Histamine Health Coach

Episode 10 - When It’s Not the Food: Understanding HNMT & Internal Histamine

• Teresa Christensen • Episode 10

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HNMT is the overlooked enzyme that handles internally-produced histamine in your brain, liver, and nervous system while DAO manages dietary histamine. Many histamine intolerance sufferers experience symptoms despite following a low-histamine diet because their HNMT enzyme is overwhelmed by stress, hormones, or environmental triggers.

• HNMT and DAO work differently – DAO breaks down external histamine from foods while HNMT processes internal histamine
• Internal histamine comes from stress, hormones, immune responses, and environmental triggers
• HNMT symptoms include extreme fatigue, sensitivity to fragrances, paradoxical reactions to relaxing activities, hormonal migraines, and anxiety
• Supporting HNMT requires healing your gut, eating methylation-supporting foods (B12, folate, magnesium, choline)
• Lowering chronic stress load through breath work, therapy, and nervous system regulation is crucial
• Avoiding fragrances and toxins reduces the burden on your HNMT enzyme
• Histamine metabolism improves when addressing the whole picture: gut health, inflammation, stress, nourishment and rest

Visit histaminehealthcoach.com to subscribe to my weekly emails, learn more or schedule a free chat. Let's get your body working with you again, one layer at a time.


Speaker 1:

Hi, welcome to Histamine Health Coach, the podcast for women navigating histamine intolerance and looking for real answers. I'm Teresa Christensen and I know firsthand how overwhelming it can be to deal with food triggers, environmental sensitivities and unpredictable symptoms. But you don't have to figure it out alone. Each week, I'll share my personal journey and practical strategies to help you break free from fear and take control of your health. So let's get started. Welcome to Histamine Health Coach, where we navigate life with histamine intolerance and find ways to build our best. Hi, I'm Teresa, your histamine health coach, and today we're diving into an enzyme that often gets overshadowed by its partner, dao, but it plays just as big a role in your histamine metabolism. I'm only going to attempt to say this once Histamine N-methyltransferase, but from here on out we're calling it HNMT. But before we jump in, let's do a quick recap of DAO. But before we jump in, let's do a quick recap of DAO.

Speaker 1:

In episode 7, we explored DAO. It's an enzyme that lives inside your cells, mostly in the gut. Its job is to break down histamine that comes from the outside, like high histamine foods and drinks. For those who are deficient in DAO, there is a supplement you can take which will help give your enzyme a boost. But what if you're doing everything right You're eating low histamine, avoiding leftovers, skipping the wine, and you're still reacting? Well, that's where HNMT comes in. What is HNMT? Well, hnmt lives inside your cells, especially in places like your brain, liver and nervous system. Its job is to clear the histamine your body makes on its own, not from food, but from stress, hormones, immune responses and environmental triggers. This is the histamine that gets released by your immune system and neurons, especially when your mast cells are activated. Put simply, while DAO is the bouncer at the door, hnmt is the quiet janitor cleaning up your internal mess.

Speaker 1:

Here's a little of my story involving HNMT symptoms. For years, I didn't know HNMT existed. Probably until just a few months ago, I only knew I was exhausted, itchy, anxious, struggling to put two sentences together at times and reacting to things I just couldn't explain. I live with urticaria pigmentosa, a form of mastocytosis, and I also have MCAS, which is mast cell activation syndrome. I moved to Chicago at the end of 2011 and, shortly after moving, began seeing a mastocytosis specialist. He prescribed both H1 and H2 antihistamines, but each year it felt like I needed more meds or higher doses just to manage the symptoms. Even when I followed a low histamine diet and gave DAO all the support I could, without supplements, I still felt like my body was constantly reacting, and now I know why it was my HNMT that just couldn't keep up. Here's what that looked like for me.

Speaker 1:

The toughest symptom I dealt with was extreme fatigue. I not once, not twice, but many times fell asleep at stoplights after starting my day chasing excedrin migraine with. Here goes diet, mountain Dew. My heart would race from the caffeine, but I could still fall asleep instantly At times. I still react to fragrances, especially candles, perfumes and household cleansers, and these not-so-pleasant scents bring about migraines and fatigue. Although my reactions aren't as intense as they used to be, I have learned to stay away from them. A hot bath for me meant for relaxation would make my legs burn and itch so badly I would sit crying on the edge of the tub, wondering when or if the pain was ever going to stop. My monthly hormones would bring about migraines. Anxiety was generally present with no clear trigger, along with joint pain in my right wrist and arm. That didn't make sense at my age or activity level.

Speaker 1:

This wasn't just food. This was my nervous system and immune system crying out for help and my HNMT enzyme was overwhelmed. So what helps support HNMT? Well, you can't take a supplement, but you can support your body's ability to use it. Well. Here's what helped me, and, although we're all different, this may help you too. First, I healed my gut with the help of a functional medicine practitioner, and to support the work he started, I made a change in my diet and nutrition so inflammation didn't continue to overload my system. Eating foods rich in B12, folate, magnesium and choline nutrients that support methylation, which HNMT depends on made a big difference for me. Think along the line of pasture-raised eggs, wild-caught salmon, dark leafy greens if you can tolerate them, foods like avocados, beets, broccoli, pumpkin seeds and grass-fed beef. These aren't just healthy, they're therapeutic, which help your body process histamine more efficiently from the inside out, lowering my chronic stress load with breast work, identifying my source of stress through therapy and nervous system regulation, gentle walks instead of intense workouts, avoiding fragrances and toxins when possible and, most of all, giving myself grace and much needed rest during flare-ups.

Speaker 1:

If you're like me and you're doing all the right things and still feel stuck and frustrated, it's not your fault. This is so complex. And, no, you're not broken. You just need someone to understand both the science and the emotional roller coaster of living in a body that feels and acts unpredictable. At times. My histamine metabolism didn't turn around because of one perfect supplement. It improved when I addressed the whole picture gut health, inflammation, stress, nourishment, rest and yes, knowledge. That journey led me to become a health coach so I could help women like you feel empowered, not overwhelmed. If your symptoms are stealing your energy, your joy or your peace of mind, I'd love to help you take your power back. Visit histaminehealthcoachcom to subscribe to my weekly emails, learn more or schedule a free chat. Let's get your body working with you again, one layer at a time. Until next time, stay curious, stay kind to yourself and keep listening to your body. Have a great day. Bye.