Migraines and Histamine Intolerance
Did you know that there is a migraine warrior in one of every four households? Migraines affect about 12% of the US population. I was one of them. I had migraines for years before I discovered that histamine intolerance was causing them (1).
In this article, I will explain what migraines are. You will understand what histamine intolerance is and how it plays a role in your migraines. I will also share some of my best natural tips for migraines and histamine intolerance.
What Are Migraines
Migraines are actually a syndrome that consists of different symptoms, like a debilitating headache characterized by throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation. While they often occur on one side of the head only, it can also affect both sides. Migraines often also cause nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound as well. They may come with an aura, which includes visual or other disturbances, such as light flashes, blind spots, tingling, or speech difficulties.
Migraines can last anywhere from a few hours to days. While some people only suffer from occasional migraines, many experience regular or chronic migraines.
Migraine medications tend to come with a long list of side effects and tend to not offer much help at all. Natural approaches, including lifestyle changes, supplements, and nutrition are much safer and often more beneficial (1, 2, 3).
Histamine and Histamine Intolerance
Histamine is responsible for various bodily functions, including fighting off allergens as part of your immune response, communicating with your brain, and promoting stomach acid release to aid digestion. While histamine plays an important role in your health, too much histamine can become a serious problem. Histamine intolerance means that you have too much histamine which can result in various symptoms and health issues. Migraines are one of them.
As a natural part of your natural immune response, your body releases certain enzymes to break down any histamine build-up. The problem is that if your body has too much histamine from food or other sources, it simply won’t be able to break down the excess histamine effectively and completely. Histamine intolerance is a full-body issue that can affect all parts of your body, including your gut, brain, lungs, cardiovascular system, and hormonal health. Histamine intolerance can show up in your body in various ways, including migraines, headaches, skin problems, hormonal issues, digestive issues, sleep disturbances, bladder problems, anxiety, seasonal allergies, and more (4).
Migraines and Histamine Intolerance
The link between migraines and histamine is not new. Many health practitioners suggest eliminating chocolate, coffee, tomatoes, and other high-histamine foods as potential triggers. Keeping a migraine diary, migraine warriors often find that certain high-histamine foods may be the trigger. Thanks to research, however, we finally have more understanding of how migraines and histamine are connected.
Research has found that people with chronic migraines have higher levels of histamine in their plasma and increased histamine-releasing brain mast cells. Scientists have found that up to 90% of migraine patients have a deficiency in Diamine Oxidase (DAO), an enzyme responsible for histamine breakdown. Studies indicate that DAO deficiency may also increase the risk of migraines, while DAO supplementation may decrease the length of migraine attacks (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11).
While researchers have found that eating high-histamine foods can trigger migraines in both chronic migraine patients and in those who normally don’t have migraines and a low histamine diet can help migraineurs. One study has found that 73.3% of migraine patients experienced relief when following a low-histamine diet (7, 12).
Menstrual Migraines and Histamine Intolerance
“But, Dr. Becky, I only get migraines around my period. Can it still be from histamine?” Great question! You are not alone, millions of women experience migraines before or during their period. While most women believe that they can’t do anything about these menstrual migraines, it is far from the truth. Histamine intolerance may play a role in your menstrual migraines.
If you read my article on the connection between estrogen and histamine intolerance, and histamine intolerance and PCOS, you will understand that histamine intolerance can seriously impact your hormonal health and lead to premenstrual and menstrual symptoms, including migraines.
Hormonal imbalances are one of the main causes of histamine intolerance. Estrogen dominance occurs in your body when your estrogen and progesterone levels get out of balance and you end up with too much estrogen. Estrogen dominance plays a key role in hormonal issues and symptoms of a variety of issues that affect women, including migraines, headaches, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), menstrual cramping, decreased libido, weight gain, hot flashes, and more. If you are experiencing migraines or headaches before or during your period, there is a high chance that it’s from histamine intolerance (13).
Headaches and Histamine Intolerance
Migraines are not the only form of headache that millions of people are dealing with worldwide. Even if you are not a migraines warrior, there is a good chance that you experience other types of headaches on a regular basis. You may wonder whether or not a low-histamine diet can help you.
The answer is yes, histamine intolerance may be behind non-migraine headaches. Histamine intolerance can lead to inflammation, muscle tension, and gut flora imbalance which may contribute to headaches. Research has shown that eating a low-histamine diet a large number of non-migraine chronic headache patients have experienced decreased headaches. I often hear from my patients that they’ve noticed less or no headaches since adopting a low-histamine diet (12).
Natural Solutions
If you are a migraine warrior like I was, I bet you want to hear some natural solutions that can help you to experience freedom from migraines. Here is what I recommend:
Follow an Anti-Inflammatory and Low-Histamine Diet
Following an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant-rich, and nutrient-dense diet is important for your health. Reducing inflammation itself may help to reduce migraines and headaches. Reducing histamine may help to decrease histamine-related migraines and headaches.
Remove inflammatory foods, including refined sugar, refined oils, canned and processed meat, artificial ingredients, junk food, and highly processed foods. Avoid high-histamine foods, such as fermented food (e.g., sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented vegetables, kombucha, etc.), aged food (e.g., aged cheese, processed meat, canned fish, etc.), over-ripe fruits and vegetables, leftovers, and foods that are naturally high in histamine (e.g., avocadoes, eggplant, spinach, dried fruits, etc.). Avoid foods that may trigger histamine releases, such as tomatoes, most citrus, bananas, most nuts, and dairy. Avoid foods that may block the DAO enzyme, including black tea, green tea, alcohol, and energy drinks.
Eat a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory, and low-histamine diet rich in greens, vegetables, herbs, spices, fruits, healthy fats, and organic meat. Low-histamine foods include most fresh leafy greens and vegetables, non-citrus fruits, such as apples, pear, papaya, and grapes, fresh grass-fed meat, pasture-raised poultry and eggs, and wild-caught fish, olives, extra-virgin olive oil, ghee, coconut oil, leafy herbs, and herbal tea. My book, The 4-Phase Histamine Reset Plan includes an extensive list of foods that you can eat and should avoid on a low-histamine diet.
If you are new to a low-histamine diet, remember to have fun experimenting with new foods and recipes. I promise low-histamine meals can be delicious. I recommend all the low-histamine recipes in The 4-Phase Histamine Reset Plan and my new recipe book, Fifty One Low Histamine Air Fryer Recipes. They are all simple, easy to make, low-histamine, gluten-free, Paleo-friendly, and super healthy. Not to mention how delicious they are — your family will love them too.
Reduce Your Histamine Bucket
If you are dealing with symptoms of histamine intolerance, reducing high-histamine foods is not enough. High stress, poor sleep, not moving your body, and high toxin exposure may add to your histamine load. Improving these areas of your lifestyle may help to reduce your histamine bucket and lower the risk of histamine-related issues.
Remove Toxins
Toxin overload can increase inflammation, histamine intolerance, and related migraines. It’s critical that you lower your daily exposure to environmental toxins. Choose purified water over tap water. Use a high-quality air filtration system for better indoor air. Choose natural, organic, and homemade cleaning, personal hygiene, and beauty products instead of conventional brands loaded with chemicals. Choose glass, bamboo, wood, organic cotton, silicon, and other natural alternatives instead of plastic. Avoid BPA plastic completely. Choose organic food whenever possible and avoid overly processed packaged foods. If you must buy non-organic produce, follow the Dirty Dozen, Clean 15 list, and always wash and peel non-organic vegetables and fruits.
Reduce Your Stress Levels
Chronic stress can increase muscle tension and related migraines or headaches. It may increase mast cell activation and histamine intolerance and histamine-related migraines or headaches. To decrease your stress levels, I recommend practicing breathwork, meditation, positive affirmation, journaling, yoga, grounding, and time in nature for stress and anxiety reduction. Taking an Epsom salt bath is another great way to relax your muscles, calm your mind, and detoxify your body.
Get Enough Sleep Sleep
Inadequate and poor sleep may also increase stress, muscle tension, and related migraines or headaches. It may also trigger histamine and histamine-related issues. Improving your sleep is absolutely essential for your health. Your goal should be to sleep at least 7 to 9 hours a night. Lower your stress levels throughout the day but especially in the evening time to support sleep. Take a bath, read a good book, listen to some music, journal, try coloring, and spend time with your family. Avoid sugar, alcohol, and heavy food in the evening. Sleep on a supportive mattress with comfortable and supportive pillows and blankets, and quality, organic cotton sheets.
Move Your Body
A lack of movement may also increase the risk of histamine intolerance and related migraines. Moving your body is a great way to reduce stress, improve detoxification, and improve your overall health. Move your body throughout the day. Stretch regularly. Take a stroll in the nearby park. Find creative ways to incorporate movement, such as an impromptu dance session, learning a new TikTok dance, playing with your kids or pets, taking the stairs, trying a treadmill desk, or practicing chair yoga. Exercise at least 20 to 30 minutes five days a week and move your body regularly. I recommend getting 10 to 15K steps in a day if you can. Add resistance and strength training to your routine.
Support Your Gut
Your gut health affects your entire body. Gut flora imbalance can trigger both histamine intolerance and migraines. Supporting your gut health is critical for your recovery. Along with a gut-friendly, low-histamine, anti-inflammatory diet, I recommend that you take a high-quality probiotics supplement, to support your gut microbiome balance.
Try Some Supplements
I recommend HistoRelief. It is a synergistic blend of nutrients that provides natural support to balance your immune response. This blend features Tinofend®, a patented and clinically researched extract derived from the plant Tinospora cordifolia, which has a powerful ability to support immune regulation and immune response. As a result, it boosts your body’s ability to fight histamine-related symptoms. It includes quercetin, nettle leaf, vitamin C, and bicarbonate salt to help inhibit histamine release, support normal histamine metabolism, and improve immune health.
Final Thoughts
Histamine intolerance is a common underlying issue behind migraines and headaches. Addressing histamine intolerance and reducing your histamine load is critical for improving your symptoms. I recommend that you follow the strategies outlined in this article to improve your health.
If you are dealing with symptoms of histamine intolerance, migraines, or headaches, I invite you to schedule a consultation with us. We can help identify the root cause of your condition and recommend a personalized treatment plan to repair your body and regain your health and well-being. Schedule your consultation here. I also recommend that you check out my Histamine Online Program.
