My Silva post a few weeks ago led to quite a few people asking for more details on how I used meditation to get me over the worst of my histamine reactions. Well, guess what? Last night was fairly unpleasant, well a little scary really, but I thought it would be a good time to finally show
The ‘Low Histamine Dessert Book’ is now nut free! Can’t live without your weekly cupcake but not sure how to make a low histamine version? Jonesing for low histamine ice cream sandwich? Pulling out your hair trying to work out a low histamine cake batter for the kids? Yup, I’ve got that covered too.
UPDATED POST IBS getting on your nerves? If the studies I’m reading are anything to go by, step one appears to be calming those nerves! I’ve spent a great deal of time reporting on the role of stress on mast cell activation, histamine release, allergies and general inflammation. Stress can cause mast cells to release
The main constituent of nigella sativa seeds has been shown to be more effective than a commonly prescribed corticosteroid nasal spray at alleviating lung inflammation . The annoying thing about all these studies is that, unlike pharmaceuticals, the medical studies for natural constituents, is usually on animals. Now, ok, if it’s good enough for mr
I reported a while back that yoga lowers inflammation in the body (see below), specifically C-reactive protein. Now here’s another reason to channel your inner yogi: pranayama lowers histamine levels. I found a number of studies showing that yoga breathing (pranayama) considerably decreases histamine induced asthma symptoms (compared to placebo groups). The yogic breathing groups
The question I’m asked most often is simply: “what’s your secret?” I’d be in deep doodoo without my high nutrient low histamine diet for sure, but a positive attitude is by far what gets me through the day. Take my trip to Kenya. I’m now without a kitchen. This was (stupidly) my first trip without
Suffering from breast lumps? Histamine plays an important role in Fibrocystic Breast Disease. One of my many health scares, before my histaminosis/histamine intolerance diagnosis, was breast cancer, finally ruled out by lumpectomy. I had another cancer scare a few years later – doctors insisted on another lumpectomy, which I refused. It took me another seven
Today we got down to business here in Kenya. Meetings, strategy, and all that good stuff. Despite being pressed for time, lunch still had to be nutritious, so I whipped up this quick antihistamine and anti inflammatory salad. Some have issues with green beans, so I omitted them from the recipe. The Skinny In studies,
It took exactly 38 hours to travel from London to Malindi, Kenya, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t take its toll on me. I slept a total of two hours, after having stayed up writing all night before leaving (no sleep). It took a major toll on my last time I traveled
2017 UPDATE: This is one of my older posts. I no longer travel with any foods, except for the plane (there’s just no way I’m touching that mess!) and I don’t need to do most of the stuff on my checklist, but it’s useful for people just starting out. 2015 UPDATE: I no longer really travel
Ever wonder why your allergies, histamine intolerance or mast cell condition are worse around the beginning of your cycle? Most of us put down the uptick in our symptoms to plain old PMS (or at least are told that’s what it is). I definitely noticed it. And I was right – it seems we have another important mast cell degranulation/histamine release trigger to add to the list…
According to this study: “Mast cells commonly degranulate around the onset of menstruation, releasing tryptase, chymase and several other molecules.”
For those of you not yet familiar with why I keep talking about mast cell degranulation – there’s already plenty of histamine in our bodies naturally. Histamine is released through mast cell degranulation (and sometimes basophils). So without even adding the histamine that we eat or drink, there’s plenty to go around. That’s because histamine is needed to run most of our bodily functions.
So why the incessant focus on potential histamine triggers?
Baby bacteria lowers histamine levels
I’ve been exploring the catch-22 of probiotic supplementation for some time now. The dilemma? Probiotics are necessary for proper intestinal function – the histamine lowering enzymes diamine oxidase and monoamine oxidase live there, so fixing up our poop tube seems like a good idea right?
Not so simple.
Probiotic supplements are fermented (a no go for histamine intolerance/histamine related disorders) and some strains actually raise histamine and tyramine in the body. The good news is that strains commonly found in babies can actually lower histamine, helping us fight allergies and lower our overall histamine burden.
Lactobacillus casei (TISTR 389) andLactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus (TISTR 895) were found to produce BA (biogenic amines). The highest levels of histamine (1820.9 ± 3.5 mg L−1) and tyramine (5486.99 ± 47.6 mg L−1) formation were observed for the TISTR 389 strain, while TISTR 895 produced only histamine (459.1 ± 0.63 mg L−1) in the decarboxylase broth. Biogenic amine potential was not observed for the Lactobacillus acidophilus,Lactobacillus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, and Lactobacillus plantarum strains studied. This study confirmed that BA formation is strain dependent and not related to the species. Read the full study here.
English translation…
Lactobacillus casei was shown to produce histamine and tyramine, while Lactobacillus Bulgaricus increased histamine alone.