The Anatomy of a Histamine Reaction
Within minutes a person exposed to histamine may experience:
- Flushing of face
- Nausea
- Headache
- Runny nose or congestion
- Dizziness
- Racing heart
- Anxiety
- Hives
- Generalized swelling
- Abdominal cramps
- Diarrhea
- Panic attacks
- Blurred vision
- Bronchoconstriction, asthma or difficulty breathing
- Laryngeal edema or swelling of tongue
A biogenic amine is a potent signaling molecule made from an amino acid. Histamine, for example, is made from the common amino acid histidine (amino acids are what proteins are made of). Meat and fish are rich in protein, so they are chock full of amino acids.
Here is a list of the most common biogenic amines and the amino acids they are made from.
- Arginine—Agmatine, Putrescine, Spermine, Spermidine
- Histidine—Histamine
- Lysine—Cadaverine
- Ornithine—Putrescine, Spermine, Spermidine
- Phenylalanine—Phenylethylamine
- Tryptophan—Tryptamine, Serotonin
- Tyrosine - Tyramine
For those who are sensitive to histamines, it is essential to eat your meat/fish fresh or confirm that it was frozen quickly. Seems simple enough, right? But wait, there's more. Many people go out of their way to ferment foods on purpose! We add bacteria to milk to make cheese and yogurt. We add yeast to grapes to make wine. We add bacteria to meat to make salami. In the process, these fresh foods—milk, grapes, and meat—which in their fresh forms are essentially histamine-free, become very high in histamine and other biogenic amines. Not a problem... unless you have histamine intolerance! Histamine intolerance is the intolerance towards "normal" levels of histamine in food caused by a decreased activity of the histamine-degrading enzymes diamine oxidase (DAO) or histamine N-methyltransferase (HNMT). In the gut the main enzyme is DAO while in other parts of the body like the skin and brain the enzyme HNMT degrades histamine.
Pseudo-allergy from Histamine Toxicity
Dietary biogenic amines are not limited to rotten meat and spoiled fish. They are present in aged cheese, red wine, chocolate, which are all common migraine triggers. And the meat we consume is not the only problem with bacteria. Another problem comes because we all have a myriad of microbes living in our guts. When these populations become imbalanced as in the case of bacterial overgrowth, like SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) or yeast overgrowth, the microbes in our gut can also contribute to producing too much histamine as well. Many people who suffer from histamine intolerance have either deficiencies in DAO enzyme production (which breaks down histamine) or excess of bacteria and yeast that have become histamine production factories in the gut.
What exactly is Histamine Intolerance?
In a 2007 review article we read that histamine intolerance affects at least 1% of the population, and 80% of those affected are middle-aged. "The term "histamine intolerance" was introduced as common denominator for symptoms such as abdominal pain, flatulence, diarrhoea, headache, itching, swelling of the eyes, hives, runny nose, painful periods, difficulty breathing, racing heart, palpitations and low blood pressure occurring after the consumption of histamine-rich foods," according to article written in 2011 by Komericki.
Histamine intolerance may be caused by abnormally low levels of DAO. DAO is found, among other places, in the membranes of cells lining the small intestine and the upper portion of the colon, therefore people with damaged gastrointestinal systems seem to be at higher risk for histamine intolerance.
Women are more commonly affected than men by histamine intolerance. This may be because estrogen and histamine reinforce each other—histamine can increase estrogen levels and vice versa, which may explain why histamine intolerance is associated with pre-menstrual cramps and menstrual migraine and even uterine fibroids. Pregnant women may experience relief from food sensitivities during pregnancy because the placenta secretes very high amounts of diamine oxidase, or DAO, the enzyme that destroys histamine.
So What Causes Histamine Intolerance?
Common causes include:
- Inflammatory bowel diseases (or anything that causes damage to the enterocytes -the cells that line the gut)
- Celiac disease
- Intestinal dysbiosis
- Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
- Parasitic infections, like Giardia
- Leaky gut or increase in intestinal permeability
- Alcohol or other DAO inhibitors
- Excess biogenic amines in diet
- Medications that increase histamine
- Food allergies
- Genetic polymorphisms, like MTHFR and others that lower DAO, MAO, ALDH
- Vitamin cofactor deficiencies - enzymes, like DAO and MAO rely on vitamin co-factors and deficiencies these can also cause abnormal enzyme activity
- First treat any intestinal dysbiosis (imbalance of the gut microbes) - these could involve any of the following:
- Fungal dysbiosis
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
- Bacterial infections
- Parasitic infections
- Lack of healthy probiotic bacteria
- Heal leaky gut
- Supplement with l-glutamine, aloe, DGL, or other gut healing supplements
- Avoid common food allergens
- Take strains of probiotic that decrease histamine production
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus and bifidobacter may decrease histamine production while lactobacillus casei may actual increase it
- Try natural antihistamines
- Ascorbic Acid 1000-5000mg daily - helps degrade histamine
- Vitamin B6 50-100mg daily - important for synthesis of DAO enzyme
- Quercetin - 3-6grams daily (powdered works best) - natural antihistamine/mast cell stabilizer
- Increase the activity of enzyme DAO
- Try taking DAO enzyme, Histame with meals
- Decrease histamine input
- Avoid alcoholic beverages
- Avoid raw and cured sausage products such as salami.
- Avoid processed fish products. Use freshly caught fish and seafood instead.
- Avoid pickles
- Avoid citrus fruits.
- Avoid chocolate
- Avoid nuts
- Avoid products made with yeast and yeast extracts
- Avoid soy sauce and fermented soy products
- Avoid black tea and green tea
- Avoid energy drinks and coffee
- Avoid matured cheese (hard cheese). Use cream cheese, mild cheese and cottage cheese instead.
- Avoid spinach in large quantities
- Avoid tomatoes, ketchup and tomato sauces
- Avoid artificial food colorings & preservatives
- Avoid certain spices: Cinnamon, Chili powder, Cloves, Anise, Nutmeg, Curry powder, Cayenne
- Avoid medications that contribute to histamine release such as vasodilators
- Try medications that block histamine
- H1 blockers, like loratadine
- H2 blockers, like ranitidine
- Cromolyn sodium
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17490952
http://www.allergynutrition.com
http://thelowhistaminechef.com
So does applying hydrogen peroxide to any areas of itching and using a Neti pot with a 50/50 solution of drug store hydrogen peroxide and water to flush the sinuses. If it hurts a lot, it likely means you have sinus infection (usually yeast or staff); and after the brief pain subsides, you should feel immediate results.