Histamine Intolerance

[rdj2027]

Soooo, dear Hive, what doth though knowest about histamine intolerance?  My oldest had a physical recently and they detected blood in his urine.  They excluded everything harmless and he still has a CT scan coming up to rule out tumors.  I suggested a test for allergies and taking a closer look at his immune system.  Luckily he has a very accommodating doctor who didn't pooh pooh my idea and today he received the results.  My boy has a histamine intolerance.  The immediate course of action is to go on a restrictive diet to get a baseline and then see what foods in what amounts are tolerated.

 

After reading through the list of what he cannot eat anymore I am scratching my head as to what he can eat (any idea and recipe is welcome).

 

I am also trying to figure out what the cause is.  Might be genetic or there might be something else going on ( for example, could leaky gut or bacterial/fungal overgrowth be a cause even though stool tested negative for both).

 

Any links to medical articles or experiences would be most appreciated.

 

On the positive side, I am glad we finally have a diagnosis  that explains all of his problems over the years.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I'm only confused about the histamine intolerance in relation to the blood in the urine.  Histamine intolerance was diagnosed by what type of doctor, and is this the explanation for the blood in the urine?

 

 

[rdj2027]

It is very rare (but then, histamine intolerance is rare, about 3% of the population and of the 3%, 80% are elderly women.)  Microscopic blood can be a symptom but again,it is rare.  He has been diagnosed by a team consisting of an allergist, gastroenterologist and his primary care doctor. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Huh.  Interesting.  Well, I don't know.  I have always had blood in my urine (and no cause has ever been found).  I also have a lot of allergies.  I was never tested for a histamine intolerance though (didn't know this was a thing other than from some alternative medicine type websites).

 

How do they test for that exactly?

 

 

[rdj2027]

I am not sure, I can ask him.  I do know his doctor had to special order it because it is not part of a normal allergy panel. 

[kbutton]

I would like to know the test as well. I have heard of testing for mast cell problems, but not directly for histamine intolerance. 

[Rosie_0801]

All I've done is looked up lists of histamine containing foods so I can avoid them when I'm feeling particularly sensitive.

 

Scientific and rigorous, me. :p

 

 

I've got unknown issues with my liver being explored. Other than that, I don't know.

[ElizabethB]

This includes a list of low histamine foods near the end....easier to search for low histamine than high histamine, Google low histamine foods for more ideas.

 

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11175/everything-you-need-to-know-about-histamine-intolerance.html

[Katy]

I've been on a low histamine diet for almost a year.  If you buy 5 different books on histamine intolerance they will have 5 different lists.  Because you have doctor input I would value their advice over my own.  Having said that, here's my advice in order of importance:

 

• Avoid ALL pork products.  It's all high in histamine.  You can substitute with frozen foods like frozen turkey sausage, turkey bacon, or even turkey pepperoni (not easy to find that one frozen though).  That way you can keep cooking whatever is normal in your family and just lower the histamine content by changing the type of meat.
• Good beef is usually aged and extra tender because it contains lots of histamines.  Prefer flash-frozen seafood and poultry if you're going to eat animal products, and limit beef.  Ground chicken or turkey can be used as a substitute for any burger recipe, and you can cook it from frozen, but it takes a TON of extra water in the pan to keep something that low in fat from burning.  Just plan on adding 20+ minutes per recipe if you're cooking from frozen.
• Frozen proteins are preferable to fresh because freezing is the only process that stops histamines from forming.
• If you are making meat, make sure to search all the expiration dates for the farthest date out.  Don't get the 60% off because it's expiring in less than 48 hours kind.  Buy it the day you plan to cook it.  I typically buy several packages of fresh chicken breast or chicken tenders the day my Sam's Club or Costco puts out new packages.  Then I take it home and cook it immediately (baked or in the instant pot), in several different baking dishes with different spices in each.  After cooking I package individual servings in ziploc bags and freeze immediately. I do things like pre-dice the chicken to eat on top of salads for lunch, etc.
• Avoid cheese, but if he must eat cheese choose mild or fresh cheeses, not aged cheeses.  Sharp cheddar contains MUCH more histamine than mild cheddar.  Aged parmesan/romano mixes are extremely high in histamine. In short, that tangy flavor that gives cheese its whole draw is the histamine. While he is getting lower levels of histamine you can try things like vegan cheese.  Just read the ingredients and choose the ones that are something OTHER than hydrogenated fat.  Nuts, acids, and nutritional yeast can combine to make something with a similar tang and mouth feel, but you must go VERY LIGHT on the vegan cheese or you ruin the illusion.  So don't put a normal amount of vegan cheese on a pizza, for example.  Only a tiny sprinkling.
• Most fruits and vegetables that are high in histamines (tomatoes are one) also contain a ton of quercetin, which is a sort of natural histamine degrader.  So right now while his histamine levels are high he may have a reaction to tomatoes, but after a few weeks of avoiding aged proteins he might tolerate them fine.
• Sometimes "histamine" reactions to foods aren't because the food is high in histamine at all, but because there is a cross reaction involving another allergy.  For example, I have a ragweed allergy. Most of the year I handle a banana just fine, but they can have a cross reaction for those with ragweed allergies.  In ragweed season one banana can take me from fine to over the top miserable.  If he has other known allergies, you might want to google cross reaction foods for those allergies and put those foods on the questionable list.
• You can buy supplemental Quercetin, Quercetin/Bromeline, and DAO supplements online that can be an alternative to antihistamines, or enable him to eat something on the NEVER list on special occasions.  You can also combine H1 & H2 antihistamines if he's really having a problem (basically benadryl & zantac, generics are fine).  Ask a doctor for the correct doses for his weight.
• Vegan foods tend to have less histamines, however that is NATURAL vegan foods - (gluten free) oats, brown rice, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. I've personally known several people who seemed to induce worsening autoimmune issues by eating a lot of expensive processed vegan foods.

 

As far as menu ideas, please just post some of the things he normally likes and I'll try to help you convert the recipes to low histamine.

[Katy]

Oh yeah, and you might want to look at vegetarian cook books and try to add more natural vegetables and fiber and resistant starch (beans, cooked and cooled starches) to his diet - it improves the microbiome which helps his immune system and lowers inflammation. Which will lower his reactivity.

[Acadie]

In the US, bison is generally not aged the way beef is, so it's a good option for a lower histamine red meat. 

 

Citrus is a histamine issue in large amounts especially, but we've found that lemon olive oil salad dressing is much, much lower histamine than vinaigrette, so that's our go-to around here. 

 

Bananas with a touch of green are ok here, but overripe bananas with lots of brown spots caused symptoms in my kids when they were little. 

 

Canned or deli meat is always high histamine.

 

Pressure cooking is a great way to make soups and stews lower histamine. Long cooking times on the stove or slow cooker drive up histamine levels. 

 

Olive oil, butter and organic sunflower/safflower oil are the safest here.

 

Many preservatives and food dyes trigger histamine release in the body. 

 

Tomato paste is much higher than fresh tomato.

 

There are different types of amines (not just histamine) and individuals may react differently to different ones. So take food lists and doctor recs into consideration, but test it out to see what works for your child. Managing a low histamine diet is tricky at first but becomes second nature over time. We buy the freshest meat, poultry and seafood we can, freeze immediately, defrost quickly, use quick cooking methods (pan fry, pressure cooker) and put leftovers in the freezer asap. 

 

Amy

[SparklyUnicorn]

Wow, sounds complicated!

 

 

[aaplank]

My daughter also has histamine intolerance. Here are my top two resources for understanding histamine.

 

https://healinghistamine.com/

 

http://www.histamine-sensitivity.com/histamine_joneja.html

 

This is a great interview to listen to in order to understand the concept of "histamine bucket" better.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3kPIkD5U2p4

 

This concept of understanding histamine tolerance as a bucket is crucial. Everyone has a limit to how much histamine their body can handle before the histamine bucket spills out, causing all the reactions. Seasonal allergies, pet dander, even the act of eating releases histamine. It's all a balancing act. If you eat a high histamine food, you have to make sure to eat plenty of low histamine foods to make up for it. If seasonal allergies are flaring, then you have to keep a closer watch on making sure to eat low histamine foods.

 

Tips:

 

1.Biggest deal for us was in food preparation and preservation. Especially with protein. As food sits in the fridge, the histamine count gets higher and higher.

 

2. No more slow cooker! Exponentially raises the histamine levels of food.

 

3. Get an Instant Pot! Pressure cooking keeps histamine levels of food low. Also can cook meat, straight from frozen, as thawing allows histamine to increase.

 

4. No more leftovers! If you do want to save food put into the freezer right away. Freezing stops histamine growth.

 

5. Try to get freshest meat possible, from butchering to flash frozen. Most beef is hung for 3 weeks before processing, drastically increasing histamine. Many local farmers can work around that.

 

6. Get fresh eggs. Know when they were laid. So many grocery store eggs are weeks old, thereby raising the histamine.

 

7. Stay away from beef and chicken broths. Use veggie broth instead.

 

8. Avoid processed meat such as lunch meat, bacon, sausage. Eat sparingly.

 

9. Don't worry too much about the histamine food lists. Remember it's a balancing act. Focus more of your attention on getting the freshest food possible, cooking it as fast as you can, and freezing as much as you can.

 

10. Remember it's a slow healing process, with many trials and errors along the way. Give yourself grace and keep plugging away, little by little.

 

Sending healing thoughts your way!

[IfIOnly]

I recently read a testimonial of someone who helped their histamine intolerance with a specific probiotic, so possibly gut issues contribute? https://www.amazon.com/Jarrow-Saccharomyces-Boulardii-Intestinal-Digestive/dp/B0013OVW0E/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1521788350&sr=8-3&keywords=jarrow%2Bsaccharomyces%2Bboulardii&th=1

Edited March 23, 2018 by IfIOnly