I’m taking a number of steps to help my body recover from any inadvertent histamine hiccups (ahem, cupcake incidents) I may subject it to. One of them is the food-coaching course I’m taking with my nutritional hero Dr. Fuhrman, and an intensive immersion into herbalism, which I’m sure to expand upon in coming years. I’m currently devouring the modern herbalism bible I’ve seen the Whole Foods naturopathic gurus toting when in deep consult with customers. I naturally started in the immune system chapter where I came across yet another ayurvedic miracle herb.

Without getting too technical, this herb, Coleus Forskohlii, elevates cAMP levels in the blood. The most significant physiological effect of which is inhibition of mast cell degranulation and histamine release.

“Forskolin, by increasing cAMP level in turn, inhibits basophil and mast cell degranulation and histamine release, (Marone et al., 1987) lowers blood pressure (Dubey et al., 1981) and intraocular pressure, (Caprioli et al., 1984) inhibits platelet aggregation, (Agarwal and Parks, 1983; Wong, 1993) promotes vasodilation, (Dubey et al., 1981; Wysham et al., 1986) bronchodilation, (Lichey et al., 1984) and thyroid hormone secretion (Hays et al., 1985; Roger et al., 1987) and stimulates lipolysis in fat cells (Haye et al., 1985; Roger et al.,1987).” Read the full study here.

Not only that, but also relevant to those of us with histamine disorders (histamine intolerance, mast cell activation, mastocytosis), is the increase in thyroid function. I’ve had enough online encounters with others in my weird little boat to know that most of us have a crapped out ‘roid. That could (partially) explain this herbs potent weight loss action?

Dr. Oz, best known, to me, as the man who “discovered” nutritional guru Dr. Fuhrman, featured coleus forskohlii in his “belly blaster in a bottle series” on his immensely popular tv show recently. Watch the show here.

Now, I’m not endorsing the use of this herb, but I am going to post a link to the brand that appears to be the cleanest – only because I get flooded with emails asking where the herbs I post about can be found.