This week, MyPureMD dives into the world of histamines. If you have a histamine intolerance, please consider working with a functional medical physician to maintain a low-histamine diet. We at MyPureMD have diverse experience in dealing with patients struggling to keep their histamine triggers at bay. To talk to us about your symptoms, email us and book a discovery call today!
With the holiday season right around the corner, it’s time to get merry! However, it can be a particularly nerve-wracking time for those of us with intolerances and allergies. Keeping track of what we eat, avoiding trigger foods, and managing our symptoms can get confusing and overwhelming very fast.
But as wise people once said, facing your fears is the best way to tackle them.
We say, let’s face our histamine intolerance fears geared with the correct
information.
So read on to learn and understand how you can make it through the holiday
season with little to no flare-ups and enjoy the festivities guilt-free!
On the surface, most of us are familiar with the use of antihistamines for treating seasonal and food allergies like hives, rashes, runny nose, etc. But what about histamine?
When I see patients at my functional medicine clinic with allergy concerns that refuse to go away after multiple rounds of antihistamines, I know I’m looking at a case of chronic underlying inflammation. Many times, it turns out that histamine is playing troublemaker.
The chemical histamine is actually a good guy produced by the mast cells in our body. Our white blood cells release histamine into our blood when the immune system finds itself fighting against an allergen.
When our body encounters an allergen, the immune system sends chemical
signals that activate mast cells in the skin, nose, mouth, lungs, gut, and blood. Activating these mast cells releases histamine and causes us to experience wheezing, sneezing, shortness of breath, itchiness, inflammation, and swelling. Once the immune system has done its job, histamine is broken down by the natural detoxification process in our bodies.
The chemical is also essential in carrying out other various functions, such as:
It’s quite evident we need histamine to be present and do its job. But like with everything else, unchecked histamine levels or the body’s failure at detoxifying histamine can cause a series of problems, causing us to become histamine intolerant.
Our bodies are incredibly efficient at keeping checks and balances on the amounts of chemicals running through our systems. Research proves that most, if not all, illnesses begin with disturbances in the gut. Whenever the detox system is interrupted, and histamine levels go unchecked, we begin to experience undesirable symptoms.
Therefore, histamine intolerance (HIT) results from high levels of histamine in our blood and the failure of the detox system to break it down. Studies show that HIT occurs almost exclusively in adulthood, can vary in severity, and has been found to trigger symptoms in women more than in men.
Now, brace yourself for the kicker.
Histamine isn’t only produced by our bodies. It is also naturally present in certain fruits, veggies, and commonly consumed foods. When we consume a high histamine diet, the detox pathways can get overloaded and cause excessive histamine to remain in our system and trigger several troublesome symptoms.
If you experience two or more of the following symptoms, you may be dealing with histamine intolerance.
Foods that are high in histamine can trigger a symptomatic response in people who are intolerant to it. While most fresh fruits and veggies are low in histamine, some are more likely to trigger an allergic reaction than others. Cooking certain veggies reduces the chances of causing an adverse reaction. Feel free to try out different cooking styles to figure out which one suits your preference. You can read more about healthy cooking methods and low-tox kitchen habits here.
Processed foods have the highest amount of histamine, and the increased intake of processed foods in our modern diets has added significantly to our allergy woes.
Here is a list of foods I ask my patients with HIT to avoid:
Functional medicine offers several pathways to overcome histamine intolerance and reduce triggers. Some of the strategies used at our functional medicine clinic in Houston are:
Nobody should have to spend the most wonderful time of the year worried about debilitating HIT symptoms. At My Pure MD, we work with you to create a personalized treatment plan, that can help treat your histamine intolerance naturally. Book a free discovery call today and we can get you started immediately on the track to wellness and good health
