Everything You Need to Know About Histamine and Histamine Intolerance

Spread the love

Histamine Intolerance

By Dr. Justin Marchegiani

What is Histamine?

At one point, we’ve all heard of antihistamines, but unfortunately for most us, we aren’t aware of histamine’s existence. Antihistamines are what most of us know what we use to “fight- off” of allergies. What we don’t know is that histamines are actually the ones that fight off allergies, and antihistamines are just fighting off the symptoms that histamines cause when fighting off the allergens out of your body.

The histamines are naturally occurring chemicals inside your body.Your immune system is the one responsible for making them. And if there is anything that’s bothering your body, histamines help you get rid of that. Histamines can, therefore, be termed as warriors fighting off evil inside your body.

What is Histamine's Role in your Body?

Every time you sneeze or feel itchy when you are near something that causes you allergens, remember that is your body’s defense mechanism acting up. That’s histamine in action. So, when you’re allergic to dust and it gets inside your nose, histamines make you sneeze that dust-out. When you’re allergic to peanuts, and you ingest them, histamines make your throat swell up, preventing the peanuts to go further inside your body.

Though at times, our bodies tend to overreact, though its only intention is to protect us. One of those overreactions is swelling up of our breathing passages, like your throat, which then causes blockage in our breathing. And that’s why we have antihistamines. Antihistamines prevent overreaction to allergens that are caused by histamines.

What is Histamine Intolerance?

Experts are still quite unsure what is the cause of histamine intolerance. Most of them though have hypothesized that histamine intolerance occurs when there is a build of histamine. If you’re a healthy person, your histamine will be broken down by two enzymes regularly. These two enzymes are called DAO and HNMT. The DAO enzyme comes from your intestine, while HNMT can be found on your liver.

If either of your liver or intestine gets compromised, then this will probably result to your histamine not broken down regularly. When your histamine is not broken down regularly, there will be build up, thus your allergic reaction becomes an overreaction.  Most experts have also hypothesized that people who have gastrointestinal and liver disorders will also most likely have histamine intolerance.

What are the signs that you're Histamine Intolerant?

Symptoms of Histamine Intolerance

If you’re histamine intolerant, these are the signs that you’d need to look out for:

If you are encountering any of these, make sure to see your physician at once. You may be histamine intolerant, or these things might just happen randomly. These could also be signs of another sickness or illness. But whatever the reason may be, it is always best to get a Doctor’s advice.

What should you do & eat if you're Histamine Intolerant?

Histamine Rich Foods

When you are Histamine Intolerant, diet is not the only things that you should change. The treatment for this does not solely depend on what you should eat and what you shouldn’t eat. A holistic approach to treating histamine intolerance is always best. Yes, eating healthy is one way to treat this, but if you’d want to get better, why not do it all, right?

 

 

 

What are Low Histamine Foods?

If you have histamine intolerance, these are the food that you should eat:

What are High Histamine Foods?

If you have histamine intolerance, these are the food that you shouldn't eat:

What are the Supplements for Histamine Intolerance?

Histamine Supplements

Here are the supplements that you can take to help you with your Histamine Intolerance:

These supplements may help you in your histamine intolerance, but as I’ve said earlier, a holistic approach is always best. Also, self-medication is not advisable, as there are may be more underlying conditions that need to be treated. Always ask for a professional opinion, and follow your doctor’s orders. As soon as you’ve confirmed that you’re histamine intolerant, start getting better by sleeping early, exercising regularly, learn to relax, and eating healthy. You may not be bothered by the symptoms right now, but you don’t have to wait for it to get worse before taking an action. Prevention is in any illness and disease, and histamine intolerance is no exemption. Be healthy and be happy!

 

Enjoying What You've Read? Sign Up For FREE Updates Delivered To Your Inbox.

Enjoying What You've Read? Sign Up For FREE Updates Delivered To Your Inbox.