Sadly, we are obliged to be following a low histamine diet currently for an issue with one of our family members. I say sadly because a low histamine diet has eliminated a lot of foods available to us and has made food preparation very complicated. We already ate a pretty clean low carb diet. But this is orders of magnitude more difficult.
It absolutely can be helpful. But it is no walk in the park. I am always weighing - will these leftovers get eaten tomorrow, or should I freeze them? I used to live with leftovers - cook once and eat for a couple of days. Now, that convenience is gone. It is maddeningly inconvenient in many other respects as well, as the diet is not so simple as what is written above, unfortunately. It truly is tedious.
I highly recommend looking at gut microbiome, as it seems this underlies a lot of histamine intolerance. Seeking Health has a Histamin-X probiotic blend specifically for this condition. Many common probiotics included in ordinary blends at the store have strains (especially certain lactobacilli) that actually INCREASE histamine, so need to be aware of that when selecting a probiotic.
Thanks for bringing attention to this usually unknown phenomenon.
I suffered for 5 years with chronic hives. I now eat a low histamine diet & went gluten free. I eat celery & an apple for my quercetin. I added Vitamin C & D. I haven't had any hives for over 8 months now. There were times I was taking 4 Allegra a day just to keep the itching down. I also discovered that I get angioedema around my eyes from carrageenan , a sea weed used as a binder. I am living proof that low histamine diet does help with allergies!! Bless my hubby for eating this way too!
I don't know. I'm still learning about this myself.
What I can tell you is that my understanding is that for healing gut, best is to simmer meat w bones for a couple of hrs, along with whatever veggies you wish as long as they're low histamine. Use only white vinegar, not ACV because it can be higher histamine. Then freeze the broth if you won't eat it right away.
So the time is the same.
There are probably blogs that purport to know that information. But if I wasn't sure, since the amount of time is the same, I would stick w stovetop? Apparently long simmer times also liberate glutamate which can be a problem in these situations.
Sorry I don't have more information. It's all new to me.
I suffer from rhinitis July to October (first frost). For over 25 years I lived on antihistamines such as Claritin D or zyrtec plus Benadryl and they barely helped with the horrendous symptoms.
By chance, I discovered my solution which I share here in case it helps someone:
Eliminate gluten and sugar (100%), and keep a low-carb high-fat (keto) diet with plenty of raw vegetables (I do eat chicken and meat) plus drink plenty of water with a touch of Celtic salt.
I have done this for about 10 years and I’m super grateful for being allergy free during those months.
(Now if I only could eat fish/ shrimp again without developing hives and blisters on my skin!! )
Yes. My spouse and I found that both our seasonal and perennial allergies were virtually gone once we changed to a low carb high natural fat way of eating. Ditto for our young person, until said young person developed histamine intolerance last year. Spring allergies were really significant this year.
The fish/shrimp could even a histamine intolerance, actually, as they are very high in histamine. In case that angle is something you care to explore.
I’m NOT a medical professional, but here’s what we formerly allergic people have done to virtually eliminate our allergies. We also do most things listed in this Substack article…
Nasal saline rinses and rinsing out the eyes, especially after being outside, can help a bunch. We use Neilmed Nasal Rinse bottles and special saline packets.
Warning: Never use tap water! Use distilled water, or boil water for at least 5 minutes then cover and cool the water before pouring into the bottle.
You can find Neilmed products many places, including Costco, Amazon, or directly from the company.
Finally, consider this perhaps weird / gross suggestion: While taking a warm shower, alternately and repeatedly blow out each nostril to clear gunk from the nasal passages. (Hold one nostril closed while blowing the other. Then repeat with the other nostril. Do this several times.)
Do you guys have any ideas for nasal polyps? My two year old daughter has horrible ones and she’s suffering big time. We’ve tried quercetin , no carbs, turmeric, chamomile tea, saline spray, frankincense In the humidifier etc. I’m running out of ideas. How are we able to do things like neuralink but still don’t know much about polyps!?
About a decade ago, I had thought I had histamine intolerance because of some serious raw and red skin irritations that developed. It ended up that I had developed a severe allergy to nickel and chromium, amongst other things. Most of my exposure was topical, but I also eliminated some "healthy" foods I had been eating such as carob and acidic foods/beverages cooked, stored or aged in stainless steel or green glass. I'm fine eating/drinking, in moderation, a few of those foods/drinks nowadays and am relieved that I didn't have to go the low-histamine route. But I'm relieved that I was able to pinpoint what was giving me issues and I found it interesting that there seems to be some overlap of higher histamine/nickel foods.
Copernicus, this was several years ago but I had researched online the foods high in histamine and tried limiting those but my skin irritations didn't improve or go away. I then got a T.R.U.E. patch test and that's when I learned I had Allergic Contact Dermatitis and that nickel and chromium were two of the three metals that I was severely allergic to. Then I researched high nickel foods and how chromium got into food from acidic foods/drinks reacting with green glass (such as wine bottles). Stainless steel pans also release nickel and/or chromium when acidic foods are cooked in them. Etc. If you cross reference some foods/drinks that are higher in histamine and nickel, some such as chocolate are the same.
If you have any sort of skin rashes or irritations that seem to come out of the blue and don't heal easily or keep recurring, I recommend going to a doctor who's been trained in administering and interpreting T.R.U.E. patch test.
Sadly, we are obliged to be following a low histamine diet currently for an issue with one of our family members. I say sadly because a low histamine diet has eliminated a lot of foods available to us and has made food preparation very complicated. We already ate a pretty clean low carb diet. But this is orders of magnitude more difficult.
It absolutely can be helpful. But it is no walk in the park. I am always weighing - will these leftovers get eaten tomorrow, or should I freeze them? I used to live with leftovers - cook once and eat for a couple of days. Now, that convenience is gone. It is maddeningly inconvenient in many other respects as well, as the diet is not so simple as what is written above, unfortunately. It truly is tedious.
I highly recommend looking at gut microbiome, as it seems this underlies a lot of histamine intolerance. Seeking Health has a Histamin-X probiotic blend specifically for this condition. Many common probiotics included in ordinary blends at the store have strains (especially certain lactobacilli) that actually INCREASE histamine, so need to be aware of that when selecting a probiotic.
Thanks for bringing attention to this usually unknown phenomenon.
I suffered for 5 years with chronic hives. I now eat a low histamine diet & went gluten free. I eat celery & an apple for my quercetin. I added Vitamin C & D. I haven't had any hives for over 8 months now. There were times I was taking 4 Allegra a day just to keep the itching down. I also discovered that I get angioedema around my eyes from carrageenan , a sea weed used as a binder. I am living proof that low histamine diet does help with allergies!! Bless my hubby for eating this way too!
Heal the gut! Homemade bone broth, glycine 2day and George’s Aloe Vera.
Not broth that has been simmered beyond 2-3 hrs though. The broth simmered for hours and hours generates a lot of histamine, unfortunately.
Is bone broth made in the instant pot low in histamines? I believe it’s only 2-3 hours max cooking time in the instant pot.
I don't know. I'm still learning about this myself.
What I can tell you is that my understanding is that for healing gut, best is to simmer meat w bones for a couple of hrs, along with whatever veggies you wish as long as they're low histamine. Use only white vinegar, not ACV because it can be higher histamine. Then freeze the broth if you won't eat it right away.
So the time is the same.
There are probably blogs that purport to know that information. But if I wasn't sure, since the amount of time is the same, I would stick w stovetop? Apparently long simmer times also liberate glutamate which can be a problem in these situations.
Sorry I don't have more information. It's all new to me.
I suffer from rhinitis July to October (first frost). For over 25 years I lived on antihistamines such as Claritin D or zyrtec plus Benadryl and they barely helped with the horrendous symptoms.
By chance, I discovered my solution which I share here in case it helps someone:
Eliminate gluten and sugar (100%), and keep a low-carb high-fat (keto) diet with plenty of raw vegetables (I do eat chicken and meat) plus drink plenty of water with a touch of Celtic salt.
I have done this for about 10 years and I’m super grateful for being allergy free during those months.
(Now if I only could eat fish/ shrimp again without developing hives and blisters on my skin!! )
Yes. My spouse and I found that both our seasonal and perennial allergies were virtually gone once we changed to a low carb high natural fat way of eating. Ditto for our young person, until said young person developed histamine intolerance last year. Spring allergies were really significant this year.
The fish/shrimp could even a histamine intolerance, actually, as they are very high in histamine. In case that angle is something you care to explore.
I’m NOT a medical professional, but here’s what we formerly allergic people have done to virtually eliminate our allergies. We also do most things listed in this Substack article…
Nasal saline rinses and rinsing out the eyes, especially after being outside, can help a bunch. We use Neilmed Nasal Rinse bottles and special saline packets.
Warning: Never use tap water! Use distilled water, or boil water for at least 5 minutes then cover and cool the water before pouring into the bottle.
You can find Neilmed products many places, including Costco, Amazon, or directly from the company.
Links:
* Neilmed company: https://shop.neilmed.com/collections/sinus-rinse
* Amazon Neilmed kit: https://www.amazon.com/NeilMed-100-Sinus-Rinse-Complete/dp/B000RDZFZ0/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=neilmed+sinus+rinse&sr=8-5
* Amazon Neilmed refill packets: https://www.amazon.com/NeilMed-Natural-Relief-Premixed-Packets/dp/B00TU5P33K/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=neilmed+sinus+rinse&rdc=1&sr=8-6
Finally, consider this perhaps weird / gross suggestion: While taking a warm shower, alternately and repeatedly blow out each nostril to clear gunk from the nasal passages. (Hold one nostril closed while blowing the other. Then repeat with the other nostril. Do this several times.)
I think of those foods as being really healthy, full of probiotics and raw milk. But they do often give me a runny nose!
Kefir may be helpful as well!
Although kefir is fermented, so it probably depends on the person.
Do you guys have any ideas for nasal polyps? My two year old daughter has horrible ones and she’s suffering big time. We’ve tried quercetin , no carbs, turmeric, chamomile tea, saline spray, frankincense In the humidifier etc. I’m running out of ideas. How are we able to do things like neuralink but still don’t know much about polyps!?
I don't know whether this works for polyps, but you might want to try saline nasal rinse. It couldn't hoyt. Details at this comment link: https://flccc.substack.com/p/eat-your-way-to-allergy-relief/comment/16828699
About a decade ago, I had thought I had histamine intolerance because of some serious raw and red skin irritations that developed. It ended up that I had developed a severe allergy to nickel and chromium, amongst other things. Most of my exposure was topical, but I also eliminated some "healthy" foods I had been eating such as carob and acidic foods/beverages cooked, stored or aged in stainless steel or green glass. I'm fine eating/drinking, in moderation, a few of those foods/drinks nowadays and am relieved that I didn't have to go the low-histamine route. But I'm relieved that I was able to pinpoint what was giving me issues and I found it interesting that there seems to be some overlap of higher histamine/nickel foods.
Oh, that is curious. Do you happen to still have any references?
Copernicus, this was several years ago but I had researched online the foods high in histamine and tried limiting those but my skin irritations didn't improve or go away. I then got a T.R.U.E. patch test and that's when I learned I had Allergic Contact Dermatitis and that nickel and chromium were two of the three metals that I was severely allergic to. Then I researched high nickel foods and how chromium got into food from acidic foods/drinks reacting with green glass (such as wine bottles). Stainless steel pans also release nickel and/or chromium when acidic foods are cooked in them. Etc. If you cross reference some foods/drinks that are higher in histamine and nickel, some such as chocolate are the same.
If you have any sort of skin rashes or irritations that seem to come out of the blue and don't heal easily or keep recurring, I recommend going to a doctor who's been trained in administering and interpreting T.R.U.E. patch test.
Good 👍🏼 Information and dietary suggestions. Could Kefir be considered a histamine blocker?
Love it! 🙏
Exactly what I was looking for this morning. Many thanks !
Thanks FLCCC. Excellent post & very useful advice.