Author: healing

I miss Vietnamese food so much. I used to eat it practically every weekend before my histamine intolerance diagnosis, even, amusingly, when I was living in Bangkok. Thai food was just way to spicy for me, and I suspect the MSG was wreaking havoc on my insides.

Though I do love the lightness of Vietnamese summer rolls (ie un-fried spring rolls), I was really in the mood for something a little naughty. It had just been one of those weeks you know? So I had a go at re-imagining my favourite Vietnamese pork spring rolls. Except without mushrooms (histamine), fish sauce (histamine, common sense) and a bunch of other stuff that makes me drool.

My usual high nutrient spin sent me down the Indian path rather than Vietnamese. I really wasn’t sure these would work out.

Guess what? Having had these little fingers of messy joy, I’m now drooling over making them again. Am I allowed to say that about something I made myself?? It seems wrong somehow.

The tamarind and curry leaves (the chutney still tastes great without either!) gave the shallots an incredibly rich depth of flavour, the mung bean noodles gave the lamb mince a lovely moistness and it was all topped off with the satisfaction of crunching into a healthily baked crust.

Make these a little smaller and they’re a perfect party finger food that no guest will guess is a (low histamine, antihistamine, anti-inflammatory) health food.

They’ll also taste great stuffed with any lovely veggies of your choosing.

Though already low oxalate (if you don’t have a lot of other oxalates that day), you can go lower by omitting the noodles. I’m watching my oxalates and I was totally fine with this.

CLICK HERE TO CREATE YOUR OWN PERSONALISED HEALING HISTAMINE PLAN. 

Here’s the high nutrient, antihistamine and anti-inflammatory breakdown (see the Anti-cookbook for a six page list of antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods):

Shallots are high in histamine lowering quercetin and as such are an antihistamine food [1]. They also possess significant cancer fighting and anti-inflammatory properties [2].

Curry leaves are as effective at reducing histamine induced inflammation as Diclofenac (one of the world’s most commonly prescribed anti-inflammatories) [3] and have been shown to inhibit mast cell degranulation [4].

Fenugreek has been shown to be effective in reducing histamine and serotonin induced inflammation [5].

Tamarind leaves possess mast cell stabilising properties, but the fruit is fermented, which may be problematic for some [6].

Nigella sativa is a potent H1 and H2 receptor antagonist (like claritin and zantac for example) [7].

Basil (all varieties) has been shown to exhibit H1 and H2 receptor antagonism and is highly anti-inflammatory [8].

Please do remember that even antihistaminic foods can cause serious reactions, including anaphylaxis. Please consult with your doctor or medical practitioner before adding new foods to your diet.

Antihistamine Rich (baked) Lamb Spring Rolls w/Tamarind Chutney

Prep Time: 10mins| Cook Time: 20mins | Servings: 2-4 | Difficulty: Easy

You’ll find more recipes like this in my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

Ingredients:

Chutney

4 shallots, peeled and quartered

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Fresh red chili, to taste

Fenugreek seeds, to taste

1/2 tsp nigella sativa seeds (or to taste)

1 tbsp tamarind paste

4 curry leaves (optional)

Oil (I use olive)

Spring rolls

2 cups cubed lamb

1 large shallot/medium onion

1/2 medium fennel

1 clove garlic

Arugula

Basil

Coriander

1/2 cup mung bean, green bean, rice or your choice of noodles, boiled and drained

Spring roll rice paper

Directions:

Chutney

Pre-heat your oven to 160C/320F.

Dilute the tamarind paste in a spoon of water. Combine with the rest of the ingredients in a small to medium baking dish and drizzle with some oil.

Bake for 20-30 minutes till soft. Remove the curry leaves and serve with spring rolls.

Spring rolls

Pre-heat oven to 180C/360F.

Toss all the spring roll ingredients but the rice paper into a food processor. Power till everything mixes up into a ball.

Heat a little oil in a pan and sauté the spring roll mix till almost cooked through.

In a kettle heat up some water till almost boiled. Pour into a shallow plate and then once cool enough (but not cold!) place a rice paper in it till soaked through but not mushy. Carefully withdraw from the water and flip over. This might take a little practice…

Remove and place on a dry surface. In the middle of the roll lay down some arugula/rocket, a couple of pieces of basil and coriander, and some noodles. Top with some lamb and then finish off with a not too generous spoon of chutney.

Fold the upper and lower parts of the roll over, then roll horizontally to seal up.

Brush with a little shallot oil, and bake for 20 minutes.

Serve with the rest of the chutney.

Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter for more antihistamine and anti-inflammatory recipes. 

The Anti-cookbook, while it doesn’t treat any conditions, due to its high nutrient, antihistamine and anti-inflammatory ingredients, has been instrumental in helping me feed myself on a limited diet. It features a six page list of antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods. It comes in regular and Paleo. 

The Low Oxalate Cookbook features antihistamine and anti-inflammatory rich recipes. 

Don’t miss the Low Histamine Beauty Survival Guide for non-toxic beauty tips, the skinny on histamine releasing (mast cell degranulating) beauty ingredients, antihistamine and anti-inflammatory beauty alternatives and the top brands natural brands I’ve found.

Take a peek at my other low histamine and antihistamine cookbooks for more high nutrient recipes.

If you’ve found this information useful I’d appreciate your support (at no extra cost to you!) – please check out my online store for your health foods, supplements, kitchen items and beauty product purchases. Affiliate sales through my online store go towards maintaining the website, funding travel to interviews and purchasing all the lovely foods for my free online recipes. You’ll find these items in the “Shop with us” drop down menu on my homepage.  

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. 

—————————- REFERENCES ————————-

[1] http://www.researchgate.net/publication/5427392_Quercetin_from_shallots_(Allium_cepa_L._var._aggregatum)_is_more_bioavailable_than_its_glucoside

[2]  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3258679/

[3] http://www.jcimjournal.com/articles/publishArticles/pdf/201181127102.pdf 

[4] http://jcpronline.com/final/09782.pdf

[5] http://www.ptfarm.pl/pub/File/Acta_Poloniae/2008/4/473.pdf

[6] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3210002/

[7] https://dev.healinghistamine.com/plant-seeds-treat-nasal-allergies-better-than-steroid-spray/

[8] https://dev.healinghistamine.com/holy-basil-101-uses-for-this-incredible-antihistamine-plant/

Antihistamine dessert bake with quercetin rich apples, blueberries and ginger. You may use any fruit you tolerate. 

Today was odd. I found myself doing something I hadn’t in a long time: having a nervous breakdown in the supermarket.

Only this time it wasn’t over my dietary predicament, but that of my readers. What to share with you this week? Will the paleo folk be disappointed with this, will lectins upset and just how low oxalate does a recipe have to be??

After picking up and putting back a dozen items I finally brainstormed something that made me a very happy bunny indeed…a dessert that reminded me the tastiest treats are ones that improve our health.

So what makes this antihistamine? It’s the quercetin. Much of my dietary philosophy revolves around the concept of eating antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods. You’re thinking: but you’re the low histamine chef. Well yes. The foods are all low histamine too!

Why anti-inflammatory? When my hardcore research into histamine began three years ago the phrase “histamine induced inflammation” kept coming up over and over. And so I thought, well why am I just eating low histamine rather than anti-inflammatory? See because here’s what few naturopath’s tell you: in addition to faulty diamine oxidase or HNMT production, genetic pathway yadda yadda (undermethylation etc), mast cell dysfunction is behind much of the histamine release in the body.

Thing is that mast cells, in addition to housing histamine, also shelter a number of other inflammatory molecules that in small amounts help us heal, but when flooded into the body in excess, can cause unbridled inflammation [1].

Once I understood this I couldn’t go on putting anything in my body that wasn’t going to help deal with that histamine induced inflammation. I simply analysed the commonly sold natural antihistamine supplements on the market – finding that quercetin, rutin and luteolin appeared time and again.

Why? Because they are very powerful mast cell stabilsers, as strong as the most commonly prescribed pharmaceutical (Nalcrom) – meaning that they prevent mast cells from freaking out and releasing histamine into the body to cause inflammation [2]. Sadly my (frequent) conversations with practitioners in the field reveals that the majority absolutely do not believe that diet plays any role in mast cell activation and mastocytosis (they definitely don’t believe that histamine intolerance even exists). It’s so bizarre given that we know inflammation plays a role in so many other illnesses like cancer [3], heart disease [4], Parkinson’s [5]. And we know an anti-inflammatory diet helps in those cases. So why not with histamine intolerance/mast cell activation and mastocytosis? It’s my personal belief that much of what goes on with us is caused by a crappy diet. I know, sacrilegious right? And yet we’re fobbed off with handfuls of antihistamines, mast cell stabilsers and told that we can carry on eating pizza and pasta.

I KNOW that an antihistamine diet rich in bioflavonoids like quercetin, rutin and luteolin has given me my life back and it is also the experience of dozens of people who write to me, many thanking me for putting this idea out there (tho I’m not the first!) and others telling me they’ve been onto it for years. They’ve all improved, lessened or reversed symptoms we were told we need meds for.

While I do understand that we’d have to eat quite a bit of antihistamine foods to have an effect and there’s the blood/brain barrier and all that, what about this revolutionary concept: eat only anthistamine and anti-inflammatory foods; that way nothing you put into your body is going to exacerbate the existing condition by causing more inflammation or histamine to rise (even a little bit)?

Hmmmm? What do you think of that? If you’re on board (but even if you’re not), check out the tasty antihistamine & anti-inflammatory dessert recipe below.

Here’s the nutritional breakdown I know you love as much as I do!

Benefits:

Blueberries and apples are an excellent source of histamine lowering quercetin [6].

Ginger is as potent an H2 receptor antagonist as Zantac/ranitidine (commonly prescribed for heartburn too) [7].

Coconut possesses strong anti-inflamatory and analgesic properties [8].

 For more recipes and a six page list of antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods please check out the Anti-cookbook: High Nutrient Antihistamine & Anti-inflammatory Recipes for Health – now also in a paleo version. 

Antihistamine Dessert Bake

Prep Time: 10 | Cook Time: 20 | Servings: 2 | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

3 apples, cut into eighths
1.5 cups blueberries
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
squidge of fresh lemon (or rind – omit it sensitive)
pinch of salt

Optional
2 tbsp coconut nectar or powdered coconut sugar/your choice of sweetener

Directions:

Pre-heat oven at 200C/390F.

Toss the apples in the coconut nectar (if using) and add a pinch of salt (to bring out the sweetness).

Place on a non-stick or lightly oiled baking tray and place in the oven.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, turning once half way through.

Meanwhile add the blueberries, ginger, the squidge of lemon and a splash of water to a small pot. Simmer till the blueberries break down, about 3-5 minutes.

Place the apples in a serving bowl and add a few dollops of the blueberry compote. You might also want to try drizzling  with a little coconut cream.

Enjoy your health!

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

The Anti-cookbook and all liquid Anti-Detox Book, don’t treat any conditions, but are high in the high nutrient antihistamine and anti-inflammatory ingredients that have been instrumental in helping me feed myself on a limited diet. The Anti-cookbook features a six page list of antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods and comes in regular and Paleo. 

The Low Oxalate Cookbook features antihistamine and anti-inflammatory rich recipes. 

Don’t miss the Low Histamine Beauty Survival Guide for non-toxic beauty tips, the skinny on histamine releasing (mast cell degranulating) beauty ingredients, antihistamine and anti-inflammatory beauty alternatives and the top brands natural brands I’ve found.

Take a peek at my other low histamine and antihistamine cookbooks for more high nutrient recipes and sign up to my mailing list for freebies. 

——— REFERENCES ——-

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_cell

[2] http://www.mastcellmaster.com/research.php

[3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1994795/

[4] http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265378.php

[5] http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/99/2/237.short

[6] http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/quercetin

[7] http://journals.tums.ac.ir/upload_files/pdf/_/2382.pdf

[8] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19429325

Nope, no need to clean out your ears, you heard me right: low histamine ketchup – how low histamine is totally up to you.

Before you rush to fire off an email berating me for promoting high histamine foods, let me just share one of the most exciting nuggets of information gleaned from my interview with immunologist and histamine researcher Dr Janice Joneja: less pigmented fruits and vegetables are generally lower histamine (green/yellow tomatoes for example) and many of her patients do fine with them. You’ll find a link to the interview at the end of this post. 

Sadly tomatoes are a high oxalate food. If you, like me, are watching your ox intake, fret not, my next recipe’s all about you. Even more exciting is that oxalate specialist Dr Susan Owens (of the Yahoo Oxalate Group) has agreed to an interview. You’ll want to sign up to my mailing list to make sure you don’t miss out on either.

Back to the main event.

The Joneja interview set my mind racing. And off to London’s Borough Market I ran to score me some tomaters. My man, usually a happy participant in my dashes around the city (or foreign country) in pursuit of some foodstuff or another, was nonetheless not thrilled with being dragged this far south of the river.

Luckily we happened upon a little cider house en route (uh, need to check my terminology there) where he seemed quite happy to remain, half pint in hand, discussing organic cider brewing with the owner, while I ran around gleefully pouncing on purple cabbage, mutant Chihuahua sized peaches and copious baskets of gluten and sugar free baked goods. No, I don’t eat them but I do so love to inhale them. Looking and smelling is half the pleasure of eating after all…

You’ll find this recipe calls for either apple cider vinegar (I always unfiltered as I hope that some quercetin remains) or lemon. Out of curiosity (for those who don’t tolerate either) I cooked up a little of the tomatoes with tamarind instead and it tasted good! Sadly because it was on the fly and in a small amount, I can’t tell you how much to use. I’d try one tamarind and then taste as the ketchup cooks, adding more if needed.

Here’s some of the nutritional highlights, taken from the Anti-Cookbook: High Nutrient Antihistamine & Anti-inflammatory Recipes for Health (now also Paleo):

Tomatoes: while it is true that (at least the red variety) raise histamine, there’s a number of studies out there pointing to the anti-inflammatory activity of the tomato plant leaves [1], specifically through it’s action on prostaglandins, while the fruit itself is high in Vitamin C, beta carotene, lycopene [2] and chlorophyll [3] – all of which have been linked to lower cancer rates.

Garlic: one of the more interesting studies I came across in relation to garlic is that it is now being studied for its potential to treat IBS [4], in addition to being anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and all the rest of the stuff I’ve mentioned in other recipes (just use the search bar to look up other nutritious foods).

Onion: is one of the richest sources of histamine lowering quercetin [5].

Ginger: is as potent an H2 receptor antagonist as ranitidine (zantac) [6].

Dates: possess anti-inflammatory action as well as reducing the severity of gastric ulcer [7].

Apple cider vinegar: there are of course dozens of claims as to the health benefits of ACV, in particular that it has the potential to stabilise blood sugar [8].

Please do remember that not all anti-inflammaotry foods are also antihistamine and even antihistamine foods can hurt us, so please check with your doctor before introducing new foods. 

Low Histamine Tomato Ketchup

Prep Time: 5 | Cook Time: 30 | Servings: 4 – 8 | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

10 medium green/yellow tomatoes, peeled and seeded

4-8 tbsp coconut sugar or 2 Medjool dates (or your choice of sweetener)

1/4 – 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar or lemon

1/2 large onion, very finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, very finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped

1 red pepper or beet, juiced (optional, for colour)

Directions:

Chop up your tomatoes.

Place them in a blender.

Add a pinch of salt, the onion, garlic, ginger, vinegar or lemon, red pepper juice if using (otherwise add 1/2 cup of water) and then blend well till smooth.

Pour into a pan or a small pot. Add in the sugar (less to start with, more as needed), cover and bring to the boil before turning down to a simmer.

Stir frequently, until the sauce becomes ketchup-y. It took me 30 minutes. Increase the vinegar/lemon and sugar to taste and add a little bit of water if needed.

As I don’t eat leftovers I then decided to freeze them into handy little portions using mini mason jars.

Enjoy!

You’ll find the Dr Janice Joneja interview here.

References:

[1] http://www.academicjournals.org/ajb/PDF/pdf2011/16DecConf/Amid%20et%20al%201.pdf

[2] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423810004498

[3] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsfa.1292/pdf

[4] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cyto.10133/full

[5] http://journal.ashspublications.org/content/120/6/909.full.pdf

[6] http://www.academicjournals.org/ajbr/pdf/Pdf2009/Dec/Anosike%20et%20al.pdf

[7] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15814265

[8] http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/R-D/Vinegar-beverage-shows-blood-sugar-management-potential