histamine in cheddar cheese: As I read some... - Thyroid UK

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histamine in cheddar cheese

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7 years ago•14 Replies

As I read some cheese contains histamines does anybody know which ones do,

and how these can affect the thyroid gland. In Hashimotos disorders, will the histamines

increase an auto immune response?

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14 Replies

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dang7 years ago

Yes all cheeses in fact contain histamine, older/hard/aged cheese contain the most histamine. Young cheeses contain the least, these are cheeses like cream cheese (mozzarella, curd cheese, cottage cheese, mascarpone, ricotta, goat cream cheese), young Gouda, butterkäse (butter cheese) and schichtkäse (don't know what this is in English).

How this affects the thyroid I don't know, I only know this information since I'm histamine intolerant due to DAO enzyme deficiency. I haven't found links between histamine and thyroid, except: histamine signals inflammatory responses, so if you have Hashimoto's and your thyroid is inflammed, you can bet that you have higher levels of histamine in that area.

So (my theory and I have nothing to really back this up) is that excess histamine could signal the immune system to act up and therefore attack the thyroid. This is from Wikipedia:

"Histamine is an organic nitrogenous compound involved in local immune responses as well as regulating physiological function in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter for the uterus.[3] Histamine is involved in the inflammatory response and has a central role as a mediator of pruritus.[4] As part of an immune response to foreign pathogens, histamine is produced by basophils and by mast cells found in nearby connective tissues. Histamine increases the permeability of the capillaries to white blood cells and some proteins, to allow them to engage pathogens in the infected tissues.[5]"

I know as someone who is histamine intolerant when I eat something high in histamine I get inflammation in my digestive tract.

And my experience with cheeses is that no matter how "low" in histamine they are if you eat too much of one you will still get hit hard with histamines, for this reason I've just decided to cut out all cheeses and feel much better for it.

Hope I answered your question!

Dan

• in reply todang7 years ago

Hi Dang Thank you so much for the information - the subject of auto immune disease

could concern women with thyroid problems affecting other organs eg uterus and

gut causing an inflammatory disease and also in other endocrine diseases such as

a diabetes and arthritis. I have cut down on my hard cheese but did not know that soft

cheeses have less histamine in them. They advise people to give up dairy if they have sinus or upper respiratory problems - may be it is the histamines in hard cheese is why this advice is given.

dang• in reply to7 years ago

If someone has Histamine Intolerance then consuming histamine (such as from cheese) could cause sinus and respiratory problems. Not sure that would affect people without histamine intolerance (but everyone has a limit to how much histamine their body can handle). However dairy, especially cheeses, does have an affect on mucus, from my understanding it causes mucus to grow and mucous membranes to thicken which could cause sinus and respiratory problems.

Keep in mind histamine is present in all foods, things like wine, tomatoes, avocado, fish, canned and preserved foods are all very high in histamine, so just as much as cheese these would cause reactions in those who are sensitive.

By the way it's not all soft cheeses that are low in histamine, more so it's the cheeses I mentioned. What matters more is the age (hard cheeses tend to be old). As any aged/fermented food is high in histamine (histamine is a by-product of food degradation and/or preservation). So for example a piece of freshly caught fish has no histamine, left sitting on ice for a couple hours and it becomes quite high in histamine (only freezing food stops histamine production, cooking does not reduce histamine levels).

Histamine is such a tricky and complicated subject. And we're seeing more and more people being diagnosed with it. For those who are affected I have no doubt that it's tied in to auto-immune issues, as histamine intolerance causes gut inflammation and weakening of the digestive tract (therefor weakening the immune system and the body's ability to absorb nutrition). Vice-versa is also true, where a pre-existing gut condition can cause histamine intolerance. And note that medications such as Levothyroxine block DAO enzyme, lowering someone's ability to break down histamine in the gut.

It's a hard minefield to navigate! 😖

• in reply todang7 years ago

If you were to take antihistamines every day would you be able to take levothyroxine if needed? Your replies are so full of information

research projects could be undertaken from

your observations

7 years ago

I take antihistamines for a longstanding ENT problems as they prevent infection spreading when inflammation takes place in the linings of nose ear and throat. Have found improvement when cutting down on cheddar cheese in IBS and ENT problems. I never knew that levothyroxine

cannot be used by those with DAO enzyme problems. Do you raise your intake of iodine

in food? I have a goitre which has receded after 2 months of increasing my iodine in food.

Apparently milk is a good source of iodine, as are iodised salt which is a predictable method

of taking iodine as it does not evaporate when cooking. Sea salt is meant to be good, but

don't know of any research on the amounts of iodine in sea salt per teas spoon.

I eat fish paste as fish is meant to be ok but I will have to cut down on tinned fish!

Have heard microwaving fruit an stop sensitivity in some folk.

dang• in reply to7 years ago

Levothyroxine lowers DAO so it only makes matters worse for someone with DAO deficiency, but I'm not sure how much it lowers it. So it doesn't actually cause symptoms, just makes someone more intolerant.

I don't increase iodine in food, I get my iodine tested at my Endo and haven't had issues personally. In general I try avoid it, I buy sea salt instead of iodized salt.

It's good that you find relief from antihistamines, it would be best to find out exactly which foods trigger your problems and try to wean off antihistamines eventually. I was able to do it, and now I only take antihistamines as an emergency measure once I've consumed something I shouldn't (happened today). Have you tried going gluten free? That helped me a lot with IBS and gastric reflux, after 2 months gluten free I stopped having heart burn which used to be a daily occurrence.

• in reply todang7 years ago

I have not tried gluten free diets - but felt better when on a low carbohydrate diet, and even lost half a stone in weight, but regained it going back to

addictive foods. I think my IBS is triggered with meat - I get spasmodic

pain in the side. It also comes on with stress. Do you use high vitamin c supplements? They are recommended on this site and have found they

help gum disease with bleeding gums. I take a 1000grms for a day and next day the gums seem restored. I am sure that other medication and cooked foods affect the amount of vitamin c absorbed on a daily basis. I feel better for removing tannin in tea coffee beer and red wine, which is a shame because

I really like tea.

I used to take an antihistamine which induced sleep - but am now on

another one which does not make you drowsy, which seems to help continual

rhinitis. It must be expensive having to buy your own medication. I think your advice to adjust your lifestyle removing harmful intolerances from your diet is the best way to help health.

dang• in reply to7 years ago

It's good that you're experimenting to see what works best for you. It's a frustrating feat, but worth it in the end. Keep up the good work! One thing I found tricky when taking antihistamines is that it masked my symptoms, so I could be eating something that wasn't working for me, but the antihistamine was blocking the symptoms which made it harder to figure out my diet. Weaning myself off antihistamines helped but it wasn't easy! I went on and off them many times, each time I had a reaction I would have to start over again.

Luckily my Levothyroxine and t3 is covered on prescription, but paying for DAO and other supplements has become very expensive lately 😓. One in particular that helps a lot with histamines and reactions is Quercetin but again quite expensive since it has to be taken with 3 meals a day.

radd7 years ago

gadgrantg,

Yes, cheese contains histamine and yes, elevated histamine can exaggerate an auto immune response..

Histamine plays an important role in our bodies inflammation when related to allergies. It is broken down in the gut & liver but when you have too much due to allergies (possibly initiated and perpetuated by the sharpened over active immune responses to Hashimotos ? ? ..) .. your body is unable to break it down and this results in histamine intolerance that can trigger further allergies.

Histamine also acts as a neurotransmitter regulating sleep and stomach acid and is released when the body needs water, salt or potassium. There are four types of histamine receptor cells (H1R, H2R, H3R, and H4R) & each influences different systems of the body.

Histamine intolerance is not recognised by the medical profession, much like adrenal fatigue but is common in Hashi sufferers. It results when there is an imbalance in accumulated histamine because of the body’s inability to break it down or degrade it and the body responds with many symptoms that mimic an allergic reaction.

Histamine travels in the blood stream so can affect any part of the body which becomes reactive as is stuck in a chronic state of immune system overload, (possible) adrenal fatigue, (possible) gut dysbiosis & impaired digestion and inflammation. The aim is to calm all immune responses (reducing inflammation) so your body has a less reactive response to things it doesn't like . .... . as apart from an unpleasant snotty nose, etc, any inflammation has a profound effect on ALL aspects of thyroid metabolism and physiology.

All processed foods should be avoided as should fermented as histamine is a byproduct of the fermentation. Both histamine intolerence and hypothyroidism will discourage adequate stomach acid levels.

Histamine

suzycohen.com/articles/hist...

dang• in reply toradd7 years ago

Great response radd! Just wanted to note that histamine intolerance is in fact (nowadays) recognized by the medical profession. I myself am diagnosed histamine intolerant due to DAO deficiency.

radd• in reply todang7 years ago

dang,

Thanks for that & great your issue has been recognised.

Do you get DAO prescribed on the National Health ? ? ..

dang• in reply toradd7 years ago

I live in Germany so I'm not on NHS. I get fexofenadine prescribed but I choose not to take it and follow a low histamine diet instead. I've bought DAO myself (DAOsin) but it's really expensive without a prescription. I have a Gastro appointment in 2 weeks where I might be able to get it prescribed (hopefully).

Anita_176 years ago

I found this list of histamine producing bacteria to avoid. I had to stop taking my probiotics because it turns out the bacteria in my probiotics was increasing my histamine levels and making my symptoms worse!! I switched to the histamine-safe probiotics which helped a lot. Check your probiotics!! Make sure they don’t have any of these bacteria!!

factvsfitness.com/probiotic...

helvellaAdministrator• in reply toAnita_176 years ago

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