Histamine Sensitivity
Histamine: Shedding Light on the Mystery / Part 1
Histamine intolerance is increasingly discussed on social media. Learn how histamine enters your body, how your body processes it, and why intolerance reactions develop.
Histamine Sensitivity
Histamine intolerance is increasingly discussed on social media. Learn how histamine enters your body, how your body processes it, and why intolerance reactions develop.
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Social media is currently flooded with the topic of histamine intolerance, and we regularly receive questions about it from you. That's why we're dedicating ourselves to this frequently asked topic today.
Since there's quite a bit to explain on this subject, you're getting Part 1 of the histamine topic today, and next Sunday we'll continue with Part 2.
Today we'll clarify what histamine actually is, how it gets into your body, and what effects it triggers there.
A Brief Primer
Histamine is a biogenic amine derived from the amino acid histidine and is the most important known allergy mediator in our body. Other biogenic amines include, for example, serotonin and melatonin.
You may have already read the word antihistamine on the packaging of your hay fever tablets—but hold on, those treat your hay fever, not histamine intolerance, right?
That's true, but an antihistamine helps with both problems, because as mentioned, histamine is an allergy mediator—it's also the reason for your runny nose in spring.
Before these reactions can occur, histamine must first enter the bloodstream, and there are three different ways this happens:
Histamine is primarily stored in immune cells, such as mast cells. When we inhale pollen allergens, for example, and our body perceives them as a threat, certain immune cells produce antibodies that bind to the mast cells. The result is histamine release.
The release of histamine triggers various reactions in the body and tissues. These include: dilation of blood vessels, which can appear as redness or itching of the skin, as well as the release of other neurotransmitters, and increased stomach acid production.
So histamine is constantly present in our body and normally doesn't cause us significant problems when our immune system properly evaluates foreign substances and doesn't store harmless substances as threats. Remember: histamine-rich foods are not bad or unnatural foods!
But Why Are We Suddenly So Sensitive to Histamine?
To understand this, we need to know how our body processes histamine. There's a system to remove histamine from the body when levels get too high: two breakdown enzymes—diamine oxidase (abbreviated: DAO) and histamine-N-methyltransferase (abbreviated: HNMT).
When an intolerance reaction occurs, the reason is an imbalance between histamine and the activity of these two breakdown enzymes. In other words: we either consume too much histamine or produce too much, or the breakdown enzymes aren't working properly and we can't adequately break down and eliminate the histamine.
If we absorb too much histamine from our gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream, it can lead to the following symptoms, among others: gastrointestinal problems; skin symptoms such as redness and itching, breathing problems, or circulatory problems from blood pressure drops or dizziness.
With this knowledge, you might now understand that the production and breakdown of histamine is a complex process and how problems can arise in this system.
Are you perhaps experiencing some of these symptoms yourself? Then be sure to read Part 2 of the histamine newsletter next week, because you'll get more detailed insights into which foods contain histamine, what other factors to consider with an intolerance, and how to manage it.
