How Do I Know if I Need a Low Histamine Diet?

Deciding whether to try a low histamine diet can be tricky, especially if you are unsure whether your symptoms are related to histamine sensitivity. Histamine is a chemical found naturally in certain foods. It is also a neurotransmitter and a key chemical within your immune system. It's involved in many bodily functions, like immune responses and digestion, but too much histamine can cause uncomfortable symptoms.

Common Symptoms of Histamine Sensitivity

Histamine sensitivity or over exposure happens when your immune system becomes overly reactive and your body can't break down the resulting histamine efficiently. This can lead to symptoms such as:

• Headaches or migraines

• Fatigue

• Hives or skin rashes

• Digestive problems like bloating, diarrhea, or stomach pain

• Heart palpitations/blood pressure issues

• Dizziness

If you regularly experience a combination of these symptoms, especially after eating high histamine foods (see the SIGHI list of histamine levels here), then you might be on the right track to consider trialing a low histamine diet. Often, people who have been lost in the ‘auto immune world’ - where they have symptoms, but the auto immune testing does not line up - ultimately realize they have been struggling with this immune condition (histamine sensitivity/MCAS/histamine intolerance).

Consider Your Medical History

Before starting a low histamine diet, it's important to consider your medical history. People with conditions like allergies, gastrointestinal disorders (such as irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease), or chronic headaches are more likely to have histamine issues. Additionally, if you take medications that block or reduce the enzyme that breaks down histamine (like some antidepressants, blood pressure medications, or NSAIDs), your body may have difficulty processing histamine.

Getting a Diagnosis

While there’s no single test for this condition, a healthcare provider can help by ruling out other conditions and suggesting a trial low histamine diet. If your symptoms improve after 2-4 weeks of following the diet, it’s a good sign that histamine might be the culprit. Conversely, if you notice an increase in symptoms after eating high histamine foods, that may also be a sign.

Trying a Low Histamine Diet - What Resources to Use?

Many of the histamine food lists online are incorrect, anecdotal, and based on individual experience. The SIGHI list is the foundational resource on the topic. See our blog post explaining the SIGHI list and linking to it here. We also love the FIG app because it has a histamine setting, includes their research for every item, and is easy to have in your pocket at the grocery store or restaurant. There are helpful resources available, but it is best to go with those based on the research.

Conclusion

Reviewing the right resources and trying a low histamine diet is a good place to start if you are considering the diagnosis of histamine sensitivity or mast cell disorders. It’s free, accessible to anyone, and inexpensive - and you’ll have answers in a relatively short period of time.

Sources:

At Consider This Nutrition, we are all about the science. That’s why we use the SIGHI list with our ingredient choices and have all of our recipes independent lab tested for histamine/tyramine levels. We also gather the information for every blog post from actual medical studies. Here are the ones we used today…

“A Histamine-Free Diet Is Helpful for Treatment of Adult Patients with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria,” by Son, et al. 2018

“Histamine Intolerance Originates in the Gut,” by Schnedl, et al. 2021

“Histamine Intolerance—The More We Know the Less We Know. A Review,” by Hrubisko 2021