Histamine Overview

Histamine is a word that most everyone recognizes! You may have some negative connotation with it e.g. sneezing, itchy eyes, hives etc. but it actually has really important and necessary functions in the body.

What does histamine actually do in the body?

Histamine is released from certain cells as a defense mechanism in response to inflammation, injury or allergic reaction.

While not every cell in the body creates histamine it is released by some pretty key players including the immune system, digestive system, nervous system and even gut bacteria! Yes indeed folks it at all leads back to the bugs.

As you may have guessed by the different systems that release it, histamine helps regulate and support your brain, digestive function, immune system activation and oh so much more.

Histamine Helpers:

• contracts smooth muscle tissues (lungs, uterus, stomach)
• dilates blood vessels lowering blood pressure
• stimulates gastric acid
• increases heart rate
• carries chemical message between nerve cells (love on your neurotransmitters people we need all the help we can get!)
• boosts permeability / inflammation due to allergy or injury
  • fancy way of saying histamine opens the flood gates where there is injury or foreign invader so the immune system can do battle

When histamine creation and destruction is working appropriately it doesn’t act as a contributor to pervasive negative symptoms! You can handle the sniffles or some redness / swelling every once in awhile right?

Histamine is created due to a trigger -> it reaches its target destination and acts as the helper it was designed to be -> then it gets destroyed! Adios good buddy. I love it when a plan comes together.

But you aren’t here reading this because everything is going according to plan in your body right? I didn’t think so. If the breakdown of histamine isn’t occurring or the body is in total freak out and creating histamine to all the things, then we start to see symptoms of histamine overload.

We all have histamine bucket in which the excess histamine in the body gets dumped… It’s like a holding cell for histamine that was out past curfew. The body processes these delinquent histamines a little at a time so the prison doesn’t get overcrowded! If the body isn’t working together to reduce histamine from food, regulate release of histamine, and drain that bucket it’s like our law enforcement peeps (helpers like the liver, bacteria, genetic pathways and DAO enzymes) are taking an excessive coffee break and the penitentiary gets overcrowded. Riot ensues. Histamine overload occurs when that bucket is full and some, or all, of these less than desirable symptoms become part of your life experience.

Excess histamine symptoms:

• headaches or migraines
• flushing
• urticaria (itchy bumps…who doesn’t love a pervasive rash?!? Sign me up)
• nasal congestion or sinus issues
• fatigue
• digestive issues
  • diarrhea most commonly
  • bloating
  • food intolerances
  • cramping
• irregular menstrual cycle
• nausea
• pruritus
  • aka skin crawlies, itchiness all over
• vomiting
• tissue swelling
• hypotension (or even variable blood pressure high to low)
• irregular heart rate
• anxiety
• difficulty regulating body temperature (anyone’s internal thermostat broken?)
• dizziness

Before you go off the deep end and decide that fixing histamine will solve ALL your problems please note that there are many other factors that contribute to these symptoms. It’s not a magic fix BUT it is a key player in these concerns and is often overlooked as a root cause of symptoms when working on whole body healing.

Especially in early phases of histamine overload, or if you present with classic symptoms like seasonal allergies, many people rely on over-the-counter or even prescribed antihistamine medications to mitigate histamine. In my mind this is a little bit like saying that seeing that the house is on fire so you decide to simply turn off the smoke detector. This is by no means telling you to quit taking your antihistamines or go against your doctors orders! Dude, find relief from whatever symptoms you’re experiencing if you can, but don’t quit exploring why the actual house is on fire and how to put the fire out just because you’ve managed to shut up that darn annoying smoke detector. Inevitably the body will find a way to let you know that this sucker is still trying to burn to the ground.

Whether it’s a perfect storm of genetics, triggers, imbalanced gut bacteria and leaky barrier function, or simply a series of unfortunate events (aka you make cute cat videos for a living but are deathly allergic to them, your body freaks out to all things mold and you live somewhere moist… – yeah I said moist, it’s my blog, I can do what I want-, or you find out via that abysmal little scratch test that basically ALL OF NATURE is trying to kill you but the only way you can manage your mental stress is the hike so it’s either a padded room or histamine overload) unchecked histamine can lead to something called histamine intolerance or in severe cases mass cell activation syndrome.

Don’t stress about that yet. Come see us and we’ll figure it out together.

Now what?

In our practice we have a multi faceted approach to addressing histamine as a core imbalance. Whether you have developed a true histamine intolerance, have been diagnosed with mast cell activation or you are symptomatically just dealing with a whole bunch of histamine junk in the trunk, we address all of these areas that contribute to the problem so we can put this ever loving house fire out one room at a time.

Step one digestion: Let’s lay the foundation so that whatever interventions, foods, lifestyle and behavior or supplement changes we make they’ll have real sticking power! No use pouring all this metaphorical time and energy into a system that’s just a colander and it drains right out.
Step two bacterial balance: if you’ve ever heard me speak you know that I give bacteria more credit for keeping you alive than your own  human cells! Time to wage war against bacteria that is contributing to your negative symptoms and replenish your helper bugs to fight the battle for you. It’s called delegation people, time to outsource some manual labor.
Step three genetic pathways and support: Let’s clean up some genetic pathways by giving them the nutrients they need so those wheels spin and everybody can do their job. Have I mentioned how much I love delegating? If your gene’s aren’t doing you any favors by slacking off then you’re gonna be stuck doing battle with histamine for way too long. Time to get some soldiers on our side because eating a low histamine diet, taking a gazillion supplements and trying just to survive instead of focusing on thriving is totally not a fun way to live. We’re fighting the same war body… Let’s everybody get on the same page.
Step four liver function and health: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again your liver is the hardest working organ in the body! She takes a beating on a daily basis and we rarely give her the credit or love she deserves. Let’s clean her up, give her a boost and you’ll be amazed at how efficiently she can help us battle histamine. If bacteria and genes are soldiers in the war, the liver is an aircraft carrier. She means business and she can get stuff done.
Step five live your darn life and remodel and redecorate: Now that the fire is out you’ve got a clean slate! What do you want this beauty to look and feel like? If we’ve lived with avoidance behaviors to exposures be they foods or otherwise it’s time to find the fun and freedom in your life again!

Want to jump on this fun filled, analogy laden journey of healing? Schedule a free phone call and let’s chat about your goals and my style of practice to see if we’re going to be good battle buddies.

In Health,

Emily