually reduce the amount of histamine they carry around.
4. Mast Cell Control
From a nutritional perspective: You need to increase nutrients and vitamins. Deficiencies in nutrients and vitamins have been known to increase the burden of mast cells.
The primary deficiencies you want to look out for are:
- Selinium
- Vitamin A
- Zinc
The other component you need to address is any inflammatory disease. (We'll be discussing this in depth in the next paper/video.)
As this will also increase your histamine burden. Inflammation is the body’s way of reacting to intruders and mast cells and basophils are called in to help the healing process. However that results in the release of more histamine by the mast cells.
Treat your infections. Infections call in extra mast cells which release more histamine. Treating the infection(s), should you have any can be very beneficial in helping to control mast cells.
Reducing Stress is another big one in helping to control mast cells. Mast cells and their related conditions are directly tied to the sympathetic nervous system. One aspect to controlling mast cells is reducing another kind of stress as well: the stories in our head - that running dialogue we tend to have going through our head constantly.
Due to mirror neurons in the CNS your brain can’t tell the difference between actual stress taking place, or the stressful stories / thoughts & running dialogue you have swirling around your brain. Reducing the stress and calming the mind is incredibly beneficial. Starting a meditation practice, yoga, tai chi, qi gong can all help.
When you are under any kind of stress, Corticotropin, a hormone released in response to physical or psychological stress will destabilize mast cells.
Get enough sleep - Mast cells actually mirror your circadian rhythms (just like methylation cycles) and when you do not get to bed on time or get a good nights sleep - you’re prone to more mast cell related / histamine issues.
Many MCAD patients have Excess Histamine production, DAO deficiency, HNMT mutation (not all though), and poor methylation in the liver. Gluten, alcohol, drugs, stress, can make this worse.
Remove any Heavy metal toxifications. Your physician will test for heavy metal toxicity.
Other mast cell stabilizing nutrients are: Selinium, Vit C, Holy Basil, Peppermint, Ginger, Thyme, Turmeric (also helps reduce inflammation), and **Quercetin (use extreme caution- Please read Quercetin Warning Below before taking supplement) Bromelain, Nigella Sativa, Nettle, Butter Burr, Elderberry Crystals
5. Histamine in your Diet
Histamine can be increased by eating the wrong diet rich in chemicals, junk foods, high histamine foods like meat & sugar, low DAO in the gut and body, and leaky gut. All these contribute to help make histamine our foe.
There are many foods that will increase your histamine burden. To put it simply, anything that has been processed, packaged -in a box, bottle, or can. These items are either going to be high in histamine or full of other chemicals the contribute to your histamine load; and make issues worse. There are quite a few of "healthy" foods that can also increase your histamine load.
Whole foods are the ONLY way to go if you have histamine issues. However, there are also some whole foods that can be a histamine liberators, and/or suppress DAO .
With that being said, some folks have experienced extreme discomfort when trying to switch to a much healthier diet. That is part in due to the diet change that the body isn’t used too, and a leaky gut will make those symptoms worse.
However, going back to the ‘bad’ foods may seem more comfortable to your body at the time, but continuing to eat/drink them will only contribute to further damaging your body. It will also make it harder and take longer to recover from. There is a period of detoxing, adjustment, and healing that is required.
Juicing your fruits and vegetables, will provide many beneficial nutrients, vitamins and enzymes. It helps you start the detoxing and healing process. The liquids only diet removes the fiber that will give your gut time to calm down, and it will take any burden of digestion off your gut and significantly reduce histamine.
If there is enough damage to the gut, it reduces its ability to produce DAO and for food to move through. This slowing of movement causes food to ferment, and WILL increase histamine issues, symptoms, and cause further damage. So you can see, its extremely important to start the healing process by removing the offending foods, chemicals, and products.
Once you get your symptoms down or at ZERO, you can retest your tolerance by adding one thing back in at a time.
To help you with this, there is a particular company in Switzerland that has taken just about every food out there that you can think of (its 19 pages long) and listed it out to tell you how it affects your histamine levels.
They break it down by high histamine foods, histamine liberators, suppressors of DAO, amines etc… and then categorizes them based on “DANGER LEVELS” for those with mast cell or histamine issues. This can be very beneficial to your healing path; and will help you to weed out the foods that could be triggering you in a much faster and easier way. (It will help give you a really great starting point.)
Keep in mind it is virtuously impossible, at this time, to specify the exact levels of histamine in a particular item of food. Ie, you have 3 bananas at different stages of ripeness - therefore histamine levels in each can vary greatly. The same can be true for 2 or 3 of the same kind of vegetable or fruit. There are many variables that can affect levels.
www.histaminintoleranz.ch
NOTE: If you can not access the document via site, please send me a message on FB with your email so I can send the PDF document I downloaded.
You can also find excellent apps for your phone to carry with you:
For Apps: just type “Histamine Intolerance” into your app store and you will see these apps. Its an excellent “on the go” tool to help you as well.
6. Alcohol and other drugs that interfere with Histamine metabolism and clearance.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. All alcohol and street drugs will affect histamine and the clearance of histamine from the body. And often times something like alcohol or smoking can be the ‘final straw that broke the camel’s back; making it more difficult to recover or causing additional issues to include recessive genes that effect your health.
However, there are many pharmaceutical drugs that can also play a part in affecting your histamine levels. If you already have histamine issues, be sure to talk to your doctor about finding a suitable alternative to the ones you’re taking; as these drugs can make your symptoms worse.
Prior to all procedures be sure to make an appointment directly with the anesthesiologist to go over drugs and safety measures prior to procedure. Being your own advocate in this department can greatly reduce the symptomatic side effects caused by histamine overload, or a toxic overload - if your body's ability to detox naturally is hampered (for example, those with the MTHFR gene mutation).
7. Fix the gut
Having something like a leaky gut or other inflammation/injuries to the gut can cause your gut to produce even less DAO due to the damaged tissue linings. Plus, having a leaky gut allows food particles to enter the blood stream, triggering additional histamine and an immune response.
Also, when the gut is badly damaged, it does not move food through your intestines as well as it should. Leaving food to sit in your gut and start fermenting – which will also drastically raise the histamine burden, cause further damage, and can create infections or bacterial overgrowths.
Healing the GUT is one of the most important steps in lowering your histamine burden and mast cell reactions.
Gut healing supplements include:
L-Glutamine
Bone Broth (may not be tolerated by mast cell patients due to histamine content)
Collagen. (May not be tolerated by mast cell patients as it lowers DAO, however the DAO supplement can help combat that)
Slippery Elm / Marshmallow Root (ground up and put in drinks)
De-Glycyrrhizinate Licorice Root Powder
Histamine Reducing Probiotics
QUERCETIN. [**WARNING**]
I need to address Quercetin. It’s a popular supplement for those with mast cell or histamine issues. However, I felt this particular topic should be addressed because even though it’s helpful, it can be quite damaging to the human body in supplemental pill form.
Natural foods high in quercetin can be a great source of a natural antihistamine.
Where does quercetin come from? There’s no defined pattern in the plant kingdom. When isolated as a dehydrated powder, its color is yellow. However, that doesn’t mean yellow foods are a good source. Bananas have literally none, while yellow banana peppers are among the top 10 sources.
Many of the best are not yellow at all, such as blue fruits and green leafy vegetables and herbs. Just when you think you find a pattern, mother nature shows you otherwise.
Even though many hot peppers are a rich source, spicy foods don’t always contain quercetin. One of the most popular peppers – habanero – has almost none at only 0.3 mg per 100 grams.
Even when you’re looking at a specific species, it’s not necessarily in every part of the plant. Radish leaves are a great source of quercetin, yet the radish root itself – the part we typically eat – has literally zero.
This is why it’s important to know the foods and drinks that have it. Bookmark this page for future reference because remembering them all can be tough, given the lack of patterns and many anomalies.
Foods High In Quercetin
(note: I highlighted in RED as a warning as no histamine sufferer or mast cell patient should EVER eat anything out of a can.)
Sources:
USDA Special Interest Databases on Flavonoids
Nishimuro H, Ohnishi H, Sato M, et al. Estimated daily intake and seasonal food sources of quercetin in Japan.
Larson AJ, Symons JD, Jalili T. Quercetin: A Treatment for Hypertension? A Review of Efficacy and Mechanisms.
If you choose to take a supplement, you need to be careful about taking a high powered quercetin as that can be way too much, and can actually have a negative side effect due to its sheer antioxidant strength.
It can cause additional illnesses and contribute to liver toxification, failure, kidney burnout, etc. There’s a lot of conjecture as to what amount is safe and when it becomes hazardous to your health.
Because of this I personally recommend getting your quercetin from whole foods to help prevent other problems, but that can be a bit difficult to get enough in the body for your body weight.
Before taking, do a search on the internet about the benefits and side effects of quercetin as it can affect how medications work as well.
But 500 mg daily appears to be the minimum threshold needed before positive effects were seen. And that's where the warnings come into play - its too much.
A MUCH safer alternative is buying elderberries in dried crystal form because it has a very high amount of quercetin, but you still need to use caution and pay attention as to how it affects you.
Elderberries are not native to the Americas or England so its the only way to get them here. Be sure to take with food to help prevent a stomach ache or headache. Do not get the liquid dropper as many of those have alcohol in it, and it will be counter-productive to your healing path.
Stinging Nettle, Bromelain (from pineapple) and N-Acetyl-L-Cystein can be very beneficial for helping with a natural source of anti-histamines. There are many kinds of compounds out there with these ingredients - just be sure to get a good quality one!!
Warning for those taking Blood Thinners:
According to Brent Bauer, M.D., at the Mayo Clinic, “Bromelain, the enzyme from the pineapple, may have anti-platelet activity. So for people taking blood thinners or who have anti-platelet activity, theoretically there could be increased risk of bleeding.”
Some people take blood thinners or have concern about the adverse effects of bromelain. They have the option of taking quercetin supplements that do not contain this ingredient. (ie like elderberry juice, and quercetin supplements are usually derived from citrus that can cause many more reactions)
By getting the elderberry crystals, or eating fresh fruits and veggies with it; you can be assured as to where its derived from, and get it in lower doses throughout the day versus a huge amount at once that could be damaging.
Who Should Not Take Quercetin?
The University of Maryland Medical Center (along with UC Berkely Medical Research) recommends that some people avoid taking this flavonol. For example, pregnant and breastfeeding women as well as people with kidney disease.
Where as other medical research institutes highly advise against it due to its antioxidant effects can actually cause a host of other health problems in the future like certain cancers, and other autoimmune issues.
Quercetin may also lessen the effectiveness of certain medications and antibiotics. Therefore, people should consult with their doctors before using this supplement.
The Linus Pauling Institute states that flavonols (including quercetin) have shown to inhibit multidrug resistance protein, “potentially affecting MRP-mediated transport of many anticancer drugs, e.g., vincristin, etoposide, cisplatin, irinotecan, methotrexate, camptothecin, anthracyclines and vinca alkaloids.”
From personal experience, because of it antioxidant qualities for those who are nervous system sensitive - it can cause worsening and painful symptoms in your nerves and overall nervous system. I would not take if you have MS or other neurological disorders. If you try it, do so under doctor supervision because some people may tolerate it where as others will have side effects.