What Fruits Can’t You Eat?

[LeiL]

I have a new development in that any time I eat certain fruits I immediately start itching, get an awful headache. Bananas are at the top of the list for igniting this firestorm. What fruit can’t you eat?

[bookish]

Hi, sounds as if you may have a histamine issue there. Bananas aren't high histamine but are histamine liberating, so may affect some more than others. A case of eliminating the high histamine foods temporarily to see if that helps the problem. May be that you have a too-high histamine diet, that you are bad at clearing histamine, or that you have something else interfering with clearing like hormone imbalances (both thyroid and oestrogen connections). We all produce histamine every time we eat, so you can't be 'no' histamine, but you can improve your ability to process it so that it affects you less and avoid those things that are worst for you (spinach in my case!). Best wishes

[LeiL in reply to bookish]

Thank you for the insight. You provided more information than the Allergist I went to yesterday at a well respected Military hospital. He blamed it on my thyroid although the severity was present when my thyroid numbers were considered in range.I’ve been doing an elimination diet since 27 Dec. On 28 Feb 22, I decided to “reward” myself with a hamburger—big mistake. My A1c is below range for pre-diabetic or diabetic at 5.5 (U.S. standards) and my glucose tested yesterday at 88 (70-99) so they consider me good for sugar issues. That just leaves the liver with gustatory rhinitis, ankle pain, and severe head itching. I know sometimes bilirubin doesn’t correlate with itching because my level is .50 well within range.

[bookish in reply to LeiL]

My pleasure. To some extent he may be right - it is beyond me to work out which problem comes first. Low thyroid hormones will impact liver function, you need a working liver to convert your thyroid hormones, high oestrogen or out of balance oestrogen will affect thyroid and you need a functioning liver to metabolise oestrogen properly, oestrogen will affect mast cells which release histamine as well as lots of other chemicals and histamine increases oestrogen. Blood sugar will affect the lot and commonly we get hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance first. So I'm aiming at a good clean diet with intake of levels of histamine that I can tolerate (which varies from day to day) but not excluding all high histamine foods because some are helpful - like oranges supporting liver function. Some say use antihistamines, some that they make it worse. I can't tolerate anyway, so I use vit C, magnesium is fabulously helpful, and I take quercetin. There are levels of dysregulation with mast cells - doesn't have to be full blown MCAS to be a problem - and some say that 50% of those with chronic health issues have some sort of mast cell dysfunction. I started having identifiable histamine problems in 2018 but now realise I had an issue with every period for years, just didn't know what it was. But it is now clear that I am getting release of inflammatory chemicals as well, as I don't always get the same signs and symptoms. I find weather changes particularly problematic, high winds, low pressure etc. Lots of good histamine or mast cell stuff online like mastcell360.com/ and marksdailyapple.com/histami...

[LeiL in reply to bookish]

I can’t tolerate antihistamines either and also use vitamin c and magnesium which I didn’t know was good for histamine issues. Right now I sensitive to fragrances as well as food and like you say it changes from day to day. Today the headaches are pretty severe and the head itching.

Have you tried nettle tea?

[bookish in reply to LeiL]

We could be twins! Yes, fragrances, chemicals on skin, foods, don't even have to be able to smell them to be affected. And not quite sure why but today I feel like I'm about to faint - woozy headed and nausea plus the weird skin prickles on head and neck and burning feet. Some of it is small fibre neuropathy, and some say that mast cells and nerves should be considered as one unit they are so interlinked, just not everyone agrees. I haven't tried nettle tea but actually ordered some a couple of days ago so will be soon !

Magnesium helps you produce DAO, which is one of the ways that we clear histamine, and magnesium deficiency has been linked to increases in mast cells, so supplementing is supposed to help. It also helps to speed up slow COMT function (genetic SNP on an enzyme involved in breaking down oestrogens and neurotransmitters) which is fairly common, like MTHFR SNPs, and is also a methylation gene, so affects biotransformation/detoxification and can increase susceptibility to NAFLD. HNMT is the other way that we clear histamine and that is also a methyl function. Weak methylation, acetylation etc make us more prone to being over-reactive, like lack of glutathione can. I have a book by Datis Kharrazian on brain function and he talks of chemical reactivity being either immune-based or autonomic nervous system based, although you can have both types of reactions, which I think I do. (His book on thyroid function is useful too.) Some cannot tolerate extra methyl groups at all, but I found that I needed more and when I tested it confirmed that.

PS you may find this interesting askdrgil.com/methylation-th...

[Rosebud1027 in reply to bookish]

How do you find the Histamines values in foods you eat and is there a rule of thumb on what is a good level to maintain?

[bookish in reply to Rosebud1027]

I'm afraid the rule of thumb is how you feel. I went really low dietary histamine to begin with, to make sure that it was actually a problem, and that it got worse again with too much high histamine food. But there are many other affecting factors, so not always an easy balance - you need to be aware of the signs in you, and be dynamic about adapting as needed. But there are lots of good resources to help and plenty of food lists, although they don't all agree and some things will affect you personally more than others. I have tried to reintroduce healthy foods that are medium/high histamine at least occasionally, if I can manage them. Some things I have simply stopped. Have a look at factvsfitness.com/blogs/new... and food-intolerance-network.co... for some ideas. Best wishes

[LeiL]

We are definite twins, I’m having the same symptoms as we are an ocean away. I went to Ortho on Monday about my feet and she just said “that heel pain” is some neuropathy . Just got my thyroid antibodies test back. Both within range.

[Herman7275]

Only allowed to eat berry's, strawberry, blueberry, blackberries, rasberries