Histamine Action, Histamines Cause Allergy Symptoms, Histamine Intolerance and Treatment

Histamine is a chemical that’s released when tissue is injured or an antigen encountered. Histamines are released by immune system mast cells and certain white blood cells.

Histamine’s action, accomplished via histamine receptors, encompasses:

There are a couple types of histamine receptors that actually mediate these actions:

  • H1 receptors ~ contraction of smooth muscle & capillary dilation
  • H2 receptors ~ accelerates heart rate & promotes gastric acid secretion

H3 receptors are believed to regulate neuron’s release of histamine and other neurotransmitters.

Because of the increased capillary dilation and permeability action caused by histamines, it can produce symptoms of:

These symptoms are what’s commonly referred to as an allergic reaction, and are frequent complaints by those who suffer seasonal and food allergies.

In addition to allergy symptoms, histamine’s action of contracting smooth muscles is a major cause for asthma’s airways constriction. As a consequence, you’ll feel shortness of breath. And complete closure creates a life in peril health scenario.

Besides allergies and asthma, histamines are thought to be associated or trigger various other health conditions, like:

Histamine intolerance differs from an allergic reaction in that the action is caused by high levels of naturally occurring histamine in food (biogenic amines) rather than the responsive production by your body. The basis of this intolerance is low levels of the enzymes required to metabolize histamine.

As a consequence, histamine builds up causing toxicity and body wide symptoms, several of which mimic allergy symptoms. Typical symptoms of histamine intolerance are:

Histamine intolerance can also cause severe symptoms by triggering an asthma attacks, arrhythmias or anaphylactic shock.

Some foods high in histamine, thus shouldn’t be part of your diet if you suffer histamine intolerance, are:

  • wine
  • yeast
  • spinach
  • tomatoes
  • sauerkraut
  • aged cheese

Also, you should avoid citrus fruits because they can release mast cell bound histamines. And alcohol because it can make one of the enzymes that metabolizes histamines less effective.

A histamine involved immune response to allergens that are not dangerous to you equates to living an annoying existence. Antihistamine treatment allows you to be more comfortable by counteracting this immunological error.

For those with histamine intolerance, a complementary treatment of vitamin C and vitamin B6 might help because they stimulate histamine metabolizing enzyme activity.

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