Tired of your man attributing every nuance of behavior to your menstrual cycle? Well, he could have a point, but you’d die before admitting it (yup that’s me I’m talking about).
Well here’s a little nugget to wave under his nose. It’s not the menstrual cycle, it’s the histamine stupid!
Japanese researchers have (re)confirmed that the histamine lowering diamine oxidase enzyme (DAO) is influenced by the menstrual cycle.
“Serum DAO levels were influenced by the menstrual cycle. Furthermore, our findings suggest that serum DAO levels should be interpreted cautiously in premenopausal women.”
This could explain why an allergy to food or environment seems to affect you differently each time, depending on where you are in your cycle and how much histamine-lowering diamine oxidase is available to you.
We know from Maintz and Novak’s seminal histamine study, that DAO is at its highest during pregnancy (500% – 1000% higher) so it’s a not unreasonable to conclude that lower hormones = lower diamine oxidase? BUT, that’s not right…
“estrogen can influence histamine action. A significant increase in weal and flare size in response to histamine has been observed to correspond to ovulation and peak estrogen concentrations (118).” Maintz and Novak.
This would seem to point to diamine oxidase being lower during ovulation – though we’re now not taking the potential involvement of monoamine oxidase and HNMT (the other enzymes involved in histamine metabolism) into account. Phew, I’ve confused myself. What is certain is that high histamine mimics the symptoms of anxiety so if you have a histamine-related disorder, certain times of the month are going to be tougher than others.
So, where does this leave your average diamine oxidase impaired lass?
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.
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.
“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?
New studies show that aerobic exercise raises histamine levels. This isn’t news to me. When playing squash I have to take time outs to scratch myself silly and wait for the room to stop spinning. My man, now used to such bizarre-isms, plays against the wall for a while till it calms down again. I looked a lot crazier, to a much larger crowd, during our recent trapezing class! I’m sure I can thank adrenaline for that…What really interested me in this particular study is that they determined resistance training (weights/yoga) doesn’t raise histamine levels. They highlight how histamine released by aerobic exercise causes significant vasodilation (the widening of blood vessels in the body).This study ties in nicely with last week’s post about histamine being a vasoactive amine that can increase or decrease heart rate and induce anxiety-mimicking symptoms.
*Resistance training is any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increases in strength, tone, mass, and/or endurance. The external resistance can be dumbbells, rubber exercise tubing, your own body weight, bricks, bottles of water, or any other object that causes the muscles to contract. http://www.emedicinehealth.com/strength_training/article_em.htm
Interestingly, I meeting quite a few people who are being prescribed anti-histamines by their docs to deal with asthma/wheezing, abnormally high heart rate and passing out while exercising. Wouldn’t it be simpler to go on a low histamine diet? Probably not, but it would yield better (healthier) results!
What does this mean for your work out routine?
Aerobic exercise, like my current favorites kickboxing and squash, can significantly raise histamine levels in the body. The upside (because in my world there always is one) is that people pay good money for pharmaceutical vasodilators to lower their blood pressure. The downside (other than the spike in histamine for those of us with histaminosis/histamine intolerance), is the migraines that accompany vasodilation. I often get migraine like headaches if it’s too hot in yoga class.
Does this mean I shouldn’t exercise?
I’m asked this a lot, usually by life long couch potatoes!
What I take from this study is that it might be a good idea, if you’re suffering from histaminosis/histamine intolerance, to explore “non dynamic” exercise like weight training, or my perennial favourite, yoga. Speaking of which, did you know that one of the many studies on yoga showed that females who practiced yoga regularly had 41% lower stress markers than non-yogis? And significantly lower inflammation! Given that inflammation (caused by high histamine) is a huge concern to those of us with histaminosis/histamine intolerance, it’s food for thought the next time you’re crashed out on the sofa telling yourself that exercise is bad (while contemplating another root around the fridge).
So what’s a histamine-challenged gal to do?
We’ve all been there, but there’s really no time like the present for a full body/mind make over. Try waking up tomorrow and investing in a yoga mat and a $15 subscription to Yogaglo online classes. I promise you won’t regret it.
Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter for free recipes and a 10% discount on ebooks…and why not check out how I keep my histamine level in check and stay anti-histamine free with my low histamine DAO Support Recipe Book and The Low Histamine Desserts Book?
I’m usually on the fence about homeopathic remedies. I’d love to believe they work, but have yet to see the studies backing up their claims. Today however I found a study showing that a homeopathic remedy, Rhus Toxicodendron, “significantly reduces” carrageenan induced inflammation in rats. As I mentioned in another post, carrageenan (irish moss) is a seaweed derived food additive that is also frequently used in raw food desserts . 2016 update: sorry I should say that irish moss is used in raw foods, not carrageenan. Carrageenan is however found in many organic and natural foods as well as toothpaste.
The study authors note: “We found significant reductions compared to control in carrageenan-induced paw oedema, vascular permeability, writhing induced by intraperitoneal acetic acid and stress induced gastric lesions. Rhus tox in homeopathic dilution appears to interfere with inflammatory processes involving histamine, prostaglandins and other inflammatory mediators.” But that doesn’t mean upping the dose will get you more inflammation relief, on the contrary…”Administration of a single dose of Rhus tox 1h prior to injection of Carrageenan significantly reduced the paw inflammation in a dose dependent manner. Administration of multiple doses of Rhus tox increased the intensity of inflammation induced by Carrageenan, but this was not statistically significant. [1]
Diagnosed with histamine intolerance/histaminosis, mast cell activation or mastocytosis? Looking for a tasty treat but have no clue where to start? My first dessert book – the Low Histamine Dessert book – is gluten free, milk free, and refined sugar free, perfect for those necessary indulgences, without the histamine hangover.
I’ve always been a healthy dessert person, mainly because sugar just makes my stomach turn inside out.
The Low Histamine Dessert Book features a number of pages of substitutions but please feel free to contact me through the forum, or by email, if you have any questions.
And don’t worry…this book does feature my anti-inflammatory donut recipe! You can download the Low Histamine Dessert Book here.
Middle Eastern & Indian spices lower histamine in foods!
More reasons to go natural – here’s a study showing that the addition of Middle Eastern spice sumac to Turkish sausage lowers the biogenic amines tyramine and putrsecine in foods more effectively than BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene).
Unfortunately Sumac did not show the same effect on histamine.
For that we have to travel half way across the world to Sri Lanka and India where people have been using Garcinia Cambogia (mangosteen family) leaves to prevent histamine contamination in fish for centuries. Whether or not they actually knew that’s why they were doing it is another story.
Histamine consumed with food gives rise to allergic reactions. Dark muscle fish, for example skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) has been shown to contain histamine. Addition of the spice Garcinia cambogia (extracts 0.2 g ml-1) known as ‘goraka’ in Sri Lanka (sinhala) and ‘kukum’ in India (hindhi), to fresh skipjack incubates prevents histamine formation as a result of lowering pH to 3.2-3.6.Read the full study here.
This naturally makes me wonder if Garcinia Cambogia has the same effect in the human body, at least for those of us with histamine related disorders (histaminosis/histamine intolerance/mastocytosis). Anecdotal evidence put forward by natural supplement pushers would have us believe it does. Garcinia is currently touted as a cure all for allergies, food intolerances, and hay fever. I’ll wait for the solid research to back it. Or at least till the box of garcinia tea I ordered arrives. Your intrepid reporter will keep you posted on her results.
In the meantime, I’d love to know why we in the west haven’t adopted this natural herb for the prevention of unacceptable histamine levels in fish. After all, it’s not just those of us with histamine intolerance, histaminosis, mastocytosis and mast cell activation disorders who are adversely affected by high histamine levels in foods. Government bodies now freely admit histamine in foods is a growing concern to “healthy” people, not just those of us with histamine disorders.
Children lacking the HNMT gene responsible (along with Diamine Oxidase) for degrading histamine in the body, are likely to suffer an increase in adverse reactions to food additives and colorings, which may exacerbate existing ADHD [1]. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing many more studies making a stronger case for food additives and colorings being implicated in all kinds of behavioral disorders in children.
Dr. Emily Deans on her blog Evolutionary Psychiatry had this to say about the study: “Overall, the three year-olds had significant reactions to the hyper juice (more Mix A than Mix B) if they lacked certain alleles of the histamine N-methyltransferase (HNMT) gene. There seemed to be no differences in the reactions depending on the dopamine or other checked genotypes. In the 8/9 year-olds, the results were quite similar. Not too much difference when dopamine may be off, but a significant difference depending on the HNMT gene allele.”This is not only the first study I have seen definitively making a link between behavioral problems in children and food additives, but also the first one linking histamine to it. Though it wasn’t a huge sample (less than 300 kids) and was not a long term study, I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more in the near future.
As someone who can attest to the mania inducing effects of food additives and colouring, I sincerely hope that parents around the world will pay more attention to what they put in their children’s bodies, whether influenced by histamine or not. My uncle had a very simple rule with his kids in the supermarket. You can have it if you can pronounce every word on the food label! His kids were well into their teens before getting their first taste of nasty foods. By that time their taste buds were well formed enough to know that it was poison. They’re two of the healthiest eaters I know (other than their parents!).
I’d love to hear from you if this study correlates with your own experiences and if you’ve had success treating your child through a low histamine, low amine, or dye/preservative free diet.
It’s finally here! Man Food – a high nutrient antihistamine and anti-inflammatory ingredient filled book geared towards guys, women who love to work out, yoga like they mean it, or just load up on healing nutrients. Features my personal shopping list of antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods.
The Anti-cookbook and all liquid Anti-Detox Book, don’t treat any conditions, but feature a plethora of 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.
Since this post I have found that oxalic acid found in plants is quite possibly far more of an issue than histamine/mast cells in my bladder issue. Moderating oxalate combined with my histamine balanced diet has completely cleared up my life long bladder pain and frequency. Read the post here.You can buy the low oxalate cookbook here.
I’m busy compiling a doctor “wish-list” for exploring my histamine-related disorder. So far, at the very top of it is Dr. Theoharides of Tufts University in Boston. I’ve been taking his high dose quercetin supplement, Neuroprotek for just over a week now and it seems to be making a big difference in my histamine intolerance/histaminosis/mast cell activation symptoms. While perusing the swathes of research (that he has conducted) on his site – one on Interstitial Cystitis caught my attention. Having been misdiagnosed with UTI, despite negative culture, I once again wondered why none of my doctors were aware of this research.
Here’s an excerpt from a talk with doctor Theoharides. You can read the full text here.
Moderator: Jill Osborne, M.A. President & Founder Interstitial Cystitis Network, Santa Rosa, CA USA http://www.ic-network.com
REDUCING INFLAMMATION AND RESTORING BLADDER MUCUS The Role of Quercetin, Glucosamine & Chondroitin
“In either case, we believe that a central cell for the initiation of the inflammation, whether it’s from the bladder in, or the inside is the MAST CELL. Let’s give an example of what happens if there is an insult from the bladder. Let’s call it… X…. will damage the GAG layer and get to the urothelial cells. The urothelial cells are not supposed to deal with any triggers. Once they feel the trigger, they send the message on to the SUBMUCOSA, the layer right behind the urothelial cell and very rich in nerves and mast cells.
In the submucosa, mast cells will immediately be activated and will release three sets of molecules that are very important in inflammation:
1 – Histamine will make the blood vessels leaky. This will allow circulating white blood cells to come out of the vessel and into the tissue to take care of the offending molecule. This process makes the blood vessels swell up and create openings where the white blood cells can come out and enter the bladder to take care of the trigger. When you see inside the bladder with a cystoscope in many IC patients, the urologists see what are described as glomerulations, which are microhemorrhages. In other words, the dilation of the blood vessels (and through the blood vessels) both white cells and blood emerge thus creating the petechial hemorrhages that your doctor may see.
2 – Cytokines that make the wall of the blood vessels product “docking” areas (called vascular adhesion molecules) to which the circulating white blood cells attach and exit.
3 – Chemoattractants that draw circulating white blood cells to bladder tissues.”
Have you been diagnosed with IC or recurrent UTI and now suspect it could in fact be related to your histamine issues?
It’s finally here! Man Food – a high nutrient antihistamine and anti-inflammatory ingredient filled book geared towards guys, women who love to work out, yoga like they mean it, or just load up on healing nutrients. Features my personal shopping list of antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods.
The Anti-cookbook and all liquid Anti-Detox Book, don’t treat any conditions, but feature a plethora of 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.
