If you are histamine-intolerant, you have to deal with lots of restrictions on your diet. Foods that contribute to histamine allergies include healthy foods, such as citrus fruits, as well as others such as chocolates, alcohol, and refrigerated leftovers, among other things. In this article, we share some tips on avoiding histamine allergies with the right diet.
Check For Reactions
In most cases, we know when our body is not reacting well to something we consume. You can start off by monitoring how your body reacts to each food item and eliminate them one at a time. For instance, studies have shown that consumption of alcohol, especially red wine, increases the level of histamine chemicals. Alcohol can also affect the histamine levels in our brain as it can modulate the production and release of the chemical.
The Freshness of Your Food Counts
Histamine levels are higher in food that has been fermented, packed or stored. If you are trying to avoid histamine allergies, it’s best to eat fresh. Studies have shown that once fresh meat or fish is processed, the histamine level in them goes up. Furthermore, any kind of processing like salting, marinating or preservation increases the histamine levels in food. For instance, in one study, it was found that tomato paste has high level of histamine.
Introduce Supplements in Your Diet
Natural supplements can play a huge role in coping up with histamine intolerance. For example, foods like ginger or holy basil are very useful natural histamine supplements. Please check our article on treating histamine intolerance with natural supplements.