Histamine Health Coach

Episode 6 - What is Histamine?

• Teresa Christensen • Episode 6

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Your body's alarm system might be working overtime—and it's not just about the food you're eating. That mysterious rash, unexplained digestive distress, or persistent brain fog? Histamine could be the missing piece of your health puzzle.

Histamine isn't simply an allergic response; it's your body's natural protective mechanism. When functioning properly, it helps defend against threats and initiates healing. However, when histamine builds up faster than your body can process it, the result is a condition known as histamine intolerance. Unlike immediate allergic reactions, this imbalance creates a gradual accumulation of symptoms that can affect everything from your skin to your digestive system to your mental clarity.

The "histamine bucket" concept explains why your reactions can be inconsistent and unpredictable. Every exposure—whether it's high-histamine foods like aged cheese and leftovers, chronic stress, hormone fluctuations, poor sleep, environmental toxins, or even toxic relationships—adds to your bucket. When it finally overflows, symptoms appear. This explains why sometimes you can eat certain foods without issue, while other times they trigger intense reactions. For women especially, hormone cycles create another layer of complexity, with estrogen significantly influencing histamine levels throughout the month. These cyclical flares aren't imaginary—they're biologically real and understanding them is crucial to finding relief.

Breaking free from histamine intolerance requires more than just eliminating certain foods. It demands a holistic approach addressing stress management, quality sleep, gentle movement, and reducing your overall toxic load. Ready to take control of your histamine health? Visit histaminehealthcoach.com for a free low histamine diet starter plan and discover how working with a specialist can help you address the lifestyle factors keeping you trapped in the histamine cycle. You don't have to navigate this journey alone.

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. Hi, welcome back to Histamine Health Coach, where we navigate life with histamine intolerance and find ways to fill our vest. I'm Teresa, your histamine health coach, and today we're diving into a question I get all the time what is histamine?

Speaker 1:

Whether you've been newly diagnosed with histamine intolerance or you're just curious about some symptoms you may be experiencing, this is a great place to start. My doctor first diagnosed my skin rash and they simply told me that I had too much histamine in my body. They explained that histamine could appear in the skin, the liver and kidneys, and in my case it showed up in my skin. But that was 30 years ago and back then that was all the information I had. Today, if I searched what is histamine on Google, I'd find several sites explaining that the immune system releases a histamine, along with the usual scientific details, but in a very clinical way. My goal today is to make histamine easier to understand in a less clinical way.

Speaker 1:

So it all starts in the body's defense and repair system. One of the body's main jobs is to protect you and help you heal. Your immune system is part of this defense. It's always on the lookout for danger, like bacteria and viruses. Sometimes, though, it overreacts to things that actually aren't that dangerous, like pollen, certain foods or even just a small knife cut. When that happens, it sounds the alarm by releasing histamine. Now, histamine is not the enemy. It's simply your body's way of responding to a perceived threat. When histamine is released, it causes inflammation to help your body fight back and alert you that something's going on. This inflammatory response might look like swelling, redness, an itchy rash or even congestion triggered by some pollen. Basically, it's your body's way of saying, hey, something's going wrong. Normally, though, when the threat is gone, your body will break down the histamine and everything returns to normal.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes, the body struggles to break down histamine properly. When this happens, histamine keeps building up and the inflammatory response doesn't stop. This extra histamine, however, doesn't always show up as a rash. Histamine overload can show up as digestive issues like bloating or nausea, congestion and a running nose, food intolerances, headaches, fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, stress or other confusing symptoms. When the histamine builds up faster than the body can clear it. This is called histamine intolerance. Unlike a food allergy, where the immune system reacts immediately, histamine intolerance happens because the body can't break down histamine fast enough. This leads to ongoing inflammation and a cycle of symptoms.

Speaker 1:

Histamine intolerance isn't just about what's going on inside our body. Outside factors can make it worse too, and I really want to highlight this because it's easy to get stuck thinking that it's all about the food. But histamine overload is more like a bucket Everything you're exposed to adds a little more to it. Eventually the bucket spills over and that's when symptoms show up. So let's break down some of the common triggers that can fill your histamine bucket faster than your body can empty it. First up, we have high histamine foods, things like aged cheeses, fermented foods, processed meats, alcohol and even leftovers. These can be sneaky because they're often considered healthy, trendy or contribute to an easier lifestyle, as it's much more convenient to reheat last night's dinner instead of having to prepare a fresh meal for your family on a nightly basis. But if your body can't clear histamine well, then they can cause a big reaction.

Speaker 1:

Then there's stress. When you're under stress whether it's physical, emotional or even low-level day-to-day stress your body releases more histamine. It's part of your body's natural fight-or-flight response. But when that stress becomes chronic, so does the histamine release. Hormone imbalances. Yes, I said it, ladies, are you listening? Hormones like estrogen can actually influence histamine levels, which is why so many women experience flares at certain times of the month. It's not in your head, it's very, very real.

Speaker 1:

Sleep is another big one. If you're not getting restful, quality sleep, your body can't do the repair work that it needs to, including clearing out your histamine. And guess what? Poor sleep can also increase stress, which creates a vicious cycle. And let's not forget about toxins, not just the ones in our environment, like pollution, fragrances, cleaning products, but also the ones we don't always think about toxic thoughts, toxic habits and, yes, even toxic relationships. These add up to the overall stress load and push your body further into a survival mode.

Speaker 1:

Lastly, there's lack of movement. When you're sedentary, lymph flow slows down, detox pathways get sluggish and your body struggles to move histamine out effectively. This doesn't mean that you need intense workouts Gentle, constant movement, like walking and stretching, can make a big difference. So when you put it all together food, stress, hormones, sleep, toxins and movement it becomes clear that histamine intolerance is about the whole picture. All of these factors add up and when they're not addressed, histamine levels become harder and harder to manage. But the good news is, with awareness and the right strategies, we can take control of the pieces that are within our reach. So if you're struggling with histamine intolerance, you don't have to figure it out alone.

Speaker 1:

Managing histamine isn't just about avoiding certain foods. It's about making lifestyle changes to help your body process histamine better so you can feel your best. As a histamine health coach, I help women, just like you, understand which foods are triggering your symptoms. Just like you understand which foods are triggering your symptoms. Navigate a low histamine lifestyle without feeling restricted and addressing hidden factors like stress, sleep and movement that impact histamine levels. If you're ready to take the first step in managing your histamine intolerance, go to histaminehealthcoachcom and you can download my free low histamine diet starter plan and start making food choices that support your body and, when you're ready, apply to work with me and together we'll adjust the lifestyle factors that are keeping you stuck in a histamine cycle.

Speaker 1:

I know what it's like to live in fear of food and symptoms I've been there but I also know that there's a way out and you don't have to do this alone. There is hope and I'm here to help. If you know someone who needs this information, please feel free to share. Thank you for being here today and I'll see you guys next time. Bye-bye.