Histamine: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

What is histamine and is it the good or bad guy? Well by definition and according to Health Line "Histamine is a chemical responsible for a few major functions: communicates messages to your brain. triggers release of stomach acid to help digestion. releases after injury or allergic reaction as part of your immune response. " All fancy words aside, histamine is basically the chemical and culprit behind all of your annoying allergy symptoms. We actually need histamine to a certain degree. Histamine is stored in our mast cells and they are released when we come into contact or consume something that we are allergic to.

Histamine triggers inflammation which then alerts the immune system and in a sense wakes it up and tells it to do it's job and repair the body. So, histamine is a good thing...until it isn't. Histamine intolerance is something many, many individuals suffer with. Yet often times, it goes unnoticed or it gets misdiagnosed as something else. Histamine intolerance basically means that your body that your body has an overabundance of histamine. Often times, it is described as a bucket that over flows. When the body has too much histamine it ends up going hyperactive and often times the allergic response is intense and extremely miserable. I myself used to struggle with histamine intolerance and I would walk around sneezing, itching and with hives on my neck and little mosquito bite looking bumps on my body. It for lack of better terms...sucked! Here are some of the main histamine intolerance symptoms you want to be on the lookout for:

• hives or eczema

• diarrhea

• runny nose

• dry cough

• chest tightness

• dizziness

• low blood pressure

• irritability

• irregular heart beat

• increased PMS (histamine triggers your ovaries to produce more estrogen)

So how does histamine intolerance occur? This is the golden question because there isn't really a clear answer. The cause can be really hard to determine at times because it can be something we are coming into contact with in our environment such as mold or it could be something or several things we are eating. Diet often times is the cause and for me it most definitely was the culprit. I was eating several "super foods" that actually were trigger nasty allergy symptoms in my body and it wasn't until I went on a low histamine diet that I was able to finally get my immune system to settle down. Here are some of the top, high histamine foods that you may want to limit if you suspect that you have histamine intolerance:

• chocolate

• wine

• spinach

• fermented foods and drinks

• avocados

• vinegar

• cheese

• bananas

• citrus fruits

• leftovers in the fridge

• seafood

Now this is not to say that you can't eat these foods but it often can be beneficial to limit them in order to lower histamine within the body. For me, going on a low histamine diet was a game changer! Nowadays, I can eat almost anything in moderation but going on a low histamine diet for a good three months made all of the difference in the world for me! So, if you are feeling lousy and as if you are allergic to the entire flipping planet then it could be a sign that you are on histamine overload. There is a blood test to test this if you want to know for sure but if you would rather skip the blood work then simply just try limiting the above foods for a little while and see if you feel better! Some of these foods may be very nutritious but yet they still can cause your body havoc so be on high alert. Life is too darn short to go around a sneezy, snotty, irritable mess! So, don't settle until you feel better!