Histamine is a natural substance, or signaling compound released by mast cells and used everywhere in your body for various purposes and is key in immune function as well as allergic reactions. Foods can have an impact on histamine levels, either by containing higher amounts of histamine or by triggering the release of histamine in the body. What can be tricky with histamines is fine-tuning the levels available in your body, as both excessive and too low levels can lead to negative symptoms.
This article explores histamine’s function in the body, the symptoms associated with high and low levels, and ways for achieving optimal balance.
What is histamine and how does it work?
Histamine acts as the body’s first responder, released when the immune system detects a threat - an infection for example. It also plays a key role in metabolizing our foods by increasing the production of stomach acid, has a role in muscle contraction, serves as a neurotransmitter and helps to regulate the circadian rhythm.
Histamine can be found in many tissues of the body, like mast cells, neurons, and white blood cells
Once histamines have done their job, they are broken down into harmless substances by two main pathways, either by DAO enzymes in the gut or Histamine N-Methyltransferase (HNMT) enzyme outside the gut, in the central nervous system via methylation [Maintz & Novak, 2007].
When there is a deficiency in either pathway it can cause distressing symptoms anywhere in the body.
What is histamine's role in the body?
Histamine is part of several different processes in the body. Here are some of the key aspects:
- Inflammation: Histamine extends the area of inflammation by widening the blood vessels, allowing white blood cells to better reach the damaged areas in a more effective way, which in turn may cause swelling and redness.
- Allergic Symptoms: One of the functions of histamine is to cause allergic symptoms in the respiratory tract such as sneezing, nose itchiness, redness, watery eyes and congestion.
- Digestive Health: Histamine is also involved in the production of stomach acid which is necessary for digestion, therefore too high or too low levels of stomach acid may be a sign of histamine impairment.
- Mental Health: Histamine plays a role in brain function, particularly in regulating energy and anxiety levels through its interaction with monoamines - a group of neurotransmitters in the brain that play critical roles in regulating mood, arousal, and emotions (serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline). Although it’s not a typical effect of histamine, when levels become too high, it can disrupt the sleep-wake cycle, leading to feelings of restlessness and impatience
Histamine intolerance: What happens when you have too much
Histamine?
Histamine intolerance can be quite tricky to diagnose. It is hard to accurately test for histamine levels in the body because the blood samples usually depend on cholesterol levels and stability, which is why oftentimes the diagnosis is based on symptoms alone. Once it builds up in the body, it fails to metabolize these excessive labels and therefore you may get a series of symptoms [3]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6859183/]
The following are usually the most common signs and symptoms: [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7463562/]
- Sensory problems like headaches or migraines
- Redness of the skin which can be described as hives or rashes
- Itchy skin or eczema
- Nausea and other related types of problems for example some people have flatulence
- Rapid heartbeat
- Sudden low blood pressure
- Nosebleeds and difficulty breathing
- Abdominal pain
- Hot flashes (not menopause related)
- Tingling in arms and legs
- Irritability
- Motion sickness
- Tinnitus
- Seasonal allergies
Can too low Histamine levels cause any symptoms?
Although it is more common to talk about high histamine, low histamine levels can be an issue as well. Some low histamine level symptoms can be:
- Low stomach acid
- Constipation
- Low mood
- Low libido
- Erectile dysfunction
- Poor wound healing
- No sweating
- Not able to mount a fever
- Higher blood pressure
- Cold hands and feet
What can you do about low histamine levels?
If the body is making too little histamine, you might need to do the opposite, eat more histamine-containing foods and drinks. You can also increase protein intake, and add histamine-producing probiotic strains like Lactobacillus reuteri; Lactobacillus casei; Bifidobacterium lactis; Lactobacillus plantarum.
Can histamine intolerance go away?
It may be hard to treat and get rid of histamine intolerance, but the symptoms can be minimized at the very least. The important part is finding out the root causes and treating them. It is also important to have appropriate histamine intake through food and drinks, as well as taking supplements in order to support histamine metabolization. You should know that histamine levels are dynamic and can change rapidly and often which is why being aware of your symptoms is a key part in the process.
What can trigger symptoms?
There is no definitive cause of histamine intolerance or the following symptoms. However there are some likely causes that may show increased histamine levels:
- Food and alcohol: consumption of food high in histamines (Sauerkraut, parmesan, wine, spinach, salami, canned tuna for example), and also consumption that promotes histamine release (tomatoes, strawberries, citrus fruit, nuts, chocolate, egg whites, etc.). Generally the more fermented the food, the higher in histamines it usually is.
- Medications
- DAO genetic mutations
- Impaired DAO or HNMT enzymes
- Allergies: Some allergies are seasonal, such as those related to pollen, and these types of allergies make the immune system produce histamine, thereby causing symptoms like sneezing, itching, and watery eyes.
- Stress:
Admittedly, stress can make your immune system go haywire. Have you ever observed that you suffer more allergy symptoms when you are stressed? Other factors to consider are nutrient deficiencies, which can also contribute to improper histamine responses as well as any gut infections you might have as they directly impact histamine levels. From a genetic perspective, and this one is quite easy to test, is any SNPs in the genes that might cause impaired methylation. A quite well known one is the MTHFR gene mutation.
Commonly asked question: Can histamine cause anxiety?
Yes, histamine may contribute to anxiety. Appearing as a feature neurotransmitter found in the brain, histamine affects emotions, and as a result, affects brain function. Over-producing histamine in the body can lead to overexcitation of the nervous system, which can raise issues with anxiety and panic attacks and may even cause insomnia.
Controlling histamine levels may help with the feeling of calmness and balance.
Managing histamine intolerance
What can you do to reduce symptoms of histamine intolerance?
- Low Histamine diet: Avoidance of foods and drinks high in histamines and histamine-producing foods.
- Maintain Good Digestive Health and treat gut infections.
- Coping with Stress and anxiety: Reducing stress in every possible way is necessary as it could cause histamine release. Practices like meditation, yoga, or even something as straightforward as making sure to get enough sleep are many times effective in reducing these symptoms.
- Supplement with products appropriate for your needs. We recommend you to check the histamine support range from Seeking Health…..
- Seek Professional Help: It is always advisable to seek help from a healthcare professional to help identify the cause of your histamine intolerance and come up with a treatment plan that is customized to your needs. If you need recommendations from a professional please reach out to us at support@purenordichealth.com and we can put you in contact with a qualified practitioner that can help you with your symptoms.
Histamine plays a complex role in the body which is why it is important to manage its activity. Although it is necessary for the optimal functioning of the immune, digestive, and even the nervous system, histamine may become a problem if its levels increase. From runny nose and red swollen eyes to anxiety and digestive troubles, the effect of high histamine levels can be seen all around the body, so do not hesitate to take the right steps in resolving this delicate balance.
If you want to read some medical literature about histamine here you can find some good resources:
Histamine and histamine intolerance - PubMed
Food Intolerance: The Role of Histamine - PMC
Histamine: A Mediator of Intestinal Disorders—A Review - PMC
Evaluation of symptoms and symptom combinations in histamine intolerance - PMC
Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art - PubMed
Histamine Intolerance-The More We Know the Less We Know. A Review - PubMed
Histamine Intolerance—A Kind of Pseudoallergic Reaction - PMC
Histamine in neurotransmission and brain diseases - PubMed
Histamine and histamine receptors: Roles in major depressive disorder - PMC
