Histamine Intolerance: What's Really Causing it?

You might have come across histamine before, especially when dealing with pesky seasonal allergies or popping antihistamine pills to tackle those symptoms. Well, histamine is like the alarm system of your immune system. When it senses a potential threat, it goes all-in, causing blood vessels to open up so white blood cells can rush in and deal with the problem.

 But here's the twist - if histamine hangs around too long without getting broken down properly, it can lead to histamine intolerance.

Usually, your body's got specialised enzymes to break down extra histamine. In your central nervous system, it's called histamine-N-methyltransferase (HMT), and in your gut, it's diamine oxidase (DAO), responsible for handling histamine from foods.

Histamine isn't just made in your body; it can also sneak in through your diet. Some foods either pack histamine naturally, block the enzyme that deals with it, or encourage your body to release even more. We're talking about stuff like alcohol (especially red wine), fermented goodies, aged cheeses, vinegar-containing foods, processed meats, certain veggies, spices, leftovers, coffee, and smoked fish.

Now, here's the kicker - histamine can throw your gut microbiome for a loop. See, DAO, the gut's histamine manager, hangs out in your intestinal walls. But when things go south because of inflammation, diseases, bad bugs, or imbalances in your gut's microbe squad, DAO can't do its job right. This mess is often tied to gut issues like IBS, Crohn's, SIBO, gut imbalances or leaky gut.

To tackle histamine intolerance, you've got to dig deeper and figure out what's causing it, not just treat the symptoms. While a low-histamine diet can work in the short run, it's not a long-term fix, and it won't get to the bottom of your histamine troubles. In reality, histamine issues usually signal a deeper root cause that's pulling more strings than just your histamine reactions.

It all comes back to your gut's health. To rebuild your tolerance for histamine, you've got to patch up that gut lining, dial down the inflammation, and get your good gut buddies back on track. 

A great place to start is with histamine degrading fermented foods such as the Kultured Wellness Starter Cultures. This will help build up your gut with bugs that break down those excess histamines that your body isn’t breaking down. 

Histamine intolerance can be caused by different factors so there’s no one-size fits all treatment. If you want to take a deep dive and heal your histamine intolerance, book a FREE 20 minute discovery call with either myself or Kylie using the link below. We’ll be able to give you recommendations on treatment moving forward based on your individual circumstances.