Is it the picnic that’s making you sneeze?
Pollen usually gets the blame, but in some people, wine, cheese and even salads can trigger similar symptoms, writes
For sufferers of hay fever, pollen may not be the problem. It could be other factors in that summer picnic, like the food or the wine. Histamine is best known as the chemical released by cells in response to an allergic reaction to pollen, but it also occurs naturally in many foods and drinks.
For those who suffer from histamine intolerance (or HIT), picnic and barbecue staples such as sausages and alcohol, salads, dressings and strawberries can provoke a complex reaction that has been linked to runny or itchy eyes, diarrhoea, rashes and even wrinkles and digestive problems.
Studies have shown that alcoholic drinks are prime culprits, largely because they contain histamine produced by the fermentation of yeast and bacteria.
Red wine and beer are particularly high in histamine with one study in the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy showing that women who drank two or more glasses of wine a day were at double the risk of symptoms associated with an allergy even if they had never suffered from hay fever before.
A Swedish study found that people with asthma, hay fever and bronchitis were more likely to report a runny nose or sneezing episode after drinking red or white wine, suggesting that histamine not only causes a reaction on its own, but can worsen symptoms in those who have an existing allergy.
Apparently the lack of an enzyme called diamine oxidase (DAO) – needed to metabolise histamine in food – is the root of the problem. ‘‘People with HIT tend not to have enough DAO or have levels of the enzyme that don’t do an efficient job,’’ the director of clinical services for Allergy UK, Maureen Jenkins, says. ‘‘That means unpleasant side effects when too much of it is consumed.’’
Because its initial symptoms are similar, it’s often mistaken for hay fever, Jenkins says, but the underlying reaction is very different. ‘‘Hay fever is the result of histamine release, which is why you get the same runny nose and itchy eyes,’’ she says.
‘‘But different mechanisms are at play and there is no antibody reaction with histamine intolerance. It is not an allergy and no inflammatory response occurs as a result of it.’’ To complicate matters, while some foods contain histamine, others contain very little yet spur the release of it in the body. Prepared salads, cured meats, grapes, pickles, seafood and cheese are among the summer favourites that are likely to be problematic if you are affected.
Yasmina Ykelenstam, a Londonbased journalist, recalls suffering skin rashes and bouts of fever, joint pain and hot flushes for the best part of her early life. It was not until she was 34 and visited a microbiologist in London that everything fell into place.
‘‘I’d been misdiagnosed with everything under the sun and he was the first person to confirm that my body was intolerant to histamine,’’ she says. As she left the private clinic she was handed a list of 60 foods containing histamine that she should avoid, ‘‘and that was the only advice I was given’’. After eliminating and reintroducing some of the foods, she found that her health improved dramatically and says she is ‘‘now the healthiest and happiest I’ve ever been’’.
Ykelenstam set up a website, the Low Histamine Chef, on which she posts recipes for foods that are ‘‘rich in antihistamine and antiinflammatory, high-nutrient foods’’ alongside tips for people who suspect they might be in the same boat. Ykelenstam says that a diet rich in vitamin B6, magnesium and copper, from a range of vegetables and organic produce, is necessary for our bodies to produce the histaminelowering enzyme DAO.
But lifestyle habits also need to change. Make-up, for instance, can be problematic for women with HIT, she says.
‘‘Cosmetics can be a histamine trigger.
‘‘Certain mineral-based makeups that women buy because they are supposedly hypo-allergenic can cause problems if you are histamine intolerant. Hair dyes, shampoos and body butters can also be an issue.’’
With 16,000 followers on her Facebook page and 10,000 people on her mailing list, Ykelenstam is now campaigning for histamine intolerance to be more widely recognised.
Often, Jenkins says, HIT can be eradicated quite quickly.
‘‘It can occur as a side effect of illness or stress when someone’s system is below par,’’ she says.
‘‘People say they get a very quick reaction when they cut out offending foods temporarily.’’
For Ykelenstam, her lowhistamine diet continues to prove a revelation.
‘‘I get up to 60 emails a day, most of which are thanking me for raising awareness of histamine intolerance and helping them improve their health,’’ she says.
‘‘It’s under-recognised and so many people could benefit from making the kind of changes that prevented the misery I used to experience.’’