What causes histamine intolerance?
To understand histamine intolerance, it’s helpful to have a background on histamine first.
Histamine is a chemical compound that’s involved in immune function.
Histamine has other roles too, like helping with digestion, wound healing, andnerve signaling in the brain1.
So, what causes low DAO?
Symptoms of histamine intolerance.
That’s because many physicians overlook histamine intolerance, and it can be difficult to diagnose.
How to find out if you have histamine intolerance.
The low-histamine diet.
The biggest difference between a histamine intolerance and an allergy is how much it takes to trigger a reaction.
In a true allergy, even a small amount of the allergen can cause a severe reaction.
However, with histamine intolerance, symptoms generally develop only after alarge enough amount of histamine has accumulated2.
That’s why a low-histamine diet is so effective.
Your body naturally produces histamine, but the chemical compound also comes from the food you eat.
The goal of a low-histamine diet is to drop your body’s histamine levels.
In one study, participants with chronic hives were put on a low-histamine diet.
After four weeks, all participants sawsignificant reductions in blood histamine levels3and body distribution of hives.
Foods that are high in histamines.
The most common foods that block DAO are:
Foods to eat on a low-histamine diet.
While the list of foods to avoid is pretty extensive, there are a lot of foods youcaneat.
Some low histamine foods include:
Food preparation.
It’s not just the food itself that’s important, though.
How you prepare it matters too.
Alternatively, buy frozen products like individually wrapped salmon or cod fillets.
What to do with leftovers on a low-histamine diet.
While it’s best to cook everything fresh, there are times when you’ll likely have leftovers.
Zibdeh recommends freezing any meals that you cook in batches or during meal prep right away.
How long should you stay on a low-histamine diet?
Alternative treatments.
Supplemental DAO is also available in capsule form.
Another downside is that DAO supplements only work while you take them.
The key take-aways.
Although a low-histamine diet can help alleviate symptoms within a week, it’s only a short-term solution.
Identifyingand correctingthe underlying problem is vital to getting rid of a histamine intolerance for good.
