Fix your Histamine Intolerance & Fix your Periods
Spring is in the air! For me that used to mean bunkering down inside the house because my reaction to fresh flowers and pollen was unbearable.
My hay fever used to be so bad that if I forgot to take my anti-histamine tablets before I left the house, that would be me done for the day; watery eyes, itchy throat, sneezing, the whole sa-bang. I would sneeze easily 20 times in a row and people who didn’t know me would ask if I was ok because they thought I’d been crying - my eyes were red, puffy and leaking, mascara down the face is a really good look *face palm*.
It's exhausting to live with histamine issues and as beautiful as Spring is, it can be unbearable. Pollen was my kryptonite.
Here's what you need to know about histamine and your Period Problems:
Histamine is a hormone and histamine and estrogen have a symbiotic relationship. When one is up, the other follows. So when the seasons change and your histamine is out of control, so too are your female sex hormones!! Which means crappy periods all round.
This applies my northern hemisphere babes too... it doesn't matter what time of the year it is, if you have histamine issues your period will suffer.
In order to fix my periods I had to get my histamine under control.
Histamine is a neurotransmitter and a hormone that regulates stomach acid, stimulates the brain and plays a role in boosting your libido. It's released from mast cells which are present in all parts of your body. Interestingly, we have heaps of mast cells in the uterus, they are also present in our skin, air ways and GI track.
Histamine reactions vary from a scratchy throat, to nasal congestion, watery or puffy eyes, hives, fatigue, headaches, nausea and menstrual cycle irregularities. Histamine intolerance occurs when your body doesn't produce enough of the enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO). The job of DAO is to break down histamine so it can exit the body.
There are foods that inhibit the production of DAO, things like green tea, black tea and alcohol *sad face* but stick with me here. Imagine that all the histamine your body makes goes into a bucket and when this bucket is full, it overflows and the overflow is what causes your histamine reaction. Well, when you drink green tea, black tea and alcohol you stop your body from being able to empty your bucket (break down histamine). This is one of the cause of your histamine intolerance.
There are also foods high in histamine and you'll find a list below. When you eat heaps of these foods you’ll fill up your bucket really quickly. So the combination of consuming things that inhibit DAO (your bucket being able to empty) and eating lots of foods that fill your bucket will result in overflow. Which means itchy throat, sneezing, water eyes and Period Problems.
High Histamine Foods:
Fermented foods
Kombucha
Cured, processed meats
Smoked foods
Alcohol
Bone broth
Citrus fruit
Dark chocolate
Avocados
Tomatoes
Eggplants
Spinach
Pineapple
Yogurt, milk & coconut
Peanuts, walnuts, cashews
Chic peas
Shellfish
Vingar
Aged cheese
Food dyes & additives
I spent a while concentrating on emptying my bucket and now, I do eat a lot of the things on this list. So getting your histamine under control is not a life sentence and you will be able to enjoy a smashed avo again! But it may take some time to empty your bucket AND it’s more than just food that fills your bucket. Things like dust, pollen, fragrances from perfume and washing detergents, even plug in air fresheners are kryptonite for hay fever suffers. Removing these will go a long way to making sure your bucket stays empty.
Key takeaway: high histamine levels influence estrogen
When histamine is high, estrogen comes to the party and says “I can go higher”, then histamine says “babe, I can go higher than you” and they keep trying to one up each other, it’s no bureno.
High estrogen leves in the second half of your cycle is what causes all your PMS symptoms, things like; bloating, sore boobs and moodiness. And when your estrogen is naturally high in the middle of your cycle you may notice you’re more sensitive to flowers, pollen and perfume.
My solution is to limit high histamine foods, limit my exposer to dust, pollen, perfume and fragrances, and I no longer drink black tea… I do love a wine and matcha latte but have to be aware of where I am in my cycle - that’s where cycle syncing comes in.
Bottom line: I no longer take anti-histamines tablets, my Period Problems are gone and I now have fresh flowers in my house every week and you can too. If you’re ready to feel like yourself again, free from Period Problems and histamine hell book a call with me by clicking here so you can start living the life you want instead of putting up with the life you have.
