Histamine intolerance is a growing problem that is affecting a large portion of the population. Those suffering from histamine intolerance will find that several foods can actually trigger a histamine response in the body.  Even foods that are organic and completely natural can trigger a histamine response in the body.

In fact, foods that were once eaten without issue, are no longer tolerated.  Many will confuse this phenomenon with a food allergy, when in reality it’s an excess histamine issue.

So why are millions suffering from this devastating condition?

The Truth about Histamine Intolerance

Despite what many “health experts” may say about histamine intolerance, or how complicated they may make the condition to be, the reason for histamine intolerance is quite simple.

Those suffering from histamine intolerance have gut dsybosis. This simply means that the gut has become dysfunctional due to wrong food choices, pathogenic overgrowths, antibiotic overuse, or not balancing carbohydrate intake with quality animal foods.

In fact, it’s well known among researchers who study the human microbiome that there are several intestinal bacteria that produce histamine (1).  Typically, this is not a bad thing for healthy individuals with good diversity in their gut.  However, these bacteria become problematic when too many begin to overpopulate the gut.

There are several reasons in which a person may experience an overgrowth of histamine producing bacteria in gut.  While poor food choices may be the most obvious reason for an overgrowth of histamine producing bacteria, there are several other reasons such as overuse of antibiotics, alcohol, and lack of variety in diet.

More and more research is beginning to link gut dsybosis to higher levels of histamine in the body.  Research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that patients with inflammatory bowel disease are routinely found with extremely high levels of histamine (2).

This makes perfect sense because there is a strong link to both inflammatory bowel disease and pathogenic overgrowths in gut such as candida albicans (3)(4).

With that being said, in order to correct a histamine intolerance in the body, the gut must first be healed and cleared of all pathogenic and histamine producing bacteria.

How to Reverse Histamine Intolerance

This is a bit easier said than done since most gut dysfunctions have taken years to develop. However, there are several steps in which you can take in order to correct the microbiome naturally and effectively.

1. Remove Problematic Foods

It may be beneficial to remove all foods that contain high levels of histamine for a short period until your gut heals.  Foods such as avocados, bananas, fermented foods, chocolate, cured meats, yogurt, alcohol and vinegar’s all contain high amounts of histamine. Once the gut is readjusted and balanced out, these foods can be slowly added back into the diet.  However, it’s important that you remove these foods for at least a month in order to influence positive changes in the microbiome.

Furthermore, food addictions, especially foods high in fermentable carbohydrates, are a big sign of a pathogenic overgrowth in the gut (5).   For this reason, if you have a particular food that you constantly crave, it may be beneficial to remove this food for some time. If you experience withdrawal symptoms, then it’s highly likely that an overgrowth of bacteria is present.  Simply removing the food for several weeks can drastically reduce the numbers of the problematic bacteria.

2. Switch to a Gut Healing Diet

There are several diets which can be incorporated that have tremendous benefits on the health and integrity of the gut.  We personally recommend following a traditional diet, with strong emphasis on quality animal foods and fats, as well as raw and steamed green vegetables. Organic grass fed organ meats and animal foods should make up the majority of the diet. Also, Root vegetables and foods high in fermentable carbohydrates should be avoided for some time until the gut is healed.

Try to eat one big green salad a day, preferable from greens that still have their medicinal and bitter components intact such as dandelion greens, arugula, and mustard greens.  Research shows that bitter greens stimulate the vagus nerve into producing more stomach acid (6).  This is important because many pathogenic bacteria and yeasts thrive in a high PH stomach.  Raising the acidity of the stomach will naturally rid the stomach of these unwanted guests.

Furthermore, be sure to add a high quality olive to these salads.  Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil contains medicinal properties that can eradicate overgrowths in gut.  It’s also been shown to increase the DAO enzyme in the body which is needed to breakdown histamine (7).

The Weston A. Price foundation is also a great resource for anyone looking to improve their diet and achieve better health.

3. Eat a Variety of Different Seasonal Foods

With foods now being available year round thanks to agricultural and importation, people are now able to eat the same food 365 days out of the year.  A hundred years ago this was not possible and our ancestors were forced to eat a variety of seasonal foods based on location. 

Many of the un-contacted Native American tribes still following a traditional way of life still eat this way.  These people are robust, healthy, strong, and free from the degenerative disease experienced by the rest of the population.  Dr. Weston A. Price was one the first to make this connection and later on published a book title Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.

The best modern day examples of this are the Waorani of the Amazon.  It’s estimated that these people eat over 80 different wild fruits throughout the year that are constantly being rotated (8).  Eating this way ensures that the gut does not become overwhelmed by one particular food.

How Raw Manuka Honey can help Histamine Intolerance

As well as following the tips outlined above, adding a quality raw Manuka honey into the diet can do wonders for histamine related issues.

Manuka honey is one of the most powerful honeys on the planet and contains a wide array of anti-microbial properties that can have profound benefits towards the gut.

Research shows that Raw Manuka honey is capable of stopping the growth of several pathogenic bacteria and yeasts in the gut, in particular candida albicans (9).  As mentioned before, pathogenic overgrowths are one of the main causes of histamine intolerance in the first place.

Consuming a raw Manuka Honey daily can lead to fewer overgrowths in the gut and a reduction in histamine producing bacteria.  Furthermore, there is ongoing research showing that raw honey such as Manuka is able to reduce seasonal allergies through its possible antihistamine properties (10).

Simply taking a spoonful each day of raw Manuka honey can help correct the microbiome and can lead to better overall health.

Conclusion

Histamine intolerance is serious issue that is beginning to become an epidemic among the American population. Research is showing that poor gut health and pathogenic overgrowths are the primary cause of excessive histamine production in the body.

Following a gut healing diet such as the one outlined above is an excellent strategy for improving histamine intolerance.  Also, removing foods high in histamine and food addictions is extremely beneficial when correcting the microbiome.  These foods should be reintroduced one at a time and eaten alone to see how the body will react.  Making an effort to eat seasonally and including a variety of different foods in the diet is also extremely beneficial.

Lastly, including a Raw Manuka honey in the diet can help defeat pathogenic overgrowths of bacteria and yeasts that are residing in the gut.