Histamine Intolerance and Women’s Health

Chloe Hall | RD MSc BSc

Histamine intolerance often goes unrecognised by healthcare professionals, leading to unexplained reactions in individuals. Women are more likely to develop adverse reactions to food and this is something we see in clinical practice with histamine intolerance; potentially due to hormonal fluctuations. This article will explore the link between histamine intolerance, women’s health and what research we need to help support women with this intolerance.

What is histamine intolerance?

Histamine is a chemical that acts as a messenger in our bodies and plays many important roles including in gastric acid secretion, our inflammatory response to infections and muscle contractions. We need histamine in our bodies and at normal levels it doesn’t cause any problems. 

Histamine intolerance is when histamine levels in our bodies rise, and results in the inability to regulate the amount of histamine within normal levels. Our body and our gut bacteria, produce histamine and we consume histamine in the food and drink that we eat.

Why is histamine intolerance more common in women?

Women's bodies undergo regular hormonal fluctuations. Fluctuations of oestrogen and progesterone in particular are thought to influence histamine levels. When your oestrogen increases, your body releases more histamine. Histamine then stimulates your body to release more oestrogen, resulting in a really vicious cycle!

Hormonal factors that may contribute to histamine intolerance in women include:

• Menstrual cycle

Some women find that the signs of histamine intolerance may be worse in the second half of their menstrual cycle when there are several peaks in oestrogen levels.

Diamine oxidase levels, the primary enzyme that breaks down the histamine in the food and drink we consume, also fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle which may play a role in histamine intolerance.

• Perimenopause

Oestrogen levels can peak higher during the perimenopause than in a typical menstrual cycle, causing histamine levels to increase.

In addition to this, progesterone levels decrease. Progesterone is thought to have mast cell-stabilising effects, which helps to stop the overproduction of histamine by our own bodies.

• Oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Certain birth control pills and (HRT) raise oestrogen levels, potentially leading to an increase in histamine levels, especially in women with pre-existing histamine intolerance.

Future research and women's health

There is growing interest in exploring the connection between histamine intolerance and hormonal health in women. Researchers continue to investigate how oestrogen and progesterone interact with histamine, with the aim of developing better diagnostic tools and targeted treatments for women. 

At present, we lack good studies and robust diagnostic tools for this condition. Diagnosis at present relies on a 2-4 week low histamine diet followed by guided re-introduction. This should only be done with a nutrition professional with expertise in this area, such as a Registered Dietitian.

Final thoughts

Histamine intolerance is often-overlooked and can affect many aspects of a woman’s health. Given its association with hormonal fluctuations, histamine intolerance may be especially relevant for women experiencing reactions that fluctuate with their menstrual cycle or other significant hormonal changes.

 

 

Author

Some of you might know Chloe Hall already as The Calm Gut Dietitian. Chloe has over 13 years of experience working in the NHS. She now runs her own practice specialising in gut health, histamine intolerance, MCAS, Long Covid and PoTS. She is on the dietetic advisory board for two charities: The IBS Network, the national charity for those with IBS, and Mast Cell Action, the national charity for those with MCAS. 

 

 

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