How to Clear Histamines from Your Body – The Complete Guide to Managing Your Histamines

Many foods contain histamines, so it is crucial to learn which categories of food to avoid and what types of ingredients can actually help. Red wine, papaya, and peanuts are just a few of the items on this list. Keep reading to find out what other histamine-rich foods there are and how they interact with your body.

What Are Histamines

Histamine is one compound in a broad class of biogenic amines (aka histamines) that trigger allergic reactions and seasonal allergy symptoms (headaches, rashes, stuffy noses and sneezes during season changes). They are produced by the body’s immune system and they can also be consumed in ones diet. Histamine has other important jobs as well, such as acting as the mediator of numerous biologic reactions. Unfortunately, there are times for some people when some of the chemicals our bodies create do more harm than good.

During an allergic reaction, histamine binds to receptors to inhibit smooth muscle cell contraction, vasodilation, increased vascular permeability, and mucus secretion, tachycardia, changes in blood pressure, and more. These various reactions can multiply and can become quite serious or even fatal when there is too much histamine for the body to break down and elminate. Life-threatening allergic reactions are more likely to happen with people who have a history of significant histamine intolerance. That is why anti-histamines make up the contents of most allergy medicines because they can block the noticeable symptoms that histamine induces.

There are natural histamine levels present in the body that are healthy and work well at protecting you from allergens and other immune system triggers. However, high histamine levels from the consumption of certain foods and drinks can raise histamine levels too high, thus making the symptoms much worse. This is especially significant for individuals who have an intolerance. Histamine toxicity is a term used to describe the body’s response to an excess of histamine.

"The avoidance of foods high in histamine can reduce allergy symptoms and decrease the likeliness of histamine toxicity. Certain diets, which we will later discuss, help to maintain histamine levels at a normal and healthy concentration."