Tag: allergy foods

  • Wondering why you react to EVERYTHING you eat?

    Wondering why you react to EVERYTHING you eat?

    Did you know that the act of digestion itself causes histamine release [1]? No, not many people do. I get so many emails from people who are convinced they have multiple amine, food intolerance or allergy issues because they react to everything they ingest. They explore salicylate, amine, oxalate, yeast and other issues obsessively, convinced that once they hit upon the right combination, food will magically be tolerable again.

    While some may be right, the simple fact is that if you have a histamine disorder (histamine intolerance, histaminosis, mast cell activation, mastocytosis), the very act of digestion requires histamine. So, the chain is: food in, histamine release, gastric acid rushed to the stomach to begin digestion. Then histamine release again from the food. If you’re on antihistamines, some of it will be blocked from attaching to the H1 or H2 receptor, so you’ll be having less respiratory or gastric symptoms. I’m always surprised that people seem to think that antihistamines somehow magically flush the histamine out from your body – that’s simply not the case. They just stop the histamine from binding to those receptors only, leaving it free to run around in your body causing inflammation and damage to your internal organs [2].

    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. 

    Unfortunately, the receptors commonly not addressed with meds, H3 and H4, are the ones responsible for (among other things) modulating pain [3] and our mast cells/immune system [4], respectively, which explains why many people with histamine issues and mastocytosis still suffer from debilitating bone pain, depression, immune system dysfunction and others, in part (in my opinion) because they are not lowering their overall histamine burden – they’re relying on antihistamines to do the job for them. But of course antihistamines open the appetite [5], leading to more histamine roaming the body causing damage, except a little less damage to the H1 and H2 receptor areas. So you feel less respiratory and gastric issues (maybe) and are encouraged to eat “normally”, use cosmetic products like nail polish that are mast cell degranulation/histamine triggers [6], but continuing with life as you know it, learning to live with the fall out of flooding your H3 and H4 receptor controlled areas (pain and immune system), which then leads to more dysfunction and pain!

    Ok, I’m off the soapbox. Here’s the truly shocking bit.

    Just THINKING of food is enough to trigger histamine release!

    It was a complete surprise to me that for some reason that part never occurred to me: that digestion begins with the nerve impulses in the brain [7], which sometimes has a hard time distinguishing between fantasy and reality. I don’t mean that in a psychotic way, just that to the brain, intention is sometimes the same as action. That’s why visualization techniques are now being used to preserve motor skills in paraplegics [8].

    How to make this information work for you.

    The greatest relief I’ve experienced this last year is by making my peace with the fact that pretty much every food I put into my body will cause a reaction (thanks to the digestive process itself). By accepting this, I have taken the fear out of mealtime and allowed myself to focus on getting nutrition back into my body, rather than continuing to deprive my body of the nutrients needed for proper histamine metabolism, and creating an environment of fear at mealtime.

    I use food prep as an opportunity to practice a little mindfulness meditation. I observe my  food fears and then let them go. I experience the textures, the colours, and imagine the good they’re going to do for me. I visualise my enjoying sitting down to the meal, how it’s not going to bother me, and how this is all helping heal me. I imagine the food going down my oesophagus, into the stomach. I notice my mast cells not being disturbed by this process. And then I sit down to eat.

    And now for some practical advice!

    Rule out salicylate intolerance, mast cell activation disorder, and clean up your diet.

    The great Dr. Fuhrman passed on the most incredible advice to me via his forum. Juicing, smoothie’ing and souping it means you’ll need less enzymes to digest [9]. That should mean less need for gastric juices and histamine. Make the meals/juices low histamine and you’re on a roll.

    My personal approach is simply to include as many antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods as I can!

    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. 

    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] www.physiol.med.uu.nl/…/ipweb/misc/…/digestive/secretion.doc

    [2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14530789

    [3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3014298/

    [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histamine_H4_receptor

    [5] https://dev.healinghistamine.com/is-your-anti-histamine-making-you-fat/

    [6] https://dev.healinghistamine.com/my-top-10-histamine-non-food-triggers-and-how-i-deal-with-them/

    [7] www.physiol.med.uu.nl/…/ipweb/misc/…/digestive/secretion.doc

    [8] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/flourish/200912/seeing-is-believing-the-power-visualization

    [9] http://www.drfuhrman.com/faq/question.aspx?sid=16&qindex=4

     

  • The Histamine Survival Series – Restaurants

    ‘Tis the season to head to warmer climes and enjoy a little dining…but eating out is no picnic when you have histamine intolerance/histaminosis/mast cell activation/mastocytosis. And yet this has never stopped me from trying (and succeeding).

     My top tip for surviving restaurants is PREPARE!

    1. I have a couple of restaurants who have my allergies/preferences in the system or know me by now. That’s where I take my clients so I don’t have to get into it with them! I’ve never had anyone be rude or dismissive. Restaurants nowadays take these things very seriously because they don’t want a lawsuit on their hands. I’m also always super nice and leave a big tip so they remember me.

    2. If I have no control over where I’m going, I’ll peruse the menu online and call ahead and make my order. If I can’t find anything on the menu, I’ll just explain that I have a number of allergies, that I need to come in for a business meeting, and I ask if they would be so kind as to prepare me an omelette (even if it’s not on the menu). They ALWAYS oblige.

    3. ALWAYS order dressing/sauce on the side. This is where most restaurants slip up.

    4. Tell them outright, you MUST have the freshest food on the menu, so ask for their help in choosing it. I’m always very tactful on this one. Restaurants never admit their food was not cooked from scratch daily and yet (having worked with a number of restaurants over the years) I know this is not the case. Very few restaurants in the world are from scratch, daily.You could copy and paste this text into a word doc, then add your foods, (don’t forget nuts!), and either laminate (my choice) or print it off and keep in your wallet. I suggest multiple copies as these will inevitably be lost along the way…

    5. I have the text below printed on a two sided card to be presented upon arrival.

    MY RESTAURANT CARD

    Greetings,

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  • The Low Histamine Diet Foods FAQ

    WHICH FOODS ARE HIGH HISTAMINE?

    That depends on which list you follow. Histamine in foods varies depending on: the country grown in, whether pesticides were used, climate, transportation, ripeness when picked, how long on the supermarket shelf, bacterial contamination. In particular the level varies in flesh. The reason for which is that bacteria release histamine (and other amines) as the flesh decomposes. The freezing and thawing and re-freezing in particular that occurs in the typical farm to supermarket cycle leads to high histamine levels in food. For fish: how long since it was fished, how it was handled, if it was frozen and then thawed at any point, if it’s contaminated etc. Beef is generally hung for at least two weeks to tenderize the meat. This accounts for the high levels of histamine in the flesh. Some methods of slaughter, including halal (Muslim), do not involve long hanging times, and as such may be fresher.

    The Spanish DAO Society has this list.

    I have a list I was given by my practitioner (now retired). For legal reasons I am not allowed to share it, but all my recipe books are based on this list.

    And finally – your reaction to a food may vary from day to day depending on how high your histamine is that day. Some days just adding a smidge of histamine into an almost overflowing bucket can tip you over the edge.

    BAKING POWDER/SODA

  • Tasty antihistamine hot beverages.

    I’ve been getting a lot of questions about my top hot beverages…

    As you can see from my picture here, the detox is going great! Ok, busted, that’s not me in the picture! But as you can see from plenty others on the site – I’m not looking too shabby!

    My natural antihistamine beverages…

    Valerian root

    Valerian extracts may have direct inhibitory effects on the contractility of the human uterus and this justifies the traditional use of this plant in the treatment of uterine cramping associated with dysmenorrhoea….Valerian extract reduced the maximal contractile response induced by acetylcholine, phenylephrine and histamine [1].

    When I was high histamine it was literally impossible to sleep. I would be up for days at a time. Very handy when I was a journalist working in war zones, but not so great when I have a 9am meeting to go through someone’s digital strategy. Generally when people tell me they’re very low histamine I ask how their sleep is. It’s a great indicator of how you’re doing diet-wise. I’m not discounting stress, but we know that also causes mast cell degranulation too!

    Now while the studies I read on valerian took great pains to stress that it’s not a hypnotic which knocks you into sleep, it’s an anxiolytic that reduces stress, helping you drop off. Ever wondered why antihistamines make you sleepy? There are a number of reasons – among them is that histamine controls your cicadian rythm/wakefulness hormones, so taking an anti-histamine would naturally make you fall asleep. Given that we know antihistamines make us fat and can cause toxicity syndrome, exploring natural antihistamine herbs could help lull you to sleep.

    Please do remember that many of us with histamine issues don’t do great with herbs and that they thin the blood, but I still find these herbs a great substitute for my once ubiquitous nightly glass of red wine. I find that the best way to get a good night’s sleep is to not eat too late.

    Olive Leaf tea

    Yet another traditional ayurvedic treatment. Olive leaf tea has been shown to exhibit “significant mast stabilizing activity”.

    “According to Ayurveda, Olea europea is used in treatment of leprosy, dysentery, vaginal and uterine complaints, inflammation,burning sensation, fatigue, asthma, leucoderma etc. In the present study the histamine induced dose dependent contraction of goat tracheal chain and guinea pig ileum preparation was significantly inhibited (p< 0.01) by the aqueous extract of leaves of Olea europea (800 ug/ml and 100 ug/ml). Olea europea at the doses of 100and 200 mg/kg,i.p.,exhibited significant (p< 0.01) mast cell stabilizing activity against clonidine induced peritoneal mast cell degranulation in rats. Thus the present study revealed that the extract of olives of Olea europea has significant antihistaminic (H1 receptor antagonist) activity.” [2]

    Green/White tea

    I was told I could drink up to two green teas daily, because they would help lower my histamine level. Thing is, too much caffeine can aggravate symptoms, as can pretty much any dried herb. So I just dunk the bag a couple of times and then toss it.

    The bioactive compound epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major component of green tea, has been shown to target histamine-producing cells producing great alterations in their behavior, with relevant effects on their proliferative potential, as well as their adhesion, migration, and invasion potentials. In fact, EGCG has been shown to have potent anti-inflammatory, anti-tumoral, and anti-angiogenic effects and to be a potent inhibitor of the histamine-producing enzyme, histidine decarboxylase [3].

    I have actually found that I do better with white tea, which is basically the same, just unfermented, but I have now cut all caffeine out of my diet (I just don’t need it anymore).

    Guava leaf tea

    I’m really loving this stuff. Not for the taste really, but because guava leaf tea has been proven to inhibit mast cell degranulation (histamine release) in rats. I seem to tolerate it much better than the fruit itself.

    Holy Basil tea

    I’m not a big fan of aniseed/licorice. But this tea rocks my world! As I mentioned in my post “Holy basil! Anti-inflammatory and antihistamine superstar” – holy basil is as effective as Zantac/Rantidine at treating gastrointestinal upset. You can also find green tea/holy basil blends.

    You’ll find a collection of all liquid high nutrient antihistamine and anti-inflammatory rich recipes for days when my histamine bucket overflowed in the new Anti-Detox book. 

    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.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19178774

    [2] http://jpronline.info/index.php/jpr/article/download/223/187

    [3] http://www.springerlink.com/content/18480505ht4q2228/

    [4] http://www.springerlink.com/content/n1426040742tn4r8/

  • Got allergies? You need this natural antihistamine in your medicine cabinet

    yellow berried nightshade
    yellow berried nightshade

    Here’s an interesting headline for you: nightshade flower as effective a mast cell stabiliser as commonly prescribed sodium cromoglycate. This definitely brought a smile to my face, given that most of us in the allergic world only have to hear the word nightshade to run a mile in the opposite direction. It also confirmed that some foods we’re told are bad for histamine related conditions, may have benefits that far outweigh the modest amount of histamine they release. Unless you’re allergic to them!

     AS EFFECTIVE AS COMMONLY PRESCRIBED MAST CELL STABILISER/ANTIHISTAMINE

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  • 5 top tips to kickstarting your histamine intolerance recovery

    Tropical Fruit Cup
    Tropical Fruit Cup – On the Go Cookbook

    A lot of people ask me how I’ve got from total histamine intolerance breakdown to where I am. While I do believe my recovery is still a work in progress, I thought I’d share how a combination of militant food planning, 30 minutes of inflammation fighting yoga and daily chanting (OM!) have allowed me to reach a far better place than I have ever been.

    Thanks to my years studying nutrition (unofficially) through the teachings of Drs Fuhrman, Weil, Oz and others, I was well aware my new low histamine diet had the potential to be unhealthy and counter-productive, if applied strictly, and blindly.

    To acknowledge something and to implement it are two very different things. It took me a while to get my sea legs. I floundered around for some time, terrified to add new foods or even entertain the idea of being proactive in my recovery. But I knew I had to take action when I began to approach meal time with fear and hatred, focusing on the food rather than the state of my broken body and mind. I was now eating the same five foods every single day, usually in large amounts, not understanding why I wasn’t “recovering”.

    (more…)

  • There’s more to the low histamine lifestyle than elimination!

    UPDATE: there is a ton of misinformation flying around on the internet. I’m constantly flummoxed by how people will attribute feeling awful to chickpeas or a banana rather than the taco bell, potato chips or chocolate they also had. I have yet to see any scientific study showing high histamine content in chickpeas. On the contrary, sprouted chickpeas are high in DAO, the histamine degrading enzyme. Even a high histamine food can lower or raise histamine, because different parts of the plant have varying properties. Raspberry fruit for example is listed as high histamine, but it also contains antihistamine quercetin. Raspberry leaves meanwhile are scientifically proven to have antihistamine properties.

    I have over the last few years called a number of labs to ask how histamine testing is done, and trying to get an accurate list made. But I haven’t been able to.

    You know why?

    Because according to the labs I have spoken with, it is impossible to measure histamine accurately in vegetables and fruits, because the level is too LOW for the tests to pick it up correctly. Most of the lists you find on the internet were put together by polling readers on what they feel is high histamine, or just copied from other incorrect sources.

    So here’s a tip, please stop worrying about whether chickpeas are high histamine, and a little more effort into avoiding processed foods full of gut damaging emulsifiers, stop roasting foods because this oxidising cooking method causes histamine release, and definitely do not go gunning after healthy foods while you’re still indulging in potato chips. Fixing a histamine problem is all about fixing the body as a whole, and eating junk food and worrying about the histamine status of vegetables, beans and pulses isn’t going to get us anywhere.

    All scientific references to the statements I just made can be found in this post.

    I spend a lot (a LOT) of time on the net chatting with people who are in various stages of eliminating high histamine foods. While going low histamine does mean binning a number of high histamine foods, eliminate too many and you could end up worse off in the long run. I know because I spent a number of years doing it myself. Cut cut cut was all I did, but I soon became reactive to the “safe” foods and I just wasn’t getting any better overall.

    A little dabbling in supplements showed me they’re (mostly) out. I just don’t tolerate them. So I eat them instead. I’m quite convinced that their magical qualities, in balance with other nutrients, renders them effective, thought I do realise I’d have to wear a trough around my neck to ingest a therapeutic dose (100mg per kilo??) of some herbs.

    Why this emphasis on nutrition rather than antihistamines? Well, antihistamines only work on one or two of the four (known) histamine receptors. Is that bad? Depends – do you enjoy eating obsessively till obesity? How about suffering from chronic infections, liver damage, heart failure or antihistamine toxicity? I personally don’t. Also, my experience on them was, ok, I can eat more – well – I don’t have a choice really – I’m desperate to fill every minute of my day stuffing my face (read is your anti-histamine making you fat). Oddly, if you eat enough, you’ll need more antihistamines! It’s a vicious cycle of filling your bucket, then instead of emptying it, fooling your body into thinking it’s ok to fill it even more.

    Take these examples:

    SWEET POTATO is high not only in quercetin, but also in histamine-lowering rutin, and has anti-ulcerative properties.  And if that’s not enough for you, sweet potato extract has recently excited scientists by suppressing the growth of stomach cancer, colon cancer and leukemia cells.

    OREGANO contains polyphenols with antihistamine properties.

    CHICKPEAS…amongst their many nutritional benefits, they’re a particularly good source of plant-based diamine oxidase (DAO – this is the histamine degrading enzyme)

    Recently, it has been found that DAO from pea seedlings shows higher activity compared to commercial porcine kidney diamine oxidase (PKAO).  Read the full study here.

  • The surprising link between allergies and migraines.

    The surprising link between allergies and migraines.

    woman with head on fire

    I suffered daily migraines for many years. At some point I finally came to the conclusion that my headaches, which made me bang my head against the wall on occasion, had something to do with my diet. I was vindicated by the person who diagnosed me with histamine intolerance in London, and now by the growing number of studies clearly spelling out the allergy/histamine migraine link.

    I cannot even begin to properly thank my lucky stars for curing me of this blight. I was about six weeks into the low histamine diet when I was able to trash the 600mg ibuprofen that I had been scarfing daily by the handful for most of my adult life. Not to mention the migraine injections. Youch! You truly haven’t experienced hell till you’ve had a constant migraine for six months.

    CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW I WORKED OUT MY TRIGGERS AND FIGURED OUT A HISTAMINE-BALANCED DIET THAT WORKED FOR ME. 

    Interestingly, in Spain (and France), it’s commonly acknowledged that migraines are caused by a lack of the histamine-lowering enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO). Seems that the US and UK are way behind the curve on this one.

    But histamine can also cause migraine in “healthy” people:

    Headache can be induced dose-dependently by histamine in healthy persons as well as in patients with migraine (53, 61). Histamine-induced headache is a vascular headache caused mainly by nitrate monoxide (62). Histamine releases endothelial nitrate monoxide upon stimulation of H1R, which is also expressed in the large intracranial arteries (63). In migraine patients, plasma histamine concentrations have been shown to be elevated both during headache attacks and during symptom-free periods. An increase in the number of brain mast cells is associated with pathologic conditions such as migraine, cluster headache, and multiple sclerosis (64). Many migraine patients have histamine intolerance evidenced by reduced DAO activity, triggering of headache by food rich in histamine (eg, long-ripened cheese or wine), and the alleviation of headache (ie, disappearance of symptoms) under a histamine-free diet (57, 65) and therapy with antihistamines (66). Maintz and Novak.

    Meanwhile, for those of us presenting with histamine intolerance, histaminosis, mastocytosis or mast cell disorders…

    This study colludes that: “Thus, the avoidance of allergic conditions in migraine patients may be a simple, helpful way for prophylaxis or their treatment.”

    Although migraine affects about 15% of population and many studies have been performed to find the mechanism and a successful management, the physiopathology of migraine is still largely unknown. The possibility of an immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergic mechanism and the role of histamine remain controversial. The aim of the present study was to evaluate serum total IgE and histamine levels in migraine patients and the influence of allergy on them. Seventy patients (18-58 years) with migraine without aura were divided into two groups according to their history of allergy (60% with and 40% without allergy). Serum samples were collected during fasting without allowing any premedication during the two periods of attack and remission. There was a control group containing 45 healthy volunteers. Serum total IgE and histamine levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and fluorimetric methods, respectively. Mean and standard errors of serum histamine (ng/ml) and total IgE (IU/ml) levels were found in the control group to be 48.16 +/- 2.70 and 38.31 +/- 3.20, in the migraine with allergy group 159.11 +/- 4.60 and 303.30 +/- 42.50 and in the migraine without allergy group 105.01 +/- 8.50 and 79.07 +/- 2.70, respectively. Total IgE levels in migraine with allergy group were found to be significantly (P < 0.0001) above that in the control and another group, suggesting an influence of an IgE-mediated mechanism on migraine. Although the plasma histamine levels, which were significantly elevated (P < 0.0001) in patients with migraine, both during headache and symptom-free periods, when compared with the control group, indicate that there is an increased susceptibility to histamine in allergic conditions, this molecule has also an unrelated role in migraine. The relationship between allergy and migraine can be based, in part, on an IgE-mediated mechanism, and histamine release plays an important role. Thus, the avoidance of allergic conditions in migraine patients may be a simple, helpful way for prophylaxis or their treatment.

    Has a low histamine or tyramine diet helped your migraines? As always, I’d love to hear from you and don’t forget to check out my diamine oxidase boosting recipes.

    You’ll find a collection of all liquid high nutrient antihistamine and anti-inflammatory rich recipes for days when my histamine bucket overflowed in the new Anti-Detox book. 

    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. 

  • Is your anti-histamine making you fat?

    Is your anti-histamine making you fat?

    In last week’s post “Histamine’s upside: I lost 35kgs in 6 months” I mentioned the role of histamine in appetite suppression. I recently had a  conversation with a friend whose family member suffers from anorexia nervosa. I felt compelled to share that in my teens I too was thought to be anorexic. Food was hurting me so badly that I was starving myself to make it stop. It was more than just a physical reaction, because as we know, histamine is a neurotransmitter and as such affects mood. Food made me crazy, depressed, anxious and manic but I had no clue what was causing it all, despite my raging allergy symptoms.I’ve spent the last few days doing some more research into what’s behind my suddenly stable weight these last two years:H1 receptor antagonists like loratidine (claritin) and cetirizine (zyrtec) make you fat. It’s just a fact. It’s in the medical inserts of both and my own personal hellish experience on them confirms it. At my worst, when I was taking one and a half to two pills daily, I became obsessive about food – to the point of dreaming about eating. I would get up several times a night to rummage through the fridge and spend almost the entire day absolutely ravenous. I would graze all day long. The most incredible benefit of having stopped them is the relief from my food fantasies. I can now easily go half a day without once thinking about food. Is that abnormal? Seems I have H3 receptor stimulation to thank for it. Studies show that H3 receptor agonists (the opposite of antagonists like Claritin and Zyrtec) suppress appetite.

     

    The H3 receptor is a pre-synaptic autoreceptor that inhibits the synthesis and release of histamine, and a heteroreceptor that inhibits other neurotransmitters such as serotonin (5-HT), noradrenaline (NA) and acetylcholine (ACh), which are also implicated in the regulation of food intake. Thus, the H3 receptor is in a prime position to regulate food intake, both through its control of histamine and its influence on other feeding pathways.Study

    Translated into English: as a neurotransmitter, histamine affects the brain chemicals that control hunger!

    Not just that, but the studies go on to say that histamine’s H3 receptor plays a part in how our body burns fat and what temperature your body runs at. I know from experience that my body runs very very hot when I’m in histamine overload. Interestingly I did some research into a diet pill I looked into in my teens – it worked by raising your body temperature.

    Nowadays I don’t take any antihistamines, choosing instead to control my histamine level through diet (check out my low fat high nutrient low histamine DAO Support Cookbook) and a great quercetin supplement called Neuroprotek.

    Next step would be finding out if certain foods affect just one of the histamine receptors, H3 in particular, in order to lose weight. Don’t worry, I’m on the case. Sign up to my newsletter for more info on this subject and others.

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  • Holy Basil! Anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine superstar

    Holy Basil! Anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine superstar

    Basil flowers in the garden

    Not only is Holy Basil tasty in just about any Thai or Vietnamese dish – turns out it’s an anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine herb that’s as effective as Ranitidine/Zantac at treating H2 (histamine) induced ulcers, preventing mast cell degranulation and anaphylactic shock. How do’you like them apples?

    I like Holy Basil a lot better than them apples…but just to clear up any potential confusion, Holy Basil is also known as Sweet Thai Basil or by it’s proper names: Ocimum tenuiflorum and Ocimum sanctum. (source: Wikipedia)

    Holy Basil’s activity as an anti-histamine has been found to affect histamine’s H2 receptor, great news for those with histamine intolerance/histaminosis/mastocytosis/mast cell activation disorders with gastrointestinal complaints. I’d be interested to know if it’s anti-inflammatory effects are in part due to it’s high Vitamin K content. Don’t forget that Vitamin K (as I mentioned in this post), is a potent anti-inflammatory, is found in many foods like cauliflower, which is also high in Vitamin C.

    Holy Basil prevents mast cell degranulation, helping treat allergic disorders

    “Basophils, mast cells, and their preformed de novo synthesized mediators, play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of allergic disorders. These molecules are potent vasoactive and bronchoconstrictor agents and they modulate local immune responses and inflammatory cell infiltration (17-18).Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated mast-cell stimulation is an important initial event in the development of type I allergic reactions such as asthma and atopic disorders. Clinical studies have found a close association between asthma and serum IgE levels, as well as IgE-dependent skin test reactivity to allergens. Antigen challenge, in sensitized animals, results in the degranulation of mast cells, which is an important feature of anaphylaxis. O. sanctum ethanolic extract showed marked protection against the mast cell degranulation following antigen challenge in sensitized animals. Mast cell stabilizing activity of extract may be attributed to the presence of anti-inflammatory mediator release, which is known for their mast cell stabilizing potential against antigen-antibody reaction and/or due to the suppression of IgE antibody production, which is responsible for degranulation mast cells. This antianaphylactic and antihistaminic effect may be due to the stabilization of the mast cell membrane, suppression of IgE, and inhibition of pathological effects induced by the release of inflammatory mediators in test extract treated animals.

    Experimental results indicated the potent benefits of O. sanctum in the treatment of asthma and related conditions. The findings from various studies reveal that the antihistaminic and antianaphylactic activity of extract which is mainly due to its mast cell stabilizing potential, suppression of IgE, and inhibition of release of inflammatory mediators. Thus use of O. sanctum leaves proved the strong rationale behind the mentioned therapeutic activities [1].”

    Holy Basil is as effective as Ranitidine/Zantac at treating H2 receptor induced GI complaints

    “This study was conducted with the aim of comparing the efficacy of ocimum sanctum against gastric and duodenal ulcers. The hydralcoholic extract of the plant exhibited significant ulcer protective effect against gastric ulcers in pyloric ligated rats as well as against duodenal ulcers in histamine treated guinea pigs. In both these models of peptic ulcer, significant ulcer protective effects were observed with 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of ocimum sanctum, which were comparable. These effects were also comparable with ranitidine which was used as the standard drug for comparison in both the models. The antiulcer activity of ocimum sanctum could be due to its antisecretory, anticholinergic or antihistaminergic properties. In view of this therapeutic potential, more studies are required to establish ocimum sanctum as a standard drug for peptic ulcer [2].”

    They’re using high amounts of Holy Basil in the studies.What do you think? Would you consider adding Holy Basil to your diet as an anti-inflammatory or histamine blocker to help treat your histamine intolerance, histaminosis, mastocytosis or mast cell activation?

    WONDERING HERE TO START? HERE’S A FOUR WEEK COURSE & MEAL PLAN TO TAKE THE STRESS OUT OF HEALING HISTAMINE

    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.ispub.com/journal/the-internet-journal-of-pharmacology/volume-7-number-1/pharmacological-basis-for-antianaphylactic-antihistaminic-and-mast-cell-stabilization-activity-of-ocimum-sanctum.html

    [2] http://www.ispub.com/journal/the-internet-journal-of-gastroenterology/volume-11-number-1/comparison-of-efficacy-of-ocimum-sanctum-against-gastric-and-duodenal-ulcers-in-animals.html

     

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