Many foods naturally contain histamine, a chemical that is also released by your body during an allergic reaction. After eating histamine-containing foods, people who cannot break down histamine in food may experience symptoms that resemble an allergic reaction, and are said to have an intolerance to histamine. The list of foods that contain histamine is an extensive one
Types of Food
Foods that naturally contain histamine include shellfish, cheeses, beer, red wine, most fish, chicken, pork sausage, beef sausage, ham, chocolate, spinach, tomatoes, fermented vegetables and fermented soy products like soy sauce. Interestingly, the histamine in some fish like tuna appears to be the result of contamination related to storage at insufficiently cold temperatures after the fish are caught. Most incidents of high histamine levels in fish have been reported in warmer climates.
How It Works
Normally, an enzyme in your digestive tract called diamine oxidase or DAO breaks down the histamine in foods. If you do not have sufficient amounts of the enzyme, dietary histamine can build up and trigger symptoms. Some scientists theorize that DAO breaks down histamine that is present outside of cells, while another enzyme called histamine N-methyltransferase, which is not associated with histamine in food, breaks down histamine inside of cells.
Symptoms
If you have an intolerance to histamine, you can develop a range of symptoms after eating such foods, such as itching, headaches, rashes, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. However, episodes of histamine intolerance are not fatal, as is sometimes true of allergies, which can cause violent reactions. Avoidance of foods containing histamine should decrease your incidences of such symptoms. You might also get relief by using an anti-histamine.
Additional Information
Histamine intolerance is commonly underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed. But because it is not an allergy, you will not test positive to histamine-containing foods on routine skin and blood tests for allergies, unless you actually have an allergy to any of those foods. Your doctor should rule out histamine intolerance if you suffer food-related symptoms but test negative for allergies. Blood tests can check your levels of histamine or diamine oxidase. However, such tests are not well-known, readily available or often performed.
References
- British Allergy Foundation: "Histamine Intolerance"
- "Headaches? Eczema?"; Charlotte Dovey; April 6, 2011
- "Histamine and histamine intolerance"; L. Maintz and N. Novak; Am J Clin Nutr.; May 2007
- "Histamine Testing"; Daniel Kauffman; Global Aquaculture Advocate; p. 34; August 2004
- "Food Allergy Overview"; Judy Davis; November 2007
