Brassica vegetables triggering mastocytosis?

[rjkb]

I have been following a very restricted, low histamine diet for a couple of years. This has given some relief from mastocytosis (my symptoms mainly migraines, rhinitis, urticaria, GI problems). From daily attacks, I have now managed up to 10 days free of symptoms, though on occasions I have regressed. I now suspect that brassicas (cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, rape, rocket etc) are also a trigger. These are generally recommended on a low histamine diet, but I am reasonably confident that they are a trigger for me. During one sleepless, sick night, I did find one article on the web - which I can no longer find! - which identified a protein in brassicas which had been linked to mast cell activation. Does anyone else find brassicas a trigger for mastocytosis? Does anyone know of advice which does identify brassicas as a possible trigger for mast cell activation?

[Kay-UKMasto Ambassador]

Hi rjkb. I have mastocytosis but luckily don't need to follow a low histamine diet, though I have a long and varied list of foods I need to avoid. I have generally found that the foods I really don't like (and even rejected as a child) are those which now act as triggers for mast cell reactions. I have never got on with brassicas (and really don't like the smell when they are cooking - another sign, for me, of a possible problem) but found I could eat uncooked cabbage. In fact there are several fruits and vegetable which I can tolerate when raw but not if they are cooked.

I don't know of any scientific research in this area but in a sense I'm not sure whether being able to point to a research study really helps - I think we all need to work out for ourselves what we can or cannot safely eat, because we all seem to have different triggers for our mast cells.

[rjkb in reply to Kay-UKMasto]

Hi Kay, thank you for sharing your experience. While I have suffered periodic attacks for a long time, now I seem to have become far more sensitive to more triggers. It is hard to work out what to eliminate and I had not previously suspected brassicas. But am doing better without them.

[Jess-UKMasto Partner in reply to rjkb]

I’m like Kay, in that I have a list of foods that set off my Mastocytosis but it isn’t those with high histamine. There really isn’t a lot of research on diet and Mastocytosis and I haven’t seen anything about brassicas specifically either. In any case, if you don’t get on with them then that’s the important thing to know (though it would be nice to understand why)!

[rjkb in reply to Jess-UKMasto]

Jess, thank you. This is again useful. So much mastocytosis advice focuses on low histamine diet (understandably). I have kept to that for two years, which has helped, but is not the full answer. It is reassuring to find that I am not alone in having other triggers. I found one article (night time internet trawl while unable to sleep) suggesting a protein in brassicas could trigger mast cell activation .... but can no longer find this article!

[Redfleur]

HiTry the FODMAP diet. The foods you list are amongst the foods that are hard to digest. It really worked for me.

Take care

Laura