Histamine sensitivity

Histamine is a component of foods — rather than an ingredient, per se — and histamine sensitivity is not an allergy, but as it can mimic an allergy, it’s often perceived to be one. Histamine is released in the body during a food allergic reaction, but if you consume it directly, you can experience similar symptoms, albeit never life-threatening. It is caused by an inability to metabolise and break down this excess histamine, often due to a deficiency of an enzyme called diamine oxidase (DAO), for which supplements are available.

In 2017, Dr Janice Joneja — probably the leading international expert on the condition — wrote The Beginner’s Guide to Histamine Intolerance, which I reviewed here. What interested me about the book was learning that diagnosis is not straightforward, and is essentially one of exclusion. There is no real test for histamine sensitivity — which may have something to do with the fact that a few (certainly not all) doctors, dietitians and immunologists still view the condition with a little scepticism and suspicion.

Thankfully, histamine intolerance research is continuing apace, and just recently a paper was published in The Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis suggesting a new approach to the diagnosis of the condition, by determining levels of histamine and a related compound, methylhistamine, in urine — which would be less invasive than a blood test to investigate the activity of DAO.

Further, a paper published in the journal Allergy was also interesting: although it was small, a quarter of participants with suspected histamine intolerance had elevated histamine levels during the day, possibly due to reduced DAO levels, while the remaining three-quarters had normal histamine and DAO but increased prevalence of other food intolerances. Clearly, accurate diagnostic protocols are urgently needed.

This is clearly a fast moving field, now. When I wrote my first book in 2003, Living with Food Intolerance, I only dedicated a single page to the ‘amines’, with only a paragraph to histamine itself. That book is in urgent need of an update, and I expect I’ll be needing to dedicate a whole chapter to it when I eventually get around to it!

Meanwhile, in a final piece of histamine news, healthcare professional readers may be interested to know that Dr Joneja has now brought out Histamine Intolerance: a Comprehensive Guide for Healthcare Professionals.

It is much needed …

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. Please read our Privacy Policy and our Affiliates Disclosure in 'About' more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close