Your histamine reactions are often triggered by foods and alcohol, and while tackling these two factors is essential in lowering our histamine levels, did you know that your home and the products you use could be contributing to your histamine activations? This blog will discuss some of the common at-home triggers we find for histamine activation and some simple solutions and tricks to help us on our journey towards lowering our histamine levels.
Histamines are the chemicals that your immune system makes to help rid your body of potential danger (allergens). The word ‘allergies’ covers everything from eczema to hay fever to food or drug allergies. These allergens tend to cause symptoms all over the body. Common allergens include but are not limited to; food, drugs, insect bites, mould, pet hair, pollen and other environmental triggers. Histamines are part of our body’s defence, causing you to itch, sneeze, or tear up in order to expel the allergens from your system. They are there to protect us.
However, when our bodies are overloaded with histamines, that’s when things start to go wrong. When our body sees the trigger (pollen, pet hair etc) as a more serious threat than it is in reality, our immune system reacts accordingly, releasing higher levels of histamine to try and eliminate these dangers.
Histamines are stored in our mast cells, and the body sends a signal to these mast cells to release histamines. Mast cells are a type of white blood cell that contains compounds that play a role in immunity. Histamine is one of these compounds, as well as leukotrienes (which also plays a role in allergies), ATP (our primary energy source), inflammatory cytokines and certain enzymes. It is the mast cells’ job to carry these compounds around the bloodstream, releasing its different contents when triggered. If mast cells release these contents all at once, the person will have anaphylaxis which can be life-threatening. Mast cells are found in your skin, blood, gut, lungs, nose and mouth. After the histamines are released from the mast cells, they cause blood flow to the area in which the histamines travelled to, causing inflammation.
Histamines, therefore, are an essential and natural part of our body’s defence system, so how come there are those of us who are intolerant? First of all, histamine intolerance does not mean we have a sensitivity to histamines, but rather we produce too much of it. Our bodily systems believe us to be nearly constantly under threat, meaning we can have a constant and high release of histamines all the time. Although the symptoms vary depending on the individual, some of the common reactions to high histamine levels are; itchy skin, dry or irritated eyes, hay fever-like symptoms, runny nose, bloating, abdominal discomfort, fatigue, headaches, irregular menstrual cycle, hives, anxiety, acne, eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis.
Food and alcohol are some of the most common histamine triggers, and also the most discussed. But did you know your environment could be adding to your histamine overload, causing headaches, running nose, itchy eyes and fatigue? In previous blogs we have discussed the internal triggers and solutions to battling histamine intolerance, in this blog we will look at some histamine activation at home and in your environment.
Fragrances, chemicals such as triclosan, chlorine and ammonia, mould, plants in your garden, pesticides, phthalates, non-stick pans are all factors in your home that could be contributing to your histamine load. What products are we using that contain these substances, how do we know what to look for and what are some substitutes for things like perfume, candles, toilet cleaner and surface spray? The answers to this question can be found through Naturopath Charmaine D’s Histamine Activation Teaching and Learning Guide. By working alongside Charmaine, not only will you have a professional on your side, guiding you through your histamine intolerance, but you will be provided with a take-home guide to forever return to, to help educate you in all things histamine activation.
In addition to the triggers at home, you will also learn about things at work that may trigger you and how to navigate that, as well as in social settings. She also takes a look at the connections between exercise and histamine activation and heavy metal toxicity/burden and its relationship with histamine activation.
In conclusion, there is more than just food and supplements that can help your histamine activation. If you have started this journey and feel as if you have hit your head on the ceiling and are still feeling symptoms of fatigue, headaches or itchiness, then you may need to look towards your home and environment and start making some environmental changes. Minimising external triggers in conjunction with internal triggers ensures you are holistically approaching this issue and guarantees are a better outcome. For more information on histamine activation, environmental triggers or anything relating to histamines, contact Naturopath Charmaine D. Charmaine can help educate and support you on your histamine reducing journey.