Category: Research & News

Cherries have amazing anti-inflammatory properties, but also quite a bit of sugar. The sweet stuff isn’t great for fighting histamine (or any other) inflammation. That’s where tart (or sour) cherry come in. Not only do they have all the inflammation and cancer fighting compounds as their sweeter cousins, but research tells us tart cherries are better anti-inflammatories than aspirin. 

Why write about inflammation rather than histamine?

I’ve been encouraging readers for years to look beyond histamine, which is just one of many inflammatory agents found in the body. These inflammatory molecules are kept from the bloodstream till needed for healing, but once they’re unleashed, if they’re not properly broken down, or if the inflammation just keeps going, we’re likely to have symptoms of excess inflammation. This includes the histamine symptoms we’re unfortunately all too familiar with. If you’re not, check out my posts on symptoms and how to get a diagnosis. So basically, what we want to do is lower inflammation as a whole, rather than just eliminating high histamine foods willy nilly. I explain how to do that here and you’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook.

Are cherries high histamine? I’d have a nervous breakdown if I looked to the various histamine in foods lists on the internet. I see various posts on all stone fruit being high histamine (absolutely not in my own experience and that of most of my readers), and red fruits being higher. The answer is, it doesn’t matter what the lists say. Your doctor and your body are the ultimate authority, and removing foods for no other reason than it was on an internet list, leads nowhere good. It led me to starvation and orthorexia (a type of anorexia where food is demonised).

health benefits of tart cherries

I write quite a bit about how I believe we’ve made a mistake in the histamine community in just focusing on this one type of inflammation. There are so many other types, and so many foods and supplements that can help. Anything that can help empty out the inflammation bucket is worth a look.

• Cherries address COX and prostaglandin inflammation
• Can reduce cardiac inflammation and stroke risk
• Anti-oxidants in tart cherries are more anti-inflammatory than aspirin
• Have been shown to prevent tumour growth in animal studies
• May help prevent dementia
• Are high in melatonin, which can help regulate the sleep cycle
• Can help treat arthritisNUTRIENTS

As far as sugar content goes, cherries aren’t on top of the list by any means. They have between 13 and 18 grams of sugar, and have a low glycemic index. Studies show they have incredible anti-inflammatory properties (but you can still be allergic to them or react if your inflammation bucket is full). Cherries are high in anthocyanins, the stuff that gives blueberries their colour, and are amazingly delicious. I eat my cherries and use a tart cherry powder (you can find many online).

• High fiber content
• Low-ish sugar (compared to other fruits)
• Great source of vitamin C (which has antihistamine properties)
• Anti-oxidants (these also help lower histamine inflammation

HOLD UP THOUGH

The Environmental Working Group has listed cherries as part of their “dirty dozen” foods that are most likely to contain pesticides. While I can’t buy everything organic, I do definitely follow this list. Frozen fruits and vegetables are often cheaper, and so I stock up either online or at Whole Foods 360 (their less expensive retail outlets).

You’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

——– REFERENCES ——

Ewg. “EWG’s 2017 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce.” EWG, www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty_dozen_list.php#.Wdg-MRNSyRs.

“Cyclooxygenase inhibitory and antioxidant cyanidin glycosides in cherries and berries.” Phytomedicine, Urban & Fischer, 10 Nov. 2004, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0944711304700525.

Babcock, Christine. “Benefits of Cherries: Weight Loss, Gout Healing & Less Inflammation.” Dr. Axe, 21 June 2017, draxe.com/benefits-of-cherries/.

Nearly 15% of all people on the planet suffer from migraines. Researchers have known that

histamine can cause, or worsen these terrible headaches for some time, but have now discovered that curcumin, an antihistamine and anti-inflammatory compound in turmeric root, can help prevent them. (But read on for the downside too please). In the same vein, ginger, also a member of the Zingiberaceae family, prevents migraines as efficiently as the pharmaceutical sumatripan. 

Removing high histamine foods that aren’t particularly nutritious from my diet eliminated the “my head is going to explode while I am violently sick in the loo” migraines that plagued my childhood and teens. But still headaches have come and gone, being just annoying enough for the research to continue all  the way to curcumin.

I’ve written about how effective a mast cell stabiliser and antihistamine turmeric is, and how excited I was to confirm that its active constituent curcumin is low oxalate here. I recently began taking it, warily at first, because curcumin is not supposed to work for me. There’s a number of reasons: it’s supposed to lower the function of the histamine degrading DAO enzyme, and it blocks the MAO-B enzyme, which is also a problem for me. To find out your enzyme genetic status, try taking the 23 and Me test and then use something like SelfDecode to analyse the results. 

I’ve been including turmeric as an optional ingredient in many of the recipes I used to get my histamine inflammation under control, but I found the curcumin particularly effective.

You’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

WHAT IS A MIGRAINE?

These headaches are moderate to severe, typically affect half of the head, regularly pulsate, and last up to three days. Nausea, vomiting, light and smell sensitivity, are common. Physical activity usually makes things worse (oh boy does it). Common treatments are pain medications, specific migraine meds like ergotamines, anti-nausea meds, and avoidance of triggers (mine were foods).

WHAT CAUSES THEM?

Genetics: It’s estimated that up to two thirds of all cases run in families.

Hormones: Migraine risk decreases during pregnancy.

Histamine: this neurotransmitter can either trigger migraines outright, or make existing ones worse, or last longer.

CURCUMIN (TURMERIC) & MIGRAINE

A recent study outlines that there are many migraine trigger mechanisms, among them, irregularity of the trigeminovascular system, serotonin deficiency and mitochondrial dysfunction. The authors tell us that the addition of curcumin/turmeric to the diet, or supplementation, with magnesium, can alleviate  migraines related to these causes. Magnesium and curcumin also have antihistamine properties. Just four days of suboptimal magnesium intake was found to significantly raise histamine levels in animal studies. Read more here. 

Another study found that ginger, which is in the same family as turmeric, relieved the symptoms of migraine just as well as the pharmaceutical sumatripan.

MY EXPERIENCE

I’ve avoided turmeric for years. I finally took the plunge after surgery, finding that within just a few days the inflammation was nearly gone. A few months later, I burned my had badly (second grade) and the pain was relentless. My usual fallback is meditation, but after a day spent entirely in meditation trying to deal with the pain, I instinctively made myself a lentil curry with a curcumin pill (because they are lower oxalate than turmeric). I just opened up a capsule into my food. It’s a personal choice to add to foods rather than isolate compounds. I believe that all these wonderfully healing foods work well together to create the magic. That’s the philosophy I use in everyday cooking.

You’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

CLICK HERE TO CREATE YOUR OWN PERSONALISED HEALING HISTAMINE PLAN. 

——– REFERENCES ———

“Migraine.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Oct. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migraine.

Maghbooli, M, et al. “Comparison between the efficacy of ginger and sumatriptan in the ablative treatment of the common migraine.” Phytotherapy research : PTR., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Mar. 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23657930/.

Almeida, Mariana Corrêa De. “Efeitos do processamento por radiação em espécies da família Zingiberaceae: açafrão (Curcuma longa L.), gengibre (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) e zedoária (Curcuma zedoaria (Christm.) Roscoe).” doi:10.11606/d.85.2012.tde-03042012-100652.

“Is it just me or is it really hot in here? Or cold? I’m now so cold that I’m shivering,” does this sound familiar? My doctors and I have been quite convinced that I hit peri-menopause in my teens, and yet all blood tests came back 100% normal.  After driving significant others to despair with my furnace like heat while asleep (despite claiming I’ve been freezing all day), I finally had an answer. Histamine, of course, affects body temperature, regulates metabolism, and appetite. Because of this, histamine is linked to obesity, but also to anorexia.

It’s enough to drive you crazy really. Just when it seems like you’ve got a handle on histamine, it does its usual Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde schtick on you again, and we’re unsure which way is up.

Histamine influences body temperature by acting on H1 and H3 receptors. Translation: in order to make use of histamine, the body has histamine receptors numbering 1 to 4. They’re found all over the body, in places like the brain, heart and even breasts. Antihistamine medications can block some, but not all of the receptors. Meaning that even if you’re taking antihistamines, they don’t block all the receptors from being affected by histamine, and so we can still have histamine inflammation symptoms while on these medications.

H1 antihistamines are Claritin and Zyrtec. H2 is Zantac for example.

DEALING WITH TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS

Take your temperature to make sure it’s not a fever: histamine can make us feel hot, and can raise core temperature, but do not write off an actual temperature.

Prepare: always carry a sweater, or a light beanie hat in case of exposure to air conditioning. AC can actually trigger mast cells and cause nasty reactions.

Cool down: some of my most spectacular meltdowns have occurred in hot climates. Though AC does bother me somewhat, when traveling I will take a room with AC and blast it for a few hours while I’m not there. I then use a fan to sleep with that circulates the cool air.

Use two duvets: I’ve learned to have two duvets so that I can throw one off in the middle of the night when histamine starts rising. If sleeping with a partner, I’ve seen some cooling pads you can sleep on.

Improvise on the go: some of my happiest moments have been splashing some cool water on my face when unable to find AC. There’s also some sport headbands you can place in the fridge before going out (on Amazon) and you can also use one of those chemical ice packs (CVS) to put on your neck.

TEMPERATURE CRASH DURING A REACTION

It is not uncommon to have a very sudden (and frightening) loss of temperature when experiencing a histamine reaction. At its most extreme, it can be a symptom of anaphylaxis, so it shouldn’t be written off, but for most of us it’s just histamine going haywire.

My solution was to take some quercetin or an antihistamine and jump into bed immediately covered in blankets all the way up to my face. I’d then progressively relax my body and begin a meditation till it passed. This event was often accompanied by a migraine and nausea, but it would eventually pass and my body temperature would return to normal. Please don’t hesitate to contact a doctor when this happens.

I cover strategies for dealing with everything histamine related in my workshops.

CLICK HERE FOR A FOUR WEEK HISTAMINE RESET WITH MEAL PLANNERS, STRESS RELIEF STRATEGIES & MORE

You’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

——— REFERENCES ———–

Lundius, Ebba Gregorsson, et al. “Histamine Influences Body Temperature by Acting at H1and H3 Receptors on Distinct Populations of Preoptic Neurons.” Journal of Neuroscience, Society for Neuroscience, 24 Mar. 2010, www.jneurosci.org/content/30/12/4369.

Makabe-Kobayashi, Y, et al. “The control effect of histamine on body temperature and respiratory function in IgE-Dependent systemic anaphylaxis.” The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2002, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12170272.

According to researchers pterostilbene is a “potent” natural antihistamine compound found in plant foods. It’s related to resveratrol, which is found predominately in grapes. Here’s what we know. 

It’s wonderfully validating to find study after study showing that the foods in my diet and cookbooks are the right ones for histamine intolerance and inflammation. You’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

Please remember, even foods with antihistamine properties can hurt us, so please always check with a doctor first. 

According to the research, pterostilbene has a stronger epigenetic effect than resveratrol, which is touted by some as the explanation to the “French Paradox”. Meaning, why they live longer and healthier than other countries, despite eating a diet rich in fat. (I have no opinion on the saturated fat issue other than to say, everything in moderation. I do not believe ketogenic or very high saturated fat diets, or any other extremes are a great idea.)

Resveratrol has been linked to a number of anti-ageing benefits that we find as a result of calorie restriction. It has been found to reduce inflammation in the heart, improve physical endurance, protect the mitochondria, and reduce oxidative stress. It has been found to lower cardiac issues and improve insulin sensitivity in mice fed a high calorie diet.

But sometimes, we need a little helping hand, and in the case of pterostilbene, maybe a helping supplement. Though studies show pterostilbene to be more potent than resveratrol, in this case it’s hard to work up to a therapeutic dose through diet alone.

Research studies point to 50mg of pterostilbene as being the magic number, and yet blueberries contain less that 100 nanograms per gram. I think I might turn purple trying to ingest a therapeutic dose.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to get what we need from foods.

REASONS TO INCLUDE FOODS

• Whole foods have many amazing phytonutrients and healing compounds (co-factors) that work together to create a symphony of healing
• Foods will contain other beneficial nutrients
• People with histamine intolerance and inflammation frequently do not react well to supplements

FOODS RICH IN PTEROSTILBENE

• Blueberries
• Almonds (low histamine but high oxalate)
• Mulberries (not sure of histamine status)
• Red wine (higher histamine)
• Grapes (debatable histamine – I eat them)
• Cacao (supposedly triggers mast cells into leaking histamine)

PTEROSTILBENE BENEFITS

• Anthistamine (“potent” inhibition of histamine)
• Anti-inflammatory
• Prevents cognitive impairment/neurodegeneration
• Prevents the spread of cancers (bladder, breast, stomach, pancreatic)
• Up-regulates the function of the anti-cancer P53 gene
• Anti-diabeteic (lowers blood glucose levels)

My favourite start to the day is a smoothie made with blueberries, cucumber, broccoli sprouts and some arugula. All antihistamine ingredients.

You’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

———REFERENCES——-

Shimoda, K, et al. “Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of glycosides of resveratrol, pterostilbene, and piceatannol.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26250502. Accessed 27 Aug. 2017.

“Pterostilbene.” Pterostilbene – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/pterostilbene. Accessed 27 Aug. 2017.

“Pterostilbene.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Aug. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterostilbene. Accessed 27 Aug. 2017.

McCormack, Denise, and David McFadden. “A Review of Pterostilbene Antioxidant Activity and Disease Modification.” Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3649683/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2017.

Some of the following ingredients, which are commonly found in health foods too, either directly raise histamine, or trigger inflammation generally. The latter is something to be avoided at all costs, especially when there’s no good reason to keep them in the diet.

Inflammation compounds. You can have a normal-ish histamine level, but if your prostaglandins are a little elevated, it can increase histamine’s inflammatory effect on the body. If your leukotrienes are high, then the effect of prostaglandins and histamine inflammation is more pronounced. Now if your interleukins are high, then histamine, prostaglandins and leukotrienes…you see where I’m going with this.

That’s because the aforementioned compounds are all released by mast cells (a while blood cell in the body), or synthesised, when they break open. That’s only supposed to happen when we need healing, but sometimes in folks with mast cell activation and histamine inflammation, they can be chronically triggered by allergies, stress, injury, and cause a whole mess of crazy inflammation with an endless series of bizarre and rotating symptoms.

More on histamine intolerance symptoms.

Histamine & Mast Cell Triggering Ingredients

Carrageenan

On the surface, like a number of these ingredients, this is a natural product found in health foods and beauty products, as well as toothpaste, sodas, ice cream, pretty much anything processed. Though its origin is Irish Moss seaweed, by the time they’re finished processing it, there’s very little resemblance to a natural food/sea plankton. Carrageenan is such a histamine trigger that it’s used by researchers to induce allergic type responses and inflammation so they can test antihistamine and anti-inflammatory compounds.

Emulsifiers & Binding agents

These go by many names: carrageenan, locust bean, guar gum, lecithin (which can be made from egg), so many names in fact, that one study I read advised that the only real way to make sure you’re not eating them, it to avoid all processed foods entirely.

Mice treated with emulsifiers, a class of food additive that includes carrageenan, xanthan gum and lecithin (all of which are found in “natural” products), not only developed gut inflammation, they also showed signs of metabolic syndrome (obesity, high blood sugar and insulin resistance). The study showed that these food additives affect gut bacteria in animal studies, with an earlier study revealed that emulsifiers promote the development of inflammatory bowel disease in genetically predisposed mice. I repeat, anything that causes generalised inflammation will be a problem for us.

Histamine triggering Food colours

• Titanium dioxide
• Tartrazine (yellow dye)
• Sunset yellow (yellow dye)
• Coccine (red dye)
• Amaranth (also called a “natural” dye)
• Erythrosine
• Indigo carmine (FD&C Blue No. 2)
• Ponceau
• Brilliant Blue (FD&C Blue No. 1)
• Methyl blue
• Quinolone yellow
• FD&C Red

“Natural” flavours

Let’s start with the fact that it somehow became ok to use badger anal gland secretions as a “natural” flavour.

I don’t really know where to go from there, other than to tell you that’s not the most upsetting thing out there. That particular prize goes to human hair being used as a food additive. It’s unimportant which one at this point, because if you are reading my website and buying the books and programs I used to fix my histamine intolerance and mast cell activation, you will not be eating foods containing these ingredients anyway. The more I read, the more I’ve understood that in this day and age, it’s simply a terrible idea to be eating anything packaged.

The EWG’s David Andrews, senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group recently told CNN that “added flavoring, both natural and artificial, could contain anywhere from 50 to 100 ingredients. And all of the extra ingredients in flavors often aren’t as innocent as you’d hope they would be.”

So what are we going to eat then?

My books are made up entirely of natural foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties. If you hate to cook, or don’t have time to, just use them as a guideline. So a risotto with a bunch of ingredients just becomes a bowl of boiled rice with the veggies and herbs quickly tossed in. That’s how I eat most of the time nowadays because I’m always on the run somewhere. More often than not it all gets thrown into a tupperware with me and I eat it on the road somewhere. Healthy foods can be prepared quickly with minimal fuss and cost.

“Carrageenan triggers histamine | Healing Histamine.” Healing Histamine | Histamine Intolerance Diet Foods Recipes, 17 Aug. 2017, dev.healinghistamine.com/carrageenan-causes-histamine-induced-inflammation/. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.

Burn, Life by Daily. “What are natural flavors, really?” CNN, Cable News Network, 14 Jan. 2015, www.cnn.com/2015/01/14/health/feat-natural-flavors-explained/index.html. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.

“Junk food triggers allergies and causes leaky gut | Healing Histamine.” Healing Histamine | Histamine Intolerance Diet Foods Recipes, 7 Sept. 2017, dev.healinghistamine.com/junk-food-triggers-allergies-and-causes-leaky-gut/. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.

“Preservative.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Aug. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preservative#Antimicrobial_preservatives. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.

“Castoreum.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Sept. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castoreum. Accessed 10 Sept. 2017.

Histamine is involved in the digestive process, which is why an excess of it linked to Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel. While antihistamines have been found to be beneficial in at least IBD, a change of diet and lifestyle may be a safe and effective alternative, or addition to, pharmaceutical intervention.

A number of studies have found strong correlations between the number of mast cells and total histamine content in the guts of patients with Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel. The level of histamine found in patient guts was found to be proportional to the degree of inflammation in Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. While their symptoms are very similar,  there are important differences that are best assessed and treated by a gastroenterologist. Additionally, if blood is present in the stool, it’s even more essential to get checked out immediately, rather than attributing it to a GI disorder.

What these conditions all have in common is histamine inflammation. Thankfully, histamine is something that we can control, in many cases without having to rely on medication. I’ve personally managed my excess histamine (or histamine intolerance as some call it) through a combination of diet, exercise, meditation, and taking the time to focus on what makes me happy. I put it all together here. 

DIET

A diet high in histamine containing foods like yeast, fermented foods, processed tomato, processed and packaged meats/foods, can all lead to an accumulation of histamine in the body, particularly in the gut. Histamine also causes permeability of the gut barrier that’s meant to keep bacteria from our food from crossing into our bloodstream. Histamine can compromise this barrier, causing intestinal permeability (also known as leaky gut). Foods and bacteria migrating from the stomach to the blood stream are believed to trigger allergies and intolerances, and according to some studies, may contribute to autoimmune symptoms. A properly working intestinal (gut) barrier protects the body as a whole from invasion by microorganisms and toxins we ingest daily.

Intestinal permeability/leaky gut is linked to symptoms relating to:

• Allergies
• Asthma
• Autism
• Autoimmune disease
• Eczema and psoriasis
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Bloating
• Gas
• Heartburn
• Acid reflux
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Did you know that maintaining the gut barrier takes up around fourty percent of the body’s energy? That might be why relieving the body of the strain of digestion by fasting, or in my case, a fasting mimicking diet, has been really helpful in managing all my symptoms, but especially anything relating to my tummy. I managed to heal my stomach just through diet, and a few carefully chosen supplements (but not probiotics), but we are all different and will need a number of approaches to get the job done. Read the rest of my post on leaky gut here.  And how junk food and emulsifiers found even in organic foods can trigger it here.
• I’ve found that following a diet rich in foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties and getting rid of fast food, dairy and wheat (I’m not intolerant it’s just too inflammatory), rather than following any complicated healing protocols, allowed me to add in more high histamine foods over the years.

• CLICK HERE FOR A FOUR WEEK HISTAMINE RESET WITH MEAL PLANNERS, STRESS RELIEF STRATEGIES & MORE

• You’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

• EXERCISE

• While regular exercise is an absolute must for maintaining a healthy immune system that balances histamine naturally, doing the wrong kind can make you sicker. Research tells us that non-aerobic exercise that uses our own body weight is the least likely to trigger histamine. Read the post on exercise here. 
  

  MEDITATION

• It’s not a hippy dippy thing, meditation is an anti-inflammatory superstar that reprograms us on a genetic level. Mast cell researcher Dr. Theoharides has long spoken of the link between stress hormones and mast cells releasing histamine into the bloodstream. And I realised a very, very long time ago that calming myself down is the best thing I could do during a major histamine attack.
  

  HAPPINESS

• A fascinating study on hypnotised subjects found that those who were hypnotised to be unhappy had a stronger reaction to histamine than those who were happy or even angry. It’s no coincidence. I’ve brought on my very worst reactions by just being unhappy. Sometimes it’s as simple as sitting down and having a think about what you could easily add to your week to up your happiness quotient. For me it’s as simple as taking a few minutes a day to bask in the sun, or enjoy a meal or a film with friends. The hurdle is finding the time to actually implement it

• CLICK HERE FOR A FOUR WEEK HISTAMINE RESET WITH MEAL PLANNERS, STRESS RELIEF STRATEGIES & MORE

  .

——— REFERENCES ———-

Nolte, H, et al. “Histamine release from gut mast cells from patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.” Gut., U.S. National Library of Medicine, July 1990, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1695160/?i=2&from=%2F8139217%2Frelated. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Raithel, M, et al. “Mucosal histamine content and histamine secretion in Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and allergic enteropathy.” International archives of allergy and immunology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Oct. 1995, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7549499/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.

Did you know that most toothpastes contain histamine triggering ingredients? If you’re suffering from a persistently sore throat, migraine or throat swelling (unrelated to anaphylaxis), it might be time to examine the known histamine and mast cell triggers in commercially available toothpastes, and which alternatives exist. 

I was stumped. Every evening, at about the same time, my throat would begin swelling shut, a migraine would develop and I’d start itching all over. At first I believed I had bed bugs, and so went bananas changing the sheets every night, sleeping on different mattresses, and yet my man didn’t feel a thing.

Ending up in the ER a number of times, mostly after my favourite dessert (a pineapple smoothie with soy milk), I finally realised that toothpaste is what these events had in common.

To understand why adding pineapple and soy to the toothpaste reaction led to the ER, read my post on the inflammation bucket. 

A hazy memory of my having to return many make up and beauty products a decade earlier while living in San Francisco (and eating oysters and crab every few days), rose to the surface and so I switched to a more natural toothpaste. Voila! Mystery solved. No more sore throat, and the rest of it.

I’ve shared the nugget with hundreds of people and had just as many improvements.

My excellent diet has played a bigger role overall in fighting histamine reactions and inflammation.

You’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

CLICK HERE FOR A FOUR WEEK HISTAMINE RESET WITH MEAL PLANNERS, STRESS RELIEF STRATEGIES & MORE

MOST TOOTHPASTEs ARE A HISTAMINE NIGHTMARE

A look at most commercial toothpastes reveals an assortment of dyes, preservatives and emulsifiers. They’re pretty much all histamine and mast cell triggers.

A mast cell is a white blood cell that contains histamine. This member of the immune system is called into action when we’re injured or faced with a virus/infection. Mast cells release histamine and other inflammatory agents into the blood stream as needed. Stress, allergens, chemicals, and high histamine foods can trigger them into dumping histamine and other inflammation when not needed. 

HISTAMINE TRIGGERING TOOTHPASTE INGREDIENTS

• Titanium dioxide
• Tartrazine (yellow dye)
• Sunset yellow (yellow dye)
• Coccine (red dye)
• Amaranth (also called a “natural” dye)
• Erythrosine
• Indigo carmine (FD&C Blue No. 2),
• Ponceau,
• Brilliant Blue (FD&C Blue No. 1)
• Methyl blue,
• Quinolone yellow
• FD&C Red
• Sodium laureth sulfate (used in one study to trigger mast cells so they could measure the effectiveness of quercetin)

THE ALTERNATIVES

I have yet to find a great US toothpaste – I’m still bringing my Green People mint toothpaste over from England. You’re basically looking for something that excludes the aforementioned ingredients, but watch out for carrageenan containing natural alternatives.

Read about how carrageenan causes leaky gut here.

And how it triggers histamine here.

• (These may not help prevent tooth decay so please check with your dentist)
• Herbal tooth powders
• Coconut charcoal (I use this to whiten my teeth after brushing)
• Licorice stick
• Coconut oil pulling
• Baking soda (I’ve had really bad reactions to this!)

• You’ll find recipes full of foods with antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties my books Anti-Recipes and The Anti-Cookbook

• CLICK HERE FOR A FOUR WEEK HISTAMINE RESET WITH MEAL PLANNERS, STRESS RELIEF STRATEGIES & MORE

——- REFERENCES ——–

“How Histamine Causes Leaky Gut | Healing Histamine.” Healing Histamine | Histamine Intolerance Diet Foods Recipes, 4 Mar. 2017, dev.healinghistamine.com/how-histamine-causes-leaky-gut/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2017.

Drugs, Committee on. “”Inactive” Ingredients in Pharmaceutical Products: Update (Subject Review).” Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Feb. 1997, pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/99/2/268. Accessed 27 Aug. 2017.

A UK based researcher’s findings back up other recent discoveries in depression, which is the idea that for the one-third of patients for whom anti-depressants don’t work, inflammation is the likely root cause. In my case, I was medicated for over a decade with pharmaceuticals that made me sicker. I was declared bipolar and lost all hope of recovery, till finding the diet that saved my sanity and revealed there to be absolutely nothing wrong with me mentally. 

Please do not stop taking any medications without speaking to your doctor. Two-thirds of mental health patients respond to medications for depression. I just wasn’t one of them. 

A consortium of researchers in England has found a strong association between inflammation and depression. Inflammation is the body’s natural healing response, but it can be inappropriately triggered by stress and made worse by an unhealthy lifestyle and diet. Research also links children exposed to many infections in early life, and those who’ve suffered trauma, to immune system dysfunction. In later life, the immune system correlates stress with the need for it to kick into high gear, chronically. Our immune system basically over reacts chronically. This inflammation then triggers depression.

The Sickness Response is an evolutionary programming that is believed to cause depression to keep us from spreading disease through contact with others, and tiredness so that we’re still and allow the body to heal without taxing it. Unfortunately, sometimes the sickness response signal remains activated because of vagus nerve issues.

Read more about the vagus nerve and sickness response in my interview with Harvard and Tufts neuroscientist Dr. Michael VanElZakker here.

It’s been observed in a number of studies that people treated with medications that trigger inflammation (interferon for example), also develop depression during treatment. And that patients with arthritis treated with anti-inflammatories experience a remission in depression. Scientists are now planning to start medical trials on antidepressant non-responders, to try and alleviate their depression.

The turnaround for me was gradual. It began modestly, with the resolution of the shaking and anxiety that had financially and mentally crippled me. At it’s worst, I was having agoraphobic attacks when trying to leave the house. At it’s best, I was having attacks so bad they sent the room spinning around me as I clutched my chair to prevent a fall. Not really helpful when starting your career as an intern at 60 Minutes.

I used to mope around, unwilling to see friends or family, even to pick up the phone once every few months when called. The two-dimensional grey world that had enveloped me since childhood slowly faded as if a veil was being slowly lifted from my eyes.

At its most extreme, I had become paranoid that people were talking about me, saying the most awful things. Now I was tuned into the brilliance of the people around me, ready to engage with the land of the living.

The changes that made the most immediate difference were cutting processed foods high in histamine, then no longer frying the healthy foods that weren’t.

More on how you cook your food affects histamine and inflammation here.

The high histamine foods that were healthy were more challenging. I loved them, probably because they initially gave me an incredible energy boost, but I realised they needed to go for just a little bit. Sadly I left them for too long and cut too many of them. Soon my immune system refused them, and I withered away, lacking the nutrients needed to properly run my body, and then to an eventual increase in histamine inflammation, despite eating only low histamine foods.

Depression is my life partner. My shadow. Always waiting for an opportunity to worm his way back in. Keeping him at bay requires a consistency of diet, determination to not slide into the abyss again, and love for myself, to lessen his icy grip on my heart.

I’m happy to say I have not been depressed since changing my diet and lifestyle, even while in the grip of my life’s biggest challenge.

Please don’t hesitate to take medication or speak with a psychotherapist. Healing from depression requires a combination of approaches.

——–REFERENCES——–

“Depression, a disease of the mind? Actually, our immune system could be the culprit.” Spectator Health, 19 May 2017, health.spectator.co.uk/depression-a-disease-of-the-mind-actually-our-immune-system-could-be-the-culprit/. Accessed 14 Sept. 2017.

According to Time Magazine, acid reflux is one of the most common health issues in the US, with nearly $13 billion spent a year being spent on medications for it. Researchers have now found that diet is just as effective at relieving it.

An antihistamine working on the histamine 2 receptor called Zantac was in my life for a really long time because of extreme acid reflux. I didn’t realise it was an antihistamine at the time. Nor did I know back then that using it caused rebound histamine production. This means that once you stop it, there’s a surge of histamine. This is has been my experience with all antihistamines. It was brutal, but temporary thankfully. And it’s to be expected. Many medications have rebound effects as the body strives to recalibrate itself without the crutch we’ve been relying on. Proton Pump Inhibitors are now more commonly prescribed than H2 blockers, but they also impact histamine, and they also cause a rebound effect. One study reckons that using them could make you immune to the effects of an H2 antihistamine.

Thankfully, we may not have to rely on either, if we’re willing to do something really good for our bodies generally.In this recent study, researchers found that a diet high in good fats, vegetables and fruits,  was able to resolve acid reflux just as well as PPIs. This is absolutely no surprise to me, and the thousands of others reading this blog, We’ve all seen the incredible difference that a change of diet can bring.Acid Reflux Symptoms

According to the Mayo Clinic these are:

• A burning sensation in your chest (heartburn), sometimes spreading to your throat, along with a sour taste in your mouth
• Chest pain
• Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
• Dry cough
• Hoarseness or sore throat
• Regurgitation of food or sour liquid (acid reflux)
• Sensation of a lump in your throat

Benefits of the low histamine diet (or anti-diet)

Though some of these benefits can take time to happen, I have observed the following in myself and thousands of others.

• Increased energy
• Clearing of brain fog
• Better sleep
• No acid reflux
• Beautifully glowing skin
• Increased immunity (when it’s needed, rather than all the time)

There’s many more, but that’s not the focus of this post.

Researchers in this particular study found that switching people from a standard diet to a Mediterranean one, was as beneficial as a PPI. I’m sure we’d be hard pressed to insist that diet can also have a rebound effect, but this seems like a pretty decent option if we’re suffering from something that caused me such awful misery that I continued stuffing my face day and night to alleviate it.

In the years since changing my diet, while still in transition, I found that nigella sativa seeds and oil were excellent at alleviating it also. That might be due to nigella’s antihistamine properties (specifically H2), but you’d have to check with your doctor on that. In particular I have no information on the salicylic acid content of nigella because this issue is not covered on my blog. Histamine is such an incredibly dense topic there’s so much to write about…

Addressing acid reflux naturally

According to the latest research, it’s quite simple: avoid processed foods and switch to a diet rich in olive oil, fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, we know it’s a little more complex than that. While an initial switch from a standard diet to one in whole foods is an amazing start that offers much relief, there’s plenty that remains in that way of eating that’s inflammatory thanks to histamine: tomatoes, olives, dairy, and meat for example.

Simply avoiding processed foods is the first advice I give people who ask me for a quick fix for histamine. People who have already made that jump will need to investigate which foods, whether they’re histamine or not, are a problem for them. I address all of this in my 28 day histamine reset. Nigella sativa and other foods with antihistamine properties that make up my books are worth looking into.

———-REFERENCES———

Qvigstad, G, et al. “Treatment with proton pump inhibitors induces tolerance to histamine-2 receptor antagonists in Helicobacter pylori-Negative patients.” Scandinavian journal of gastroenterology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 1998, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9930386. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.

“Acid Reflux May Respond Better To Diet Than Drugs.” Time, Time, time.com/4929930/acid-reflux-drugs-diet/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.

“GERD: A severe form of heartburn.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 31 July 2014, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gerd/basics/symptoms/con-20025201. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.