An uncomfortable adult struggling with histamine intolerance

Histamine Intolerance: The Underdiagnosed Cause of Everyday Symptoms

Bala BitesGut HealthNutrition & SupplementsJune 12, 2025

BALA BITES: WHY HISTAMINE MIGHT BE YOUR HIDDEN TRIGGER

Most people have no idea they’re sensitive to histamine.

They just know they feel off. Skin issues. Minor allergies. Sinus congestion. GI distress. Weird food reactions.

And if histamine sensitivity is involved, those symptoms often come with an entourage:
Brain fog. Anxiety. Irritability. Mood dips. Overthinking.

A woman struggling with symptoms of histamine sensitivity

Histamine sensitivity can happen to anyone. Sometimes it’s genetic. Other times, it’s the result of a system overwhelmed by stress, diet or environment.

If you’re experiencing these symptoms and haven’t found clear answers, histamine might be the missing link.

You would not be alone. Many people don’t realize that histamine intolerance can cause digestive issues, skin reactions and brain fog—even without classic allergy symptoms.

The good news? You don’t need a prescription to start exploring it.

WHAT IS HISTAMINE, REALLY?

Histamine is a chemical your body makes.

Histamine helps regulate digestion, immunity, brain function, even your sleep-wake cycle and hormone activity.

It’s released as part of your immune response to infections, allergens, injuries or exercise.

Histamine is essential, but it needs to stay in balance.

Your body controls histamine through a network of cells, receptors, and enzymes.
Mast cells release it. Histamine receptors activate different parts of the body. Enzymes like DAO and HNMT break it down.

When that system is out of sync—either because your body makes too much histamine or can’t break it down well—symptoms can pile up.

Too much histamine can make your nervous system feel overstimulated. Too little can drain your energy, disrupt sleep, and blunt your mood or libido.

Balance is everything.

SIGNS OF HISTAMINE SENSITIVITY

The tricky part? Histamine issues don’t always look like “allergies.”

And it can occur even when you eat foods that are healthy in so many other respects.

You might feel gassy, bloated or nauseous—especially after eating
You might flush, break out in hives or notice unexplained skin redness
You might feel mentally foggy, dizzy or unable to focus
You might get sinus headaches or congestion seemingly out of nowhere
And you might feel exhausted yet wired or have trouble falling or staying asleep
Imagine feeling like you’re running at 70% all day but can’t figure out why

The common thread? Your system feels overloaded.

And histamine might be behind it.

QUESTIONS THAT HELP DETERMINE HISTAMINE-SENSITIVITY

To determine if you might be histamine sensitive or intolerant, consider these questions

1) Do I experience headaches or migraines after eating certain foods?
2) Do I get skin reactions, such as hives, itching, or flushing, after meals or stress?
3) Do I feel heart palpitations or a racing heart after eating certain foods?
4) Do I experience digestive issues, like bloating, diarrhea, or abdominal pain, after eating histamine-rich foods?
5) Do I notice nasal congestion, sneezing, or a runny nose unrelated to allergies or colds?
6) Do I feel fatigued or foggy-headed after consuming alcohol, especially red wine or beer?
7) Do I have symptoms that worsen during high-stress periods or hormonal changes?

WHY DOES HISTAMINE INTOLERANCE HAPPEN?

Histamine is meant to send signals—alerting your body to potential threats and helping it respond.

It’s released by immune cells, like mast cells, when your body detects something it sees as a danger: an allergen, an injury or an infection.

Once released, histamine tells blood vessels to expand, alerts white blood cells to come help and activates nerves that trigger reactions like itching or sneezing.

But when there’s too much histamine and not enough enzymes to break it down, those signals don’t shut off.

They keep firing.

Histamine overactivity can hit multiple systems at once—your gut, skin, brain, sinuses and even your energy levels.

It's like your body is getting too many notifications all at once, with no way to filter or mute them.

That’s why the symptoms seem so scattered—and why they’re often missed.

Histamine is acting more like noise than signal.

HOW THE LOW HISTAMINE DIET HELPS

A low-histamine diet can help reset your system and reduce symptoms caused by histamine overload. There are two steps to take when adopting a low-histamine diet.

The first step is to reduce high-histamine foods.

Foods to limit for a low histamine diet:

Fermented foods (sauerkraut, vinegar, yogurt, soy)
Aged cheese and leftover meats
Cured meats (sausage, pepperoni, bacon)
Shellfish, canned fish
Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant)
Citrus, strawberries, chocolate
Alcohol
Leftovers

Step two is to replace them with foods that are nourishing but gentle.

Low-histamine food swaps:

Proteins: Fresh poultry, white fish, lamb
Veggies: Zucchini, broccoli, carrots, cucumber
Fruits: Apples, pears, mango
Grains: Oats, rice, quinoa
Oils: Olive oil, coconut oil
Extras: Ginger, chamomile, pumpkin seeds

This isn't about restriction—it’s about clearing space for your body to reset.

SUPPLEMENTS THAT CAN HELP

Food might not be enough—and that’s okay. That's when supplements come in handy. Here are two supplements with solid science behind them:

Quercetin: A natural compound that acts like an antihistamine. It helps calm mast cells (the ones that release histamine) and protect the gut lining. Best taken with vitamin C to boost absorption.

DAO (Diamine Oxidase): The enzyme responsible for breaking down histamine. Some people don’t produce enough. DAO supplements support the breakdown of histamine in the gut and may offer relief for people with histamine intolerance. A DAO supplement before meals can help reduce reactions to histamine-rich foods.

Bonus consideration: Vitamin B6 to support DAO production, magnesium to calm the nervous system and certain probiotics like lactobacillus plantarum.

WHY CONSIDER A LOW-HISTAMINE DIET?

Because it works.

Managing just a handful of foods in your routine can have an outsized impact on how you feel—without medications, specialists or elaborate protocols.

It’s one of the simplest, most accessible experiments you can run from your own kitchen.

You don’t need a diagnosis to try it. You just need curiosity and a willingness to track how your body responds.

And if your symptoms are flaring—gut issues, skin reactions, mood swings—it’s worth asking: is my body carrying more histamine than it can clear?

Sometimes the cause isn’t even food.

Environmental exposures can quietly load up your histamine bucket. Mold, heavy metals (like mercury or lead) and pesticide residues are all known to trigger histamine release and overwhelm your system.

When your immune system stays on high alert for too long, mast cells—the cells that store and release histamine—can become overly reactive. This is known as Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS).

It’s when your mast cells start sounding the alarm too often or too loudly—even in response to mild triggers. The result? Histamine flooding the system at the wrong times, leading to wide-ranging symptoms that are hard to pin down.

A low-histamine reset helps interrupt a flaring cycle. By removing the daily inputs that overstimulate mast cells, you give your body space to calm, rebalance and recover.

Changing these foods might help you sleep better, digest more easily or feel less reactive in your body.

And once you feel it? You’ll start to understand what your body’s been trying to say all along.

HOW TO GET STARTED

If you suspect that histamine intolerance could be playing a role in how you feel day to day, here's a gameplan on what to do.

Limit high histamine and histamine-liberating foods
Prioritize low-histamine foods and natural antihistamine foods
Consider whether to add supplements
Reintroduce the foods you eliminated one by one after 2 weeks
Track your symptoms and learn which foods are triggers

Want help? Bala’s 2-week reset is built around low-histamine principles and personalized to your symptoms.

SUMMARY

Histamine is a chemical that affects digestion, mood, immunity and sleep—and too much can cause widespread symptoms.
Common triggers include fermented foods, alcohol, aged meats, mold, heavy metals, and pesticides.
A low-histamine diet paired with supplements like quercetin and DAO can offer relief and rebalance.
Small changes like eliminating just three histamine-rich foods can lead to better digestion, clearer skin, improved sleep and less anxiety.
Mold, heavy metals, and pesticide exposure are hidden triggers that can lead to mast cell activation and chronic inflammation.