UPDATE 2016: 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
I was recently chatting with someone whose family member suffered back to back miscarriages over the last few years. Based on her symptoms (which came out over a casual lunch) I referred her to specialist Dirk Budka in London (now retired). Turns out her histamine and diamine oxidase levels were way out of whack and she
Estrogen causes histamine release
Estrogen can cause major histamine release in the body. Now why would you want that? Because histamine makes you um, randy, and your biological imperative is to procreate. We shouldn’t really complain though,estrogen makes us more attractive to the opposite sex…but back to my point.
Studies on female rats show that estrogen supplementation, or natural fluctuations in cycle near ovulation, cause libido boosting histamine release. Didn’t know that histamine affects your sex drive? You’re welcome! Please explain to your significant other that spiking your meals with cashews isn’t necessary thank you very much. It’s one of the many perks/crosses to bear with our histaminosis/histamine intolerance diagnosis.
Estrogen is important in female precopulatory behaviors in 3 m ways: 1) estrogen increases a female’s willingness to approach a male to induce solicitatious behaviors, 2) estrogen can enhance the “attractivity” of the female: estrogen priming can induce the production of stimuli that make her more attractive to the male (odors or pheromones, vocalizations), and 3) estrogen ‘primes’ for progesterone.
So…
Here’s a recipe that may or may not make it into the low histamine non-gluten free dessert recipe book. To be made correctly it really needs some butter. You could use vegetable shortening, but I’m not really in love with either health-wise. My results with oil weren’t as good. I would only make these once in a very blue moon because of the wheat and butter. I’m also on the fence about the dates. I can eat them, but generally not with other higher histamine ingredients. Having said all that, they’re really delicious, but please be aware that they are not as low histamine as my other recipes. Omit the agave or sub with a little apple juice for a lower histamine dessert.
It’s such a challenge finding low histamine desserts suitable for those of us with histamine related disorders and I sometimes wonder if I’m being too militant in what I classify to be low histamine. There’s no way you’d find anything lower histamine dessert-wise than my recipes in a store, but I would never buy a dessert from a store anyway! Please leave me a comment to let me know if you think this recipe is low histamine enough to make it into a non-gluten free low histamine dessert recipe book.
Lebanese Semolina Date Cookies
Ingredients:
Low Histamine Balinese Monkfish Sambal
My very first Balinese steps assured me I had found heaven on earth. The airport’s delightfully kitsch tourism ministry infomercials and the frosted mirrors transported me back to the 70s, not in a dingy, dirty way like it does in Bangkok’s seedy after-hours bars, but in a Brady Bunch meets the original Batman series, by way of the most beautiful spa you’ve seen.
Best of all? No chemicals used by the agricultural, um, industry. I don’t know if I’d call it an industry there, but I guess that’s the point. I began every day luxuriating in a chlorine free bath, followed by coconut oatmeal with fresh mango. Dinner was invariably spicy, served on a crappy plastic table, right on the beach. I’d wander into the water with my plate, eating as I waded through the ocean. Like I said, heaven.
Here on earth, we do the best we can to recapture those celestial aromas and flavours, usually on the kitchen stove, now with the benefit of knowing the effect of diet on our physical and mental well-being. So here’s my take on my Balinese favourite, Sambal, low histamine, for all us histamine challenged folks.
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INGREDIENTS:
Is pain “down there” ruining your life? You’re not alone. Chronic “lady pains” were a hot topic at the hista-sista kvetch-sesh in Notting Hill yesterday. The abundantly histamine blessed ladies and I compared notes. The term “chronic pelvic inflammation” of idiopathic origin and vulvodynia came up quite a bit, as did its disastrous effect on
Check out these gluten/milk/sugar free and low histamine cupcakes. There’s no unhealthy fats, preservatives, flavours, really absolutely nothing but pure, nutritious, tasty ingredients. I’m definitely an excitable gal, but these took a few tries to get right, so I’m celebrating. I’m not a huge fan of stevia/yacon as sweeteners so I use agave. You
THE LOW HISTAMINE CHEF MAILBAG I found this particular email very interesting given that I’ve been misdiagnosed with thyroid issues twice in my life before being finally diagnosed with a histamine related disorder (high histamine/histamine intolerance/histaminosis). I refused meds the first time but gave in on the second. What a weird, crazy ride Levothyroxine sent
Fermented foods are so off the menu for me histamine-wise that I don’t recognise them as food anymore. My last attempt, store bought coconut yoghurt (lactose free), bought me a whole lotta face-down pillow time as it worked it’s magic on my digestive tract.
Ok, enough of the dirty talk.
So what’s a histamine-challened gal to do? I ♥ my beneficial bacteria big time but am in no way willing to risk that kind of down time again. Others might not be so sensitive, it’s one of the, um, perks, of not taking any anti-histamine/allergy meds.
It’s frustrating because beneficial bacteria does help lower histamine! But this study showed that the strains with the antihistaminic action are only found in human infant bowels. Not something I’d like for lunch really.
So I examined the alternatives…a little research on my day’s menu not only turned up that buckwheat may be an anti-allergenic food for some due to its rutin bioflavonoid content, more so the leaves and the dark flour than noodles , that it inhibits cancer spread (read more here), but also that it’s a pre-biotic.
UPDATED POST:
Unfortunately with two confirmed cases of buckwheat anaphylaxis and a rising number in other European countries as well as the “home” of buckwheat, Japan, where it’s actually becoming a serious problem , it seems that chronic exposure to buckwheat may pose a risk to those pre-disposed to allergies. I have in recent years cut back my buckwheat because of its extremely high oxalic acid content. You can read all about oxalates here.
I’m leaving all the information here for you and your doctor to decide together. Read on for alternative prebiotic foods…
Click here to learn how to create your own histamine balanced diet and healing plan.
Sorry, couldn’t resist sticking in a Little Rascal’s Picture of “Buckwheat”!
This buckwheat…
shows particular increases in Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium spp and Bifidobacterium lactis.
A prebiotic was first defined as (1) “a nondigestible food ingredient that beneficially affects the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, and thus improves host health.” Read the full study here.
They then touch on my favourite topic, moderation with supplements, when the stress that quantity is not predictive of success…
The daily dose of the prebiotic is not a determinant of the prebiotic effect… The major factor that quantitatively controls the prebiotic effect is the number of bifidobacteria per gram of feces the volunteers have before supplementation of the diet with the prebiotic begins.The “dose argument” (often used for marketing some prebiotics) is thus not supported by the scientific data; it is misleading for the consumer.”
Here’s a chart of the top prebiotic foods – according to the US Dept of Agriculture.
This week I had the pleasure of meeting Barcelona-based nutritionist Adriana Duelo. She has kindly allowed me to re-blog an article that was originally part of her nutritional thesis. Adriana’s research is regularly submitted to the prestigious SPANISH SOCIETY OF DAO DEFICIENCY (of which she is also a member). Something that quickly caught my eye on Adriana’s
Adding anti-inflammatory foods to your fight against histamine-induced inflammation? Why stop at food? Check out this Huffington Post article on yoga’s role in reducing inflammation. The researchers found that the caregivers who participated in the yoga practice experienced a change in the response of 68 genes, leading to the decrease in inflammation. Inflammation has been linked
160% RDA Vit C & 40% RDA Vit K but only 100-150 calories per serving! Histamine induced inflammation is a huge problem for me. I have persistent tinnitus in my head/ears as a result of it and a constant buzzing feeling in my extremities. It’s very different to the histamine itch that drives me insane,