Have you ever heard of histidine? Neither had I until I read this article from a blogger I follow (
Beyond Meds). She is now following a histamine-free diet and it is making dramatic changes in her mental and physical health (
Beyond Meds: Histamine Intolerance). (Histamine comes from histidine so I will use them interchangeably.)
So, what is Histidine? It is an amino acid that the body needs during periods of growth, stress, and recovery from injury or illness. Children especially need it in their diet because their bodies don't make it. It is unique in that it is both an essential and nonessential amino acid. (Essential amino acids must be gotten through the diet, nonessential can be synthesized by the body).
It is a natural detoxifier of the body, helps build red and white blood cells, and it is where histamine, which causes inflammatory (allergic) reactions in humans, comes from. It is particularly important in maintaining the myelin sheath of the nervous system that let's the brain talk to the body.
It's found primarily in high-protein foods but histidine can be found in a wide variety of foods. It can also be found in the large bowel, produced by the microorganisms that break down the protein there. The histidine in the body's tissue cells await the immune systems cue to protect the body from harm with it's defensive actions like a runny nose, hives, swelling, etc.
The issue lies in the balance of histidine and how each individual metabolizes it differently. Too much can lead to depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, and anxiety. Too little may lead to rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and deafness from nerve damage. Everyone tolerates a different level of histidine...and that level can change.
Antibiotics can change the flora in your gut which changes how much histamine those microorganisms create. Research suggests that food additives, preservatives, and sulphites may raise the level of plasma histamine, many pills and processed food items contain these.
The key is the
level of histamine that you can tolerate. So everyday can be different. Varying factors you have been exposed to in any one day can raise the level of histamine in your body. From a variety of environmental factors (ragweed/pollutants), which foods you ate that day (was the food processed / old / containing preservatives), how healthy your gut flora is, what medicines or supplements you took, etc. So you can see the histamine is constantly fluctuating, which can be very frustrating when you are trying to figure out how to reduce symptoms produced by a histamine intolerance.
This is a fairly new conversation on the web and more articles are coming out about histidine every day. The easiest way to balance your histidine levels on your own is through your food. Check out the links below to see what foods are suggested to lower or raise your levels depending on your issue. Perhaps keep a food diary to record what you ate, noting other factors that may contribute to how you felt that day. Talk to your doctor about it too.
Begin the journey by eating healthfully, buying locally, maybe even growing your own food.
How the body works is truly miraculous and the more I learn the more I can see that truly 'Our food is our medicine, and our medicine is our food' just like Hippocrates said so long ago.
Extremely Good Article on Histamine IntoleranceLow Histidine DietNutrition Data: HistidineList of Histidine Content in Foods (click on the different titles for more information)
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