Histamine intolerance?

[Ratherbegardening]

I noticed on a recent post about ice cream that RedApple said they could not eat strawberries as they have a histamine intolerance. I also cannot eat strawberries, I used to be able to eat a few but now even one makes my lips tingle and mouth itchy. Can anyone tell me what else they avoid if histamine intolerant and what the symptoms are? I am gluten and dairy free but still have some gut issues. Thanks!

[Buddy195 Administrator]

To alert a member to your post put @ before their user name and press on their name in the drop down menu. Their name will turn blue, eg

RedApple

Hopefully Red Apple (and others with knowledge in this area) will be able to help and advise 🦋

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

There are a lot of foods that are high in histamine or release histamine in you when you eat them. Food has to be very fresh and not stored also. This list helps many people identify which foods are an issue for them.

histaminintoleranz.ch/downl...

Symptoms of histamine intolerance: histamineintolerance.org.uk...

[Ratherbegardening in reply to Jaydee1507]

Blimey!! Thanks for this Jaydee. Looks like I'll need to use a food diary. Gawd, I can barely eat much anyway!!

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to Ratherbegardening]

Once you have identified your culprits and fine tuned quantities of foods that you can eat you should be able to eat more. There are also meds that can help if you need them such as sodium chromoglycate and antihistamines.

[Alanna012]

Anything malted or long fermented like vinegar, wine, kimchi, sauerkraut...

Processed aged meats like frozen or even fridge burgers in supermarket (those trigger me worse of all for some reason) sausages, meat and food left over till next day. Can be any meat not freshly killed before eating.

Strawberries, pineapple.

I have just eaten strawberries along with some leftover turkey from yesterday and my lips are swelling slightly çest la vie. It's only slightly I can live with it today.

I have low dao enzyme. But I took a dao supplement and it made no difference. I take a lot of antihistamine which ironically reduces dao further...

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Alanna012]

' I took a dao supplement and it made no difference'

Am considering trying NATURDAO, have you tried this one? 

[Alanna012 in reply to RedApple]

Hey RedApple. No I tried this one

amazon.co.uk/DAOfood-Treatm...

But the same company does something called FibroDao and DaoHead

[Ratherbegardening in reply to Alanna012]

Thanks Alanna012. Is there a test for DAO enzyme?

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Ratherbegardening]

Here's one, there may be others cerascreen.co.uk/products/h...

[Alanna012 in reply to Ratherbegardening]

Mine was done through a private doctor and I kicked myself later, because as Red Apple says, Cerascreen do one which is a decent price - no need for a consultation.

Another one is here: gettested.co.uk/product/his...

[RedApple Administrator]

Ratherbegardening,

I used to really enjoy and be able to eat so many foods that I now have to avoid. This has only been the case since being on thyroid medication.

When it comes to Strawberries, the histamine reaction can vary considerably. One batch might cause a relatively mild reaction, another batch may cause a much stronger reaction. There's no way of telling, so you either risk it or avoid strawberries altogether.

Pineapple is really bad for me. And that includes Bromelain, which is derived from pineapple and in many OTC supplements that are sold to help digestive disorders.

All the fermented things that are currently claimed to be excellent for your gut, such as kefir and kimchi are off the menu for those with histamine intolerance. As is anything to do with vinegar.

My first really bad experience was when I was undermedicated on levothyroxine. I ate a couple of dried apricots, and had what I discovered afterwards, had been a mild anaphylactic shock. During this same period of undermedication for hypo, I also ate some prawns, and got an excruciatingly painful attack of hives.

It has taken me years to figure out what I can and can't eat, and has resulted in a much more restrictive diet than GF or DF.

When I first started trying to figure out what was making me so ill, histamine intolerance had barely been heard of. Nowadays, there's a lot more recognition and information about it. Here's an excerpt from a BBC Good Food article for example:

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What is a histamine ‘bucket’?

Histamine intolerance is unlike other allergies or sensitivities, because it is not a reaction to the histamine itself but to the fact that we’ve too much of it. This makes recognising and managing the condition very difficult. Whether you experience symptoms or not will also depend on whether your personal tolerance to the amount of histamine in your body has been breached. Often referred to as your histamine ‘bucket’, once this capacity is met and exceeded, your bucket starts to overflow and symptoms become more challenging.

There are numerous factors that influence how full your histamine ‘bucket’ might be. These include your genes, certain medication you might be taking, your diet, the time of year, nutritional deficiencies, stress levels, your hormones, gut health and the environment, including whether you suffer from environmental allergies like pollen, dust mites etc.

Understanding the limits of your own histamine ‘bucket’ is important and explains why on one day you may be able to enjoy a bowl of strawberries with your breakfast and on another it triggers symptoms. bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide...

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  Jaydee1507 has also given you a couple of very useful links.

[Ratherbegardening in reply to RedApple]

Helpful, thank you RedApple

[Anthea55]

My grandson is fine with organic strawberries but not with others. I guess it's something that they spray them with and probably not related to histamine.

Just thought I'd mention it!

[Ratherbegardening in reply to Anthea55]

That would be good, but I can't eat the strawberries I grow in my garden for the grandchildren. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Anthea55 in reply to Ratherbegardening]

Ah well, not that then. Worth a try!