Is a histamine intolerance the root cause of hay fever, psoriasis, rosacea or IBS?
Do you suffer from hay fever and spring/summer allergies?
Do you suffer from skin issues or IBS symptoms?
Do you take antihistamines?
What are your symptoms?
Itchy, red or watery eyes, runny or blocked nose, sneezing and coughing, itchy throat, mouth, nose, and ears, loss of smell, earache, headache, and feeling exhausted?
According to Allergy UK, as many as 30% of adults and 40% of children suffer from allergic rhinitis (the medical term for the condition), an allergic reaction to pollen. You might start noticing symptoms in March when the tree pollen season starts. Then there’s the grass pollen season, followed by the weed pollen season, which can go on into September.
Would you be surprised to know that rosacea and psoriasis have been linked to high histamine?
Could your IBS symptoms of acid reflux, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, migraine or headaches be a histamine intolerance?
Surprisingly what you eat can have an impact on the severity of your symptoms.
The foods below contain high levels of histamines which can intensify symptoms.
Fermented dairy products, cheese (especially aged), yoghurt, sour cream, buttermilk, and kefir.
Fermented vegetables, such as sauerkraut and kimchi.
Pickles or pickled veggies.
Kombucha.
Cured or fermented meats, such as sausages, and salami.
Wine, beer, alcohol, and champagne.
Fermented soy products such as tempeh, miso, soy sauce, and natto.
Fermented grains, such as sourdough bread.
Tomatoes, eggplant, chilli, bell pepper (these are part of the nightshade family).
Frozen, salted, or canned fish, such as sardines and tuna.
Vinegar.
Tomato ketchup.
While they are not high in histamine themselves, some foods are ‘histamine liberators’ and can trigger your cells to release histamine.
Strawberry.
Bananas.
Citrus fruit.
Avocado.
During spring and summer when the pollen count is high, try reducing these foods. Do your symptoms reduce?
If you suffer from skin issues or IBS symptoms then it is worth keeping a food and symptom diary. Are your symptoms worse when you eat high-histamine foods? Which ones?
Other foods may impact your symptoms, but not because they are causing a histamine reaction.
Foods containing wheat, like bread and pasta, cakes, and pastries, can be problematic for people with grass pollen allergies.
Dairy products like milk and cheese stimulate the body to produce more mucus, worsening blocked noses or ears and exacerbating skin issues.
Sugar causes your body to produce more histamine, but also disrupts your microbiome impacting your immune system and disrupting your microbiome.
A 2019 study suggests that allergies are an immune‐related disease and result from a hypersensitive immune response to harmless substances in the environment (1). We can improve our immune response by looking after our gut health.
You might not react to all of the foods I’ve just mentioned. You are unique, so some foods may have no effect, you just need to be vigilant.
Some foods will help with hay fever/histamine symptoms.
Anti-histamine foods disrupt or block histamine receptors, helping to reduce allergy/skin/ IBS symptoms. These include foods that contain the plant chemicals quercetin and beta carotene, and those high in vitamin C (see below).
Local honey also may be helpful because, although it contains trace elements of pollen, over time it may help your body become more familiar with the pollen entering your system and reduce the inflammatory response it makes.
Quercetin-containing foods include:
Onions, garlic, asparagus, all berries, apples, kale, okra, plums, and red grapes.
Beta-carotene-containing foods include:
Sweet potato, carrots, butternut squash, apricots, peas, broccoli, dark leafy greens like kale, and romaine lettuce.
Vitamin C-containing foods include:
Blackcurrants, blueberries, peppers, kale, collard leaves, broccoli, kiwis, mango, courgettes, and cauliflower.
Of course, for low FODMAP people, you still need to avoid your trigger foods.
An anti-inflammatory approach
Hay fever and histamine intolerance are an inflammatory condition and may be further helped by including other types of food that calm the inflammatory response. Top of the list are foods containing anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fatty acids, which I often recommend to clients struggling with any inflammatory condition. These include all types of oily fish (like salmon, trout, sardines, halibut and cod) as well as flaxseed and walnuts.
Coconut oil is another anti-inflammatory oil and can be used in cooking and baking or added to smoothies.
If you are suffering from a skin flare-up, then I recommend chucking goat, soothing kefir lotion.
As well as adding flavour to your food, herbs like parsley, sage, thyme, oregano and basil have anti-inflammatory properties as do many spices, including turmeric, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, fennel and nutmeg.
What to drink
Drink plenty of water. Keeping well hydrated is helpful for all aspects of health. In the case of hay fever, it thins the mucous membranes and reduces that ‘blocked up’ feeling.
Green tea is packed full of antioxidants, which are helpful for the immune system generally. It has also been proven to block one of the receptors involved in immune responses.
Ginger tea has been shown to help reduce allergic reactions by lowering your body’s IgE levels (the antibody involved in the specific immune reaction associated with hayfever).
Peppermint tea is worth trying because peppermint contains menthol, a natural decongestant that may help improve sinus symptoms.
Nettle tea may relieve inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and ease nasal congestion, sneezing, and itching.
Would you like to work with me to identify your hay fever triggers, or to improve your skin and IBS symptoms?
Please book a free 30-minute discovery call using the link below
https://l.bttr.to/SGT1k
Jackie
REF
doi: 10.1111/all.13788
