Micah Stanley
For people with histamine intolerance, a wrong grip when shopping can have serious consequences. Severe allergies can result in reddening of the skin, swelling, gastrointestinal problems, and circulatory problems. For this reason, it is extremely important to know what you can and cannot buy with histamine intolerance. Here’s what you should know about histamine-containing foods.
Important tips for people with histamine intolerance
Those affected with histamine intolerance can sometimes still eat histamine-containing foods with a low histamine concentration. Histamine increases during smoking and storage. It is therefore important to observe a few rules:
- The fresher a food is, the less histamine it contains. Therefore, the following applies: Always prepare food fresh.
- Fast food, ready meals, and canned foods should be avoided.
- Since alcohol reduces histamine tolerance, it should be avoided.
- Fermented foods contain large amounts of histamine.
- Contrary to the actual rule of letting food thaw slowly, it is advisable for those affected to put the products directly into the pot or pan and thaw them quickly over low heat. This creates less histamine.
Foods containing histamine: It is better to avoid these products
Histamine is found in a large number of foods because many animals and plants produce it themselves. Bacteria also produce histamine. As a result, it is hidden in many products:
- Smoked goods such as salami, ham, and Mettwurst
- Offal
- Smoked fish and canned fish, tuna
- seafood
- Cheese, especially mature cheeses like Parmesan or Brie
- strawberries
- spinach
- avocado
- tomatoes
- Mushrooms
- Pickled vegetables such as sauerkraut or pickles
- Citrus fruits (although they do not contain histamine themselves, they release the body’s histamine resources).
- Legumes such as peas, beans, and lentils
- nuts
- Yeast
- red wine
- Beer
- Coffee, black tea, and cocoa
- Wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar
Low-histamine foods: You can access them here
Luckily, there are also plenty of foods that contain little to no histamine. In general, the fresher food is, the less histamine it contains. Here is a list of selected products that have little or no histamine content.
- Fresh meat
- Fresh fish
- Cream cheese, mozzarella, young gouda, ricotta
- yogurt and cottage cheese
- Fresh vegetables such as lettuce, all cabbages, beets, squash, onions, radishes, bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, and corn
- Fresh fruits like melon, blueberries, cranberries, lychee, mango, rhubarb, cherries, blueberries, apricots, and apples
- potatoes
- rice
- Grains such as spelled, quinoa, amaranth, oats, millet, and rye
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- egg yolk
- White wine
A change in diet is required in the case of histamine intolerance
Foods containing histamine are everywhere and numerous. For a life without symptoms, it is therefore essential for people with histamine intolerance – as with other food intolerances – to change their eating habits. But this is easier than it first appears. There are still enough foods without histamine. A nutritionist can help you get used to the change in diet.
