High Histamine Foods To Avoid (And Low Histamine Foods To Eat Instead)

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Nour Zibdeh is an Integrative and Functional Dietician, and she helps people overcome food intolerances. Today, it’s about getting rid of the underdiagnosed condition that is histamine intolerance, by first eliminating the triggers, and then not getting stuck on the low-histamine diet

The recommendations

High histamine foods to avoid include:

  • Alcohol (all types)
  • Fermented foods—normally great for the gut, but bad in this case
  • That includes most cheeses and yogurts
  • Aged, cured, or otherwise preserved meat
  • Some plants, e.g. tomato, spinach, eggplant, banana, avocado. Again, normally all great, but not in this case.

Low histamine foods to eat include:

  • Fruits and vegetables not mentioned above
  • Minimally processed meat and fish, either fresh from the butcher/fishmonger, or frozen (not from the chilled food section of the supermarket), and eaten the same day they were purchased or defrosted, because otherwise histamine builds up over time (and quite quickly)
  • Grains, but she recommends skipping gluten, given the high likelihood of a comorbid gluten intolerance. So instead she recommends for example quinoa, oats, rice, buckwheat, millet, etc.

For more about these (and more examples), as well as how to then phase safely off the low histamine diet, enjoy:

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

Further reading

Food intolerances often gang up on a person (i.e., comorbidity is high), so you might also like to read about:

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    • Thinking about cosmetic surgery? New standards will force providers to tell you the risks and consider if you’re actually suitable

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      People considering cosmetic surgery – such as a breast augmentation, liposuction or face lift – should have extra protection following the release this week of new safety and quality standards for providers, from small day-clinics through to larger medical organisations.

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      The move is part of sweeping reforms of the cosmetic surgery industry and the regulation of medical practitioners, including who is allowed to call themselves a surgeon.

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      Most people are satisfied with their surgical outcomes and feel better about the body part that was previously concerning them.

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      If you’re considering cosmetic surgery

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      3. choose your practitioner, knowing their training and qualifications

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      Some health news to round off the week:

      The Infection That Leads To Heart Failure

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      What then, of these shy, elusive creatures that make up a mere 51% of the world’s population?

      A medium-sized (n=279) study of women, of whom 84% being current gym-goers, reported often feeling “judged for their appearance or performance, as well as having to fight for space in the gym and to be taken seriously, while navigating harassment and unsolicited comments from men”

      Even gym attire becomes an issue:

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      …which main seem silly; you’re at the gym, of course you’re going to sweat, but if you’re the only one with visible sweat stains, then there can be social consequences (bad ones).

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      ❝In the gym, just like in other areas of life, women often feel stuck between being seen as ‘too much’ and ‘not enough’, dealing with judgement about how they look, how they perform, and even how much space they take up. Even though the pressure to be super thin is decreasing, the growing focus on being muscular and athletic is creating new challenges. It is pushing unrealistic standards that can negatively affect women’s body image and overall well-being.❞

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      Related: Body Image Dissatisfaction/Appreciation Across The Ages

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      • Oranges vs Lemons – Which is Healthier?

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        Our Verdict

        When comparing oranges to lemons, we picked the oranges.

        Why?

        In the battle of these popular citrus fruits, there is a clear winner on the nutritional front.

        Things were initially promising for lemons when looking at the macros—lemons have a little more fiber while oranges are slightly higher in carbs, but the differences are small and both are very healthy in this regard.

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        In terms of vitamins, oranges have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B9, E, and choline. In contrast, lemons have a (very) little more vitamin B6. You might be wondering about vitamin C, since both fruits are famous for that—they’re equal on vitamin C. But, with that stack we listed above, oranges clearly win the vitamin category easily.

        As for minerals, oranges boast more calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while lemons have more iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

        Technically lemons also have more sodium, but the numbers are truly miniscule (by coincidence, we discover upon grabbing a calculator, you’d need to eat approximately your own bodyweight in whole lemons to get to the RDA of sodium—and that’s to reach the RDA, not the upper healthy limit) so we’ll overlook the tiny sodium difference as irrelevant. Which means, while closer than the vitamins category, oranges win on minerals with a 6:3 lead over lemons.

        Both fruits offer generous helpings of flavonoids and other polyphenols such as naringenin and hesperidin, which have anti-inflammatory properties and more specifically can also reduce allergy symptoms (unless, of course, you are allergic to citrus fruits, which is a relatively rare but extant allergy).

        In short: as ever, enjoy both; diversity is great for the health. But if you want to maximize the nutrients you get, it’s oranges.

        Want to learn more?

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        Lemons vs Limes – Which is Healthier?

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        People often stick to the same few stretches, which may limit flexibility progress, especially as the most common stretches often miss deeper, harder-to-reach areas.

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        Shoulder mobility stretch using a wall:

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        Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

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      • Why do I poo in the morning? A gut expert explains

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        No, you’re not imagining it. People really are more likely to poo in the morning, shortly after breakfast. Researchers have actually studied this.

        But why mornings? What if you tend to poo later in the day? And is it worth training yourself to be a morning pooper?

        To understand what makes us poo when we do, we need to consider a range of factors including our body clock, gut muscles and what we have for breakfast.

        Here’s what the science says.

        H_Ko/Shutterstock

        So morning poos are real?

        In a UK study from the early 1990s, researchers asked nearly 2,000 men and women in Bristol about their bowel habits.

        The most common time to poo was in the early morning. The peak time was 7-8am for men and about an hour later for women. The researchers speculated that the earlier time for men was because they woke up earlier for work.

        About a decade later, a Chinese study found a similar pattern. Some 77% of the almost 2,500 participants said they did a poo in the morning.

        But why the morning?

        There are a few reasons. The first involves our circadian rhythm – our 24-hour internal clock that helps regulate bodily processes, such as digestion.

        For healthy people, our internal clock means the muscular contractions in our colon follow a distinct rhythm.

        There’s minimal activity in the night. The deeper and more restful our sleep, the fewer of these muscle contractions we have. It’s one reason why we don’t tend to poo in our sleep.

        Diagram of digestive system including colon and rectum
        Your lower gut is a muscular tube that contracts more strongly at certain times of day. Vectomart/Shutterstock

        But there’s increasing activity during the day. Contractions in our colon are most active in the morning after waking up and after any meal.

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        Breakfast is also a trigger for us to poo. When we eat and drink our stomach stretches, which triggers the “gastrocolic reflex”. This reflex stimulates the colon to forcefully contract and can lead you to push existing poo in the colon out of the body. We know the gastrocolic reflex is strongest in the morning. So that explains why breakfast can be such a powerful trigger for a bowel motion.

        Then there’s our morning coffee. This is a very powerful stimulant of contractions in the sigmoid colon (the last part of the colon before the rectum) and of the rectum itself. This leads to a bowel motion.

        How important are morning poos?

        Large international surveys show the vast majority of people will poo between three times a day and three times a week.

        This still leaves a lot of people who don’t have regular bowel habits, are regular but poo at different frequencies, or who don’t always poo in the morning.

        So if you’re healthy, it’s much more important that your bowel habits are comfortable and regular for you. Bowel motions do not have to occur once a day in the morning.

        Morning poos are also not a good thing for everyone. Some people with irritable bowel syndrome feel the urgent need to poo in the morning – often several times after getting up, during and after breakfast. This can be quite distressing. It appears this early-morning rush to poo is due to overstimulation of colon contractions in the morning.

        Can you train yourself to be regular?

        Yes, for example, to help treat constipation using the gastrocolic reflex. Children and elderly people with constipation can use the toilet immediately after eating breakfast to relieve symptoms. And for adults with constipation, drinking coffee regularly can help stimulate the gut, particularly in the morning.

        A disturbed circadian rhythm can also lead to irregular bowel motions and people more likely to poo in the evenings. So better sleep habits can not only help people get a better night’s sleep, it can help them get into a more regular bowel routine.

        Man preparing Italian style coffee at home, adding coffee to pot
        A regular morning coffee can help relieve constipation. Caterina Trimarchi/Shutterstock

        Regular physical activity and avoiding sitting down a lot are also important in stimulating bowel movements, particularly in people with constipation.

        We know stress can contribute to irregular bowel habits. So minimising stress and focusing on relaxation can help bowel habits become more regular.

        Fibre from fruits and vegetables also helps make bowel motions more regular.

        Finally, ensuring adequate hydration helps minimise the chance of developing constipation, and helps make bowel motions more regular.

        Monitoring your bowel habits

        Most of us consider pooing in the morning to be regular. But there’s a wide variation in normal so don’t be concerned if your poos don’t follow this pattern. It’s more important your poos are comfortable and regular for you.

        If there’s a major change in the regularity of your bowel habits that’s concerning you, see your GP. The reason might be as simple as a change in diet or starting a new medication.

        But sometimes this can signify an important change in the health of your gut. So your GP may need to arrange further investigations, which could include blood tests or imaging.

        Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University

        This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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