INGREDIENTS

Begin by swapping high histamine foods for histamine or low histamine foods.

 

Here are some short lists of high histamine foods and some information about other histamine free foods to get you started.

HIGH HISTAMINE FOODS

Here is a short list of some foods that have the highest levels of histamine in. Try swapping some of these foods for histamine free, or lower histamine foods.

  • hard, processed and blue cheese

  • anything pickled

  • dry cured meat

  • ham in general

  • smoked meat and fish

  • any fish unless frozen within 1/2 hour of catching

  • well hung beef and sausages

  • egg white (histamine liberating)

  • algae

  • citrus fruit (oranges, limes etc)

  • any tinned food

  • alcohol

  • yeast

  • most vinegars (except distilled 5% vinegar)

  • shellfish

  • chilli

  • aubergine, tomato, avocado, olives, spinach, broad beans, mushrooms

  • any pulses, beans, lentils, soy, chickpeas, buckwheat

  • malt, bouillon, cumin

  • curry

  • sunflower seeds, wheat germ

LOW HISTAMINE FOODS

This is a list of some of the foods that are histamine free (according to the Swiss diet) and which are well tolerated by most people. (Remember everyone is different so just because it is histamine free it does not mean you will definitely be able to tolerate it.)

  • quails eggs

  • brazil, macadamia and pistachio nuts

  • possibly very fresh meat

  • butter, cream, milk (no additives)

  • fresh cheese, such as farmers cheese (you can make this easily at home)

  • mozzarella, ricotta

  • (note that diary might be DAO blocking so it might contribute to symptoms)

  • millet, oats, rice and rice noodles

  • potato (but it might destabilise mast cells)

  • olive, rape seed, nigella sativa oil

  • black caraway, cardamom, turmeric, cloves, coriander in small amounts

  • basil and holy basil, mint, parsley, sage

  • asparagus, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, courgette, cucumber, fennel, iceberg lettuce, squash, radish, parsnip, pak choi, white onion

  • blackberry, cherry, coconut, gooseberry, grapes, melon, nectarine, peach, pomegranate

Here are a few ingredients that I have found really useful and which I eat regularly. (Remember to check whether you are tolerant of any new food you eat by trying a very small amount to begin with. Any changes in your diet should be made together with your doctor or nutritionist, so they can be done safely and in the right way for you and your illness. )

CASSAVA FLOUR

Cassava flour is made from a root and can be used as a substitute for wheat flour. It makes delicious tortillas. The cassava flour I use is from Wholefoods and it is organic. There are other organic cassava flours out there and their flour to water ratio will all be different. Different batches of the same flour may also behave differently so always do a test. My current tortilla recipe is 25g cassava flour and 48g water, mix and leave it to stand for 10 minutes.

QUAILS EGGS

It is possible that egg whites, especially uncooked egg whites are histamine liberating. Some people can tolerate them but other people cannot. However, quails eggs are generally well tolerated. I get free range organic ones from the supermarket but sometimes butchers and delis have them. They are very small and their tough shells make them hard to crack on the side of a cup. Try piercing the shell before breaking it and put it into a cup before cooking it, so you can fish out any pieces of shell.

HOLY BASIL

This is different from normal basil and sometimes goes by it’s Indian name of tulsai. It is a great antihistamine and although it has a different taste to basil (it has a slightly bitter flavour) it goes well with noodles and rice and is even nice as a tea.

WHITE ONION

By white onion I mean the large onions you can get with the white skin, not the regular onions with the brown skin. White onions are sweeter and milder in flavour than regular onions.