Thanks so much to Judith for your transcription of this video – very kind of you to make this text available to our community. And a quick note to anyone who has a little spare time and would like a couple of free books – please let me know if you are up for transcribing interviews/videos and I’ll hook you up! 

Histamine Intolerance, allergy & mast cell supplements pt1 (transcript)

View part one and part two of the video. 

Today I thought I’d take you through the answer to one of the questions that I’m asked the most which is, what supplements do I take? Now, I was anti-supplements for a really long time because I believed in trying to allow the body to heal itself. But it became apparent after a while that my body was going to need just a little bit of help. So I thought I would try a few things and see what was a hit and what was a miss. Today I´m going to take you through the hits because – we´re all so very different –  I don´t really believe in saying, “Well, this worked for me so it should definitely work for you”. We all have a lot of other issues going on and so it´s best to see what works for you.”

So today I´m going to show you my absolute favourite supplement on the planet at the moment which is the Twinlab Quercitin with Vitamin C. Now, some people don´t know this but Vitamin C – or may know this – that Vitamin C is a potent mast cell stabilizer and antihistamine. What do I mean by a mast cell stabilizer? Histamine and other inflammatory elements are contained within a mast cell which is in our body. The mast cells then release these inflammatory elements as needed by the body to fight infection or to help wound healing. Now the problem arises in some people like myself when we either have to many mast cells or mast cells are just leaking too many of these inflammatory molecules into the body and wreaking havoc on our systems. So Vitamin C is a potent mast cell stabilizer, preventing it from degranulating and leaking this inflammation into the body. The thing is, ascorbic acid – which is what you generally find in supplements – is generally made from fermented corn. Now, fermented foods are definitely off the menu for most of us which is a bit of a bummer as you know we like to take probiotics and other things but this Twinlab Quercitin with Vitamin C: the Vitamin C is actually made from sago palms, so its ascorbyl palmitate and this is the only Vitamin C I´ve never actually had a problem with. And the Quercitin is derived from the sophora japonica tree, I know because I called and asked. A lot of Quercetin supplements are derived from fava beans which are definetly a big no for those of us with histamine problems. So this is currently my favorite. I take between 2 and 4 tablets a day which is above the recommended dosage which I don´t  advise others to do but it´s just something I´m trying out for myself. I know that it is used in some medical trials at that dose for people with cancer and other disorders.

My other current favorite is Mangosteen. It’s the Source Naturals Mangosteen tablets. It´s 36 mg of calcium with 187 mg of Mangosteen. I started taking Mangosteen because it is an anti-inflammatory, it´s an antihistamine, it’s a mast cell stabilizer. But it also is very effective in treating high prostaglandin levels. Now prostaglandins are one of the inflammatory molecules that are released by mast cells into the body. Now why should you care about prostaglandins? Well, a complaint I hear quite a bit is, “Oh my god, my hair is falling out, I don´t know what to do.” I was one of them. I lost a quarter of my hair.  It was very, very scary. I did a few things to stop the hair loss. The first thing was to stop washing my hair with shampoo. At least on the scalp. I was still using it on the ends. It gave me absolutely beautiful hair. But after a year I called it quits because I had enough. I just wanted a scalp that smelled really, really fresh. At the same time I started taking these Mangosteen tablets and my hair stopped falling out. I´m not sure if it´s a coincidence but if you read on my blog, prostaglandins cause hair loss in men and women. So you know, it´s always worth a try.

Now those of you who either don´t want to take the Twinlab Quercitin or want something that packs  a little bit more of a punch: my other favourite supplement is Dr. Theoharides at TUFTS University, his supplement Neuroproteck. Dr. Theo is one the worlds most renowned mast cell experts with an incredibly number of studies under his belt. And he created Neuroproteck after finding out that bioflavonoids such as quercitin, luteolin and rutin are as effective as stabilizing mast cells thereby preventing them from releasing histamine and other inflammatory elements into the body. So, he put these all together in one capsule which is very handy.

The basis of my diet, the anti histamine and anti inflammatory diet is bioflavonoids. It´s actually how I created my diet. I was looking at the research online and seeing that these bioflavonoids are as effective a treatment if not more effective than what is being prescribed to us by the doctors. Now if for some reason you either don´t tolerate Dr. Theos supplements or you just want to try something different, I found a couple of brands that due the other bioflavonoids, quercetin is very easy to find, its hard to find a clean source of luteolin and rutin. I´m currently trying out these Swanson Ultra Luteolin Complex which has in it luteolin and rutin from the sophora japonica tree. But also  – a little worringly –  from citrus sinensis, whis is otherwise known as an orange. So this one I´m trying at the moment  and I will report back. I seem to be doing ok with it. I´m on day 4 but we´ll give it a little bit of time.

You’ll find more info on my diet and the recipes that helped heal me here.

My other favourite Twinlab Vitamin C, also from sago palm. It´s 1500 mg of Vitamin C. If you can´t take Quercitin for some reason, this usually knocks a reaction right out of the park for me, it´s pretty amazing stuff. And now the last of the supplements I take on a daily or almost daily basis. This one is not on a daily basis but as needed when I feel a little bit tired or when I know that my iron is low. It was really amazing to find this stuff because I really, really struggled with iron supplements – my goodness – I reacted to every single one that I took but in the end water saved the day! This is Spatone. It is available in the United States. It´s basically an iron rich water. Who knew such a thing existed, I mean logically it must exist because there are minerals in water but this one has definitely been a lifesaver. And that´s it! That’s a roundup of these supplements that I use on a daily or almost daily basis and that´s it for now. Hope, you enjoyed it!

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 Please don’t forget antihistamine, pain killing foods can still hurt us, so please always check with your doctor before adding new foods to your diet.