Histamine intolerance Supplements

The symptoms of histamine intolerance are often similar to allergies, but more pronounced. All of these symptoms, from watery/itchy eyes to sneezing, congestion and sinus problems can soon become very uncomfortable and unbearable. When you add all the other issues we mentioned in the previous chapter, you might be tempted to opt for over the counter medications. As much as some pharmaceutical approaches may work for some people, I always prefer the natural approach where possible, and you’ll find that reflected in most of the supplements listed below. As always, always check with your doctor or medical practitioner before changing supplements or starting a new regime. Everybody is different and the content here is for information purposes only.

Overview of supplements featured here

VitaMonk HistaResist
Probiota HistaminX
HistaminX
Quercetin
Pycnogenol
Colostrum
Grass Fed Kidney for DAO
Vitamin C
Loratadine
Magnesium
Adrenal Support

These supplements in detail

Vita Monk HistaResist

DAO enzyme is a potential game-changer for anyone with Histamine Intolerance. You take it 15 minutes before eating and it reduces your histamine levels - which means you might be able to introduce that red wine/avocado/chocolate treat you’ve been missing.

The problem - most DAO brands contain talc (or hydrated magnesium stearate to give it the official title). Talc is added to supplements to prevent ingredients from clumping and sticking to machinery when forming tablets, and talc as a food additive is "generally recognised as safe" by the FDA. That said, there are numerous articles online suggesting that it is not a great ingredient to be including in a supplement. Talc is not known to pose a risk of cancer when consumed from supplements. We’ll leave you to do your own research on the inclusion of hydrated magnesium stearate in a supplement.

However, Vita Monk HistaResist seems to fit the bill from the ingredients - this could be the missing piece of the puzzle for those wishing to take a healthier DAO supplement without talc in it. It’s quite reasonably priced unless you are in the UK like me, but hey, it’s worth it to get the right supplements. They list their ingredients as including:

Vitamin C: Bromelain, Green Tea Extract, Stinging Nettle Extract, Forskolin Extract, Quercetin, DAO (Diamine Oxidase), Rice Flour, Rice Extract, Vegetable Capsule.

Which sounds good to me.

ProBiota HistaminX

ProBiota HistaminX is an excellent supplement from one of my favourite practitioners Dr. Ben Lynch. Incidentally he has some great online resources based on the relationship with histamine and genetics.

His company Seeking Health created this supplement aims at supporting the body’s healthy digestion and microbiome. They created it because many probiotics can cause more harm than good for histamine. This one though contains entirely histamine-friendly strains of bacteria.

It may also aid in boosting the metabolism of histamine taken into the body. ProBiota HistaminX contains probiotics that are safe for the gut and reduce histamine rather can causing a flare up. It helps to reduce the histamine-producing bacteria, and is best to take after your dinner. We like taking it last thing at night. Also, it needs to be kept away from harmful microbials. Some bacterial species produce histamine, while others are essential in breaking it down.

Here are some of the benefits of this supplement:

Helps to tune the gut’s response to the ingested histamine.
Boosts immunity
Helps to enhance the gut microbiome.
Has histamine-friendly probiotics that won’t cause a flare up in your gut.

HistaminX

HistaminX is another supplement from Dr. Ben Lynch’s company. It has both herbal and plant-derived compounds that work together to ease inflammation and histamine effects. It is often argued that changes in diets and environment spike different allergies in the body. This supplement helps to prevent these changes from increasing your histamine bucket.

Histamin

X is a supplement that also helps to tone down those seasonal allergies that keep on reoccurring. In addition, it prevents the blunt histamine symptoms from draining you.

If you are not having histamine symptoms, you might want to avoid taking the supplement totally, or otherwise take it once in a day. It is a great reliever of running nose, congestion and many other allergies. You should use it alongside medical advice.

Here are some of the potential benefits:

Can alleviate the symptoms of histamine intolerance
Supports the body’s healthy and healing process.
Boosts immune health and well-being.
Can help with seasonal allergies
Supports healthy mucoid membranes. This may be of great help in terms of sinuses and congestion.

We like this supplement a lot and give it 8 out of 10

Querce

This is one of our very favourites. I like BioCare’s Quercetin Plus for the purity and, well, it just seems to work well.

Aside from being a supplement, Quercetin is a compound found in several plants. It is an antioxidant that exists naturally in apples and onions, among many other foods. But you’d have to eat a lot of onions to get the amount found in a supplement. Research-based findings have led to the release of supplements like BioCare containing this compound, due to its antihistamine effects. Depending on your choices or preferences, you can either buy quercetin-rich food (onion-breath alert) or head for the supplements.

As one of the most trusted mast cell stabilizers, quercetin is a potent antioxidant. This supplement controls the mast cells from releasing histamine. As it takes time to be absorbed in the body, many brands recommend it is taken at least 15-30 minutes before your meal.

Here are some of its benefits:

· Reduces allergic symptoms.

· Helps support the body’s ability to quench free radicals

· Reduces inflammatory response that may lead to allergic reactions.

· Reduces respiratory side effects.

· Can help with the side effects of dust, pollen, hay fever and sun.

· Helps with prostate symptoms.

· Is thought to help prevent cancer cell growth in breast, colon, prostate, endometrial and lung

Pycnoge

Tree bark. Amazing innit. This is an extract of the bark of the Pinus Pinaster, otherwise known as French Maritime Tree Bark. Pycnogenol has a potency to fight free radicals in the body. These are by-products of metabolism that are normal in the body, but harmful when in large portions.

Pycnoge

l inhibits the release of histamine from the mast cells in the body, and it’s often overlooked in the fight against an allergic response.

· Reduces allergy symptoms and inflammation.

· Wards off free radicals in the body.

· Prevents the release of histamine from mast cells.

· Helps to relieve circulation problems.

Colostrum

This is a type of milk produced by cows (oh and humans), a few days after giving birth. We recommend the Surthrival brand and have had great success using it. Just to be clear – this is cow colostrum not human colostrum, and you always want to use a brand where the newborn have their share of the milk before the supplement is made.

Why is it so good? Colostrum is rich in antibodies. These antibodies help to boost an individual’s immune system. Aside from histamine intolerance, it is popularly used to correct several other complications in the body. Here are some of its known benefits:

· Helps to prevent allergic reactions.

· Ideal for fat burning.

· Helps to ease gastrointestinal challenges.

· Eases diarrhea caused by infections and allergies.

· Suppresses histamine dominance.

Grass fed kidney for DAO

Grass-fed kidney is an excellent source of DAO, but let’s face it, who has the time to cook up a load of kidney every day, and then eat it fresh so it doesn’t accumulate histamine in the fridge? DAO, as you now know, is a vital enzyme in the body. DAO regulates the presence of histamine so it’s important. And before a histamine-heavy meal, it’s thought taking a supplement that boosts your DAO level can help.

A good one is the Ancestral Health Grass Fed Kidney – and their customer service is very helpful. You could carry it everywhere and take before meals to boost your DAO levels before a histamine-heavy meal. Sadly this brand is not available in the UK, however there are one or two suppliers to be found in the EU.

Some of the notable benefits of this supplement include the following:

· Is a great source of DAO enzyme.

· Reduces bloating.

· Enhances digestion and other metabolic processes in the body.

· Reduces the severity of eczema.

· Reduces the reaction a person has when ingesting high histamine foods.

Vitamin C

Otherwise known as ascorbic acid, vitamin C is important in the body. In this case, it is a natural antihistamine that is easy to find. The interesting bit about this vitamin is that it is apparently a cofactor for diamine oxidase, and also alcohol dehydrogenase. This is the final enzyme that helps in the breakdown of histamine. Whenever you are going through those exhaustive and potent symptoms, taking 1000-1500mg of vitamin C can go a long way in calming you down.

We like Thorne Vitamin C brand for their purity.

Several studies have shown the importance of this vitamin in degrading alcohol by itself. However, you should be careful about the type of vitamin C supplements you buy. Some are laced with heavy metals, which might be toxic to your body (so go Thorne or another reputable brand). Always make sure that you only get your supplements from credible sources. The best variants are organic and come from a food-based source. The phosphatidylcholine, that is often added in these supplements, also help to support the cell membranes. Indeed some say a phosphatidylcholine such as Optimal PC by Seeking Health is also an excellent idea when it comes to the regulation of histamine in the body.

Here are the benefits of Vitamin C:

· Helps to relieve a stuffy nose.

· Prevents dire symptoms of allergies and histamine.

· Helps in the digestion process, among many other metabolic processes.

· Prevents scurvy, which normally arises due to its deficiency.

· Reduces oxidative stress.

It probably won’t be a game changer but is a good part of your histamine supplement cabinet

Loratad

As already outlined, I prefer to try natural supplements to over the counter meds. But OTC medicines like Loratadine can provide effective and instant relief and I know if you are reading this, that’s maybe what you need.

Loratadi

e commonly goes by the name Claritin. It is a remedy for allergies and many people who have used it appreciate its help in terms of reducing itchiness and congestion, among many other symptoms.

Some histamine intolerant people have reported short-term improvements in using Loratadine and other OTCs, but some long-term have found this approach to be less helpful

Loratadi

· Helps to contain allergic symptoms such as congestion, sneezing and watery eyes, among many others.

· It helps control the level of histamine in the body.

This might be especially useful in a flare-up or on a seasonal basis.

Magnesium

Magnesium is vital for the human cells, due to several processes. For cells to use energy obtained from food, magnesium must play a role. It is also important for the build-up of muscles and the maintenance of vibrant cell walls. As if this is not enough, the mineral also helps in the maintenance of the DNA structure.

Because of all this, it is thought that histamine intolerance occurs partly due to its deficiency. Apparently magnesium is needed in the production of DAO – an enzyme important for histamine control, as we’ve already discussed.

Therefore i

f you don’t have sufficient DAO in the body, histamine levels might increase in the body. Most of the symptoms you will go through when intolerant to histamine emanate from the release of histamine from immune cells. This is what, in turn, leads to the allergic reactions.

When you lower the blood histamine levels, you reduce these symptoms and effects. One sure way to achieve this is through the use of magnesium.

Dr. Carolyn Dean is one of the world’s top experts on Magnesium. You can find her book The Magnesium Miracle online. She’s also formulated magnesium which we recommend. It’s called ReMag Pico-Ionic Magnesium and is a great solution. You can also use some kind of magnesium chloride spray. Epsom salts also work well. The only thing you should note when using the bathing salts is that heat accelerates histamine levels (little known fact!) You could consider using lukewarm water instead of hot water, or just having an Epsom salts footbath.

Adrenal Support

Look at adrenal support and the link between that and histamine. We know we’ve mentioned him already but we really like Dr. Ben Lynch’s Seeking Health supplements for adrenal support.

If you think your adrenals might be taxed by all this stress around the histamine, then check out his supplements, in particular Optimal Adrenal and Adrenal Cortex.

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