Have you heard of histamine?
The body metabolizes histamine and gets rid of it through two enzymes, called HNMT and DAO.
That all sounds great, right?
The connection between histamine and estrogen.
So how is histamine connected to our hormones?
This all seems pretty unfair, but it can be explained by simple biology.
As we mentioned before, mast cells store and produce histamine, but they also haveestrogen and progesterone receptors1.
When estrogen binds to its receptors on these cells, it causes histamine to be made and released.
This means that the more estrogen you have, the more histamine you will produce.
At the same time, histamine increases estrogen production.
As it’s possible for you to imagine, this creates a vicious histamine-estrogen cycle.
Estrogen also affects histamine metabolism by reducing DAO enzyme activity.
In other words, estrogen makes your body produce more and excrete less histamine, contributing to histamine intolerance.
How histamine fluctuates with your monthly hormone cycle.
When progesterone binds to its receptors on mast cells, itinhibits histamine release2.
In addition, DAO enzyme levels fluctuate throughout the month and are highest when progesterone isat its peak3.
Still not convinced about the connection between hormones and histamine?
How to balance your hormones for healthier histamine levels.
The good new is that reducing your estrogen load can help you reduce histamine intolerance.
Reducing stress can also help balance your hormones for healthier histamine levels.
This is because stress can lower progesterone levels and allow estrogen and histamine to dominate.
