Natural health expert Suzy Cohen would like for you to understand the difference between an “allergy,” and an “intolerance,” as they pertain to histamine.

High blood histamine levels causes chronic health conditions, whereas a short-term spike in histamine, in true food allergy situations, results in immediate symptoms like swelling, sneezing or anaphylaxis.

There are many problems associated with poor  histamine breakdown that you may or may not recognize. Dermatological problems, vertigo, low core body temperature, and asthma are connected to high blood levels of histamine. Did you know that many fermented foods, and meal leftovers, are associated with the bacteria that creates histamine? Even anxiety and  irregular menstrual cycles may result from high histamine. According to Cohen, “Anxiety is very prevalent among vegans, and I suspect it’s due to their high consumption of tofu and tempeh, two fermented foods that are extremely high in histamine. “

So what’s going on?

High histamine levels can stem from intestinal problems or from your genetic profile.

According to Cohen,  undetected high histamine is prevalent and often goes unrecognized. Basically, this leads to chronic inflammatory conditions. You’ll notice skin disorders, nausea, intolerance to alcohol, or even seasickness.

A reduction in high histamine foods may help, as well as a DAO supplement to help you manage polymorphism in your DAO enzymes. However, you must take care of your mitochondria, and produce enough glutathione, or histamine levels will continue to rise.

Before trying to treat yourself, ask your doctor to order a histamine blood level test and look into your SNP situation( genetic profile).  A SNP in your DAO gene may be causing histamine to build up in your bloodstream.

Try a histamine-free diet, to see if anything changes. This means eliminating foods like:

  • Farmed seafood and shellfish
  • Smoked meats or bologna
  • Tofu
  • Eggs
  • Fermented dairy products
  • Citrus fruits
  • Dried fruits
  • Tomatoes and tomato sauce
  • Spinach
  • Vinegar laden foods
  • Sulfites and  food additives
  • Soy sauce or miso
  • Chocolate
  • Colas
  • Spices: cloves, cinnamon, chili and curry

Read the full article here: Allergies and Your Genes – Histamine, Autoimmunity and DAO SNPs