Histamine Intolerance

Transcript:

Melanie: Hello and welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. Today we're diving into a topic that may be new to many of you, and it is histamine intolerance. If you've been experiencing unexplained symptoms like headaches, heartburn, unexplained itching, unexplained diarrhea, hives, racing heart, or fast beating heartbeat, this episode may be for you. Hi, my name is Melanie and I'm a Registered and Licensed Dietitian in the field of nutrition for over 35 years. I can't believe it's been that long.

Britni: You know your stuff.

Melanie: I guess so.

Britni: And I am Britni Vincent. I'm a Registered and Licensed Dietitian as well, and I think it's great we're talking about this because I guarantee you there are going to be some listeners that are like, oh my gosh, that's me. That explains my symptoms.

Melanie: Yes, they feel like weirdos because no one can figure them out, but you're not a weirdo. And I don't know about you, Britni, but I'm working with more and more clients that come in with these symptoms, and they don't know what is causing them.

And that can be so frustrating. But as a dietitian, I see the red flags that suggest histamine intolerance. And then once we get them on a low histamine diet, they start to see symptoms improve and they start to feel much better pretty quickly. And it's really rewarding to see my clients get their life back and have some relief because these symptoms can be so plaguing and so frustrating.

Britni: Yeah. Yeah. I agree. You know, I have one client I can think of that we discovered histamine intolerance for her and, and it's a lot of it is in relation to her environmental allergies.

Melanie: Ah. So when the environmental allergies are high, what happens?

Britni: Which, so that creates more of a histamine reaction in the body. So then she's more likely to react to other things, and for her, the reaction is migraines. And so since she's figured out this connection and she's figured out how to lower her body's histamine production, her migraines have gotten so much better. And how she approaches it is different in those periods of high allergy season too.

Melanie: Yeah. Boy, I bet she's so glad. Those migraines are debilitating.

What is histamine intolerance?

Britni: They’re awful. So I think a lot of people want to know what is histamine intolerance? Well, let's start with the basics. So histamine, it's a natural compound found in tissues throughout the body, plays many important roles in the immune system, digestion. And even the nervous system. So I think everybody's probably heard of histamine in the context of allergies like I just mentioned. So when your body releases histamine, you might get watery eyes or runny or stuffed out nose, sneezing, or even skin reactions.

Melanie: This is what you see on commercials for antihistamines, right?

Britni: Yep, exactly. And you know, typically, like you said, the recommendation is you take antihistamines, and they can work to treat these mild symptoms, but sometimes it's not always enough. You have to look at your diet as well.

But here's the key. Histamine isn't just something your body makes. It's also in the foods we eat. Sometimes a buildup of histamine, and the clearing out of histamine gets out of balance. So here's a little breakdown of how this works. Histidine is an essential amino acid we get from eating protein. So the body converts histidine to histamine, which helps us and in our immune response. So it's released during allergic reactions to help fight off things your body sees as a threat. Like pollen, dust, I mean, whatever you're allergic to.

Melanie: A bee sting. You know, if you're stung by mosquitoes and you are someone that swells up really large, that's a histamine response.

Britni: Yep. Also in stomach digestion. It helps produce stomach acid to break down food. Brain function: it acts as a messenger in the brain helping with alertness and other functions. So histamine protects you, it helps digest food, it supports brain activity, but it's like too much of a good thing. So then too much of it can cause allergy symptoms: itching, sneezing, hives, and normally our bodies in this situation will break down the extra histamine using two different enzymes, DAO, which handles histamine in the gut and then another one, HNMT: that handles histamine inside the body's tissues, like your brain.

Melanie: Mm-hmm.

Britni: So both keep histamine levels in check to prevent overload.

Mel: And that DAO is, you know, it's fancy name, Diamine Oxidase. And you can be actually someone who's prone to it genetically if you do not make enough DAO, so maybe you've been plagued with this for a while. And it can be something that all of a sudden now your symptoms are over the chart problematic.

Britni: Yeah, so if you're somebody who genetically just doesn't have enough of that HNMT activity genetics, or you're just consuming more histamine than your body can handle, that overwhelm of histamine in the body to your system can cause you to develop symptoms of histamine intolerance.

Melanie: And I think, you know, people will suddenly start seeing if they're prone toward a histamine intolerance with all the fermented foods that we're eating. Suddenly they don't feel well when everybody else is enjoying these fermented foods.

Britni: That is a question I will ask clients if I suspect. Well, how do you feel after you eat fermented foods?

Melanie: Mm-hmm. Like kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha.

Britni: Yeah.

How might you know if you have histamine intolerance?

Melanie: Yogurt. All of these, everybody else is eating them. Bone broth. And then you're like, but I feel lousy. So how would you know if this is happening in your body? Well, histamine intolerance can be really tricky to diagnose because the symptoms are so vast and can overlap with so many other conditions. But let's discuss some main symptoms.

If I'm reviewing a client's health history and they've checked off several of these symptoms, my mind starts thinking histamine intolerance, like you were saying. And again, it might be things like they have headaches or migraines, they wake up with nasal congestion, or they're constantly have post-nasal drip or other common allergy like symptoms.

They might have digestive issues like bloating, sudden diarrhea, heartburn. Abdominal pain or vomiting. Skin reactions like flushing or itching, rash or hives or rapid heartbeat or even dizziness; heat intolerance or hot flashes. Some people just don't feel like they feel well when they're in the sun or they go on a hot vacation, you know?

Other symptoms can be things like mood, you know, because histamine affects neurotransmitters. You might feel like during allergy season, your mood takes a tank. And so because of these symptoms, they can pop up for hours, even days after eating higher histamine foods. It's not always obvious what's causing them. It is possible to get your histamine and your DAO levels tested. It's not very common. Most mainstream doctors don't really address histamine intolerance.

But you can get those levels tested with blood or urine tests through a specialized medical provider. And if you can find a provider that is willing to do that testing, it's information, but it's not curative. So even without a medical test, you can practice a low histamine diet. That's the litmus test to see if it helps, if you see improvements within a few days of changing your diet, or even like a week or two, that's really a telltale sign that it's a histamine problem without all of the diagnostic testing. I had a client who came to me, and she had a rash that covered her body from head to toe for 10 years.

Britni: Oh, wow.

Melanie: She'd been diagnosed with celiac disease, and she was told by her physician that that's just part of being diagnosed with celiac disease. She was at her wit's end. She had a small child. It was terrible.

Britni: Miserable.

Melanie: Really what we ended up doing is I said, let's try a low histamine diet, put her on some key supplements. She came back in tears because it was the first time in 10 years she didn't have a rash all over her body.

Britni: Oh my goodness.

Melanie: And she thought she was allergic to the sun. You know, she couldn't take hot showers because all of these things. Heat raises histamine. Yeah, so it was such a very gratifying to give her some relief.

Britni: And you mentioned hives. So I've had clients with hives over the years, and if you look into it, the vast majority of people that have hives are diagnosed with idiopathic hives, which means they have no idea what the cause is, but it's more than likely a histamine intolerance.

Melanie: Yes. Which you know, even if you have someone who really reacts in the fall or really reacts in the spring, like we're in fall right now, if you, if you start monitoring and lowering some of those high histamine foods, many times your “seasonal symptoms” improve.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Because histamine is like a bucket. And so if you are somebody who is allergic to all the pollen in the fall, that starts filling your bucket, and then if you're stressed, that can fill your bucket with more histamine. And then if you work out really hard and your body gets hot, that can fill your bucket with more histamine. And let's say it's your menstrual cycle. When estrogen raises that tips the bucket, and now you have these hives, these “idiopathic hives”. And you have some control here if we just lower some of these things, take cooler showers and a low histamine diet. So it's complicated, but it's, it's doable.

Britni: Yeah. And for some people it might just be seasonal that they have to pay extra attention. Like my client that I mentioned, and I believe you can think of it as like a spectrum.

Mel: Yes. I love that.

Britni: So, you know, everybody's a little bit unique in where they fall and what they can tolerate. And I think one of the reasons a histamine intolerance is so hard to diagnose is because there is just such an array of different symptoms. And they can be associated with all sorts of other medical conditions.

Melanie: So you might be thinking, I don't get migraines.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: But maybe you have chronic heartburn that no matter what you do, you can't figure it out.

Britni: And, you know, all of a sudden you're getting all these symptoms without knowing what's causing them. And like you said earlier, Mel, it's not necessarily this immediate reaction all the time and sometimes it's a cumulative effect.

What can cause DAO enzymes to diminish? (1 reason: gut health)

This gets extremely tricky to figure out on your own. And oftentimes, you know, it is the true test of just reducing these high histamine foods and see how you feel. Like I mentioned earlier, we need enough of the DAO enzyme to break down histamine. So what would cause these DAO enzymes to diminish in the first place? So, like you mentioned earlier, sometimes there's a genetic component, but a lot of times it ties back to our gut health.

Melanie: Yes. Many times.

Britni: And we talk about gut health probably almost every episode

Melanie: Because it affects everything.

Britni: It really is the foundation of our health. And so many things can just be tied back to poor gut health. So the DAO enzyme is produced in our intestine, so any compromise to the health of the intestine, as in the case of leaky gut…

Melanie: Celiac disease.

Britni: Celiac. You know, many people with IBS are also going to have permeable lining of the intestines. And so all of these things could result in lack of the DAO enzyme, therefore, in pairing the breakdown of histamine. So basically in these scenarios, your body just can't break down histamine efficiently or clear it. And so then your bucket fills up, and then you might get any of those symptoms that you mentioned earlier. So this is a major reason why those who suffer from GI conditions seem to suffer from histamine intolerance more often.

The mold toxicity connection to histamine intolerance

Mel: You know, I feel like a lot of it comes from digestive issues, but also I've seen a lot of clients who have had mold toxicity and with that mold exposure that has tipped their bucket into, now I have a histamine intolerance, I don’t know where it came from. And if you sort of dig into their history, they were exposed to living in a place that had a lot of mold. So mold can be a problem.

Estrogen dominance can be a factor with histamine intolerance

And estrogen dominance can be a problem because estrogen can tip and affect histamine. So somebody may feel really, really great. And then during their menstrual cycle, now they feel horrible. They have migraines, they have hives or heartburn suddenly, or, you know, really affects that PMS, mood.

I did have a client and she lived in an apartment that had a lot of mold and she felt horrible. She felt horrible. She didn't realize it until, you know, they pulled some bathroom out because there was leaking. And she found behind the sink in the bathroom was a lot of mold she'd been living with. And she was experiencing symptoms of random hives.

She was having migraines, her nose constantly dripped. Every time she ate it was worse. And so she got out of that mold environment. We had to do some mold detox. So not only a low mold and a low histamine diet. We found a practitioner that worked with mold and then she slowly began to improve. But mold can be really devastating. It's not something we think of.

Britni: No, it's not. Well, it is already time for our break, and we will be right back and talk to you more about histamine intolerance.

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Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. I am Britni Vincent. I'm here with Melanie Beasley, and we are talking about histamine intolerance. Prior to the break we were discussing for a lot of individuals, it stems from poor gut health or sometimes environmental exposures like mold could also be a contributing factor.

Lifestyle factors can contribute to histamine intolerance (stress, lack of sleep, hormone imbalance)

But there are of course lifestyle factors that can contribute: stress, lack of sleep. Hormone imbalance, especially estrogen dominance. So if your body is overstressed, consuming a diet high in histamine foods can just overload the gut with histamines leading to these symptoms. So it's important to not only look at diet, but also at lifestyle factors like chronic stress that may be contributing to your body developing a histamine intolerance.

Melanie: It also raises your, raises your load. So if you have a histamine intolerance and you feel like you're managing and suddenly you're going through a stressful event, your bucket gets starts filling.

How to eat & cooking/storing strategies if you have histamine intolerance

Britni: Sure. Yeah. So let's talk more details about diet because that's what we do as dietitians.

Melanie: Then you can have some control, right?

Britni: So certain foods naturally contain high levels of histamine, while others can trigger your body to release histamine or block that enzyme DAO. So when thinking of high histamine foods, the key is to think of aged food. Any foods with high bacteria in them can create high histamine. So some main examples could include, and we mentioned these earlier, fermented foods, so sauerkraut, kombucha, soy sauce, yogurt, aged cheeses, cured meats and smoked fish.

Most beef is high in histamine because it's usually aged several days before it's actually sold, but you could talk to your local butcher and get some fresher cuts of beef. Ground beef is still going to be high histamine, but other cuts could be okay if unaged, again, depending on the person. Bone broth is high histamine because it's made by cooking for several hours.

Melanie: So histamine being something that causes food to spoil. If you just think the older the food, the longer cooking the food.

Britni: It's a good way to think about it. Yeah. Simplifies it a little bit. High yeast foods like sourdough bread, fermented alcoholic beverages like wine and beer.

Melanie: Yep. And you know, even if it's not fermented, it's like a distilled hard liquor. That liquor prevents DAO production.

Britni: So, either way, not great.

Melanie: It's not really a, you know, histamine intolerance, you really can't party. And have much of a cocktail or an alcohol because you're going to pay for it. So other foods and ingredients to avoid are vinegar, you know, like a wine vinegar. Or brandy vinegar. They are coming from something that's fermented. Brandy's fermented, and foods fermented, like pickles and olives, kimchi, sauerkraut, you know, interestingly enough, there are two vinegars that are pretty well tolerated, and that's apple cider vinegar and a white distilled vinegar. White distilled vinegar is literally histamine free. So if you're going to make a salad dressing.

Britni: Yeah. Good to know.

Melanie: There you go. So, and then dried fruits like raisins, prunes, and dates, they build, you know, mold and they're aged, right, to be dried. Some nuts like almonds, cashews, peanuts, walnuts can be triggered for some individuals, other individuals might tolerate it well.

Remember we said there's a spectrum here. You know, coffee, black and green tea are fermented sources of both mold and can be problematic with histamine. Even some fresh fruits and vegetables are high in histamine, naturally, and those would be tomatoes, spinach, eggplant, mushrooms, avocados, strawberries, bananas, pineapple and citrus fruits are all high naturally in histamine, so there's plenty of others out there. It sounds like a lot. Very daunting.

Britni: We'll talk about, you know, flipping it and focusing on which things to consume in your diet. But we've been talking about aged foods, so a huge category is avoiding leftovers, because histamine builds up the longer food sits, especially meat dishes. So that could be you make something, you freeze it right away in individual containers.

Melanie: Yep. As soon as it's made before you sit down and have the meal, you take whatever's left over, you put it in small portions.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: I like to use silicone Ziploc bags because you can put it hot in there. You're not worried about plastics, put it immediately in the freezer. So now it's not building histamine while you're sitting there eating. Plus, when you're done eating, you, you've got a cleaned up kitchen.

Britni: There you go.

Melanie: But yeah, that's certainly a way to do it. And the smaller the portion that you're freezing, the faster it will freeze.

Britni: Yeah. I have a couple clients that do that because they've realized, oh man, on day three of eating leftovers, I do not feel good. One of my clients in particular, she will freeze leftovers. She also has a lot of environmental allergies, so that's one of her strategies to, to help her symptoms. And, you know, the same goes with a slow cooker because think about how long that's sitting cooking. Or foods that sit under heat lamps for hours, like buffet food or rotisserie chicken. So you'll need to eat foods that are cooked relatively quickly and then, like I mentioned, freeze the leftovers right away.

Melanie: So some of my clients will ask, well, what if I heat it really hot? It's not like bacteria. You can't kill histamine. So it just builds and it stays there.

Britni: That's a really great point. I can see how people would think that.

Melanie: Yeah, it makes sense, but it doesn't work that way.

Britni: So instead of a slow cooker, an instant pot can be a really great alternative. And you know, like you said, the list at first seems very overwhelming, but there are still plenty of foods that fit in a low histamine diet, and it doesn't necessarily mean you'll have to cut out all of these foods forever.

I like to recommend starting off pretty strict with a very low histamine diet for at least several weeks while your body heals and symptoms improve. And then down the road some people are able to slowly add in small amounts of higher histamine foods to see which ones trigger symptoms.

Melanie: I love this too, because if you, if you incorporate something, you know you're doing really well after three weeks, and then you incorporate a little bit of a higher histamine food, and then you wait several more days before you try it, you then you're, you're mitigating that problem of filling up the bucket by having it, oh, I can have this, and then you have it every day. That's not going to work.

Britni: So it can be a long road of ongoing experimentation. So it's always a good idea to work with a dietitian like Melanie or myself who can help guide you so you're not so overwhelmed.

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Melanie: You know, you're right, there are still plenty of foods to eat, and you'll feel so much better that it's worth the effort. You know, I say it's not willing to risk it for the biscuit because you end up feeling pretty lousy. But you don't have to memorize this list of foods because there are some really great resources online.

Not our website, but online such as the smartphone app called Food Intolerances. It's got a blue background with a red strawberry. Another online really comprehensive list is the S-I-G-H-I, which is the Swiss Internet Group of Histamine Intolerance.

This is a very comprehensive list, and the list is regularly updated. It's based on clinical research, so that can be a pretty overwhelming list, but it is the gold standard. And you know, I want to give some examples of foods that are good choices on a low histamine diet. If you're feeling pretty desperate and you're willing to give this a shot, you know, for vegetables, most are okay.

You just want to avoid spinach, tomatoes, eggplants, and mushrooms. And you might want to avoid hot pepper because the heat or the capsaicin in these hot peppers will release histamine. So you want to check ingredients too. Some of your spice mixes may have tomatoes in them, and as long as you're avoiding those simple ones, you can have broccoli and carrots and onions and potatoes, bell peppers and Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, squash, any leafy green that's not spinach, and the list goes on. If you're eating out, you got to be careful. They love to throw that spinach in to your mix.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: And then there are many fruits that are low histamines, such as apples and blueberries, melons, cherries, mangoes, peaches, and pears.

Britni: And protein can come from pastured meats like chicken, pork, lamb, turkey, and eggs. Cooking them as fresh as possible is best and freeze any leftovers right away.

Melanie: And you know, you can find frozen meat that has not been aged. You don't have to worry about did someone walk around with it in their cart and put it back. Find a sell by date that's at least 10 days out if you're going to buy it fresh. And certainly not any deli meat.

Britni: And then, you know, if you tolerate dairy, you can still eat some dairy, like cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, ricotta. Those are all fresher, so they tend to be tolerated if you're not, you know, sensitive or allergic to dairy.

Melanie: Yep. They're not aged.

Britni: Whey protein powders, also low histamine for another protein source. Healthy fat sources are going to include grass fed butter, extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, grass fed ghee, cold pressed avocado oil. Whole avocados are high in histamine. Some nuts in moderation are lower histamine like macadamias, pistachios, and pecans, seeds are well tolerated like sunflower, pumpkin, flax, and chia.

Melanie: You know, it's kind of confusing because we said avocado oil, okay. Avocados not. But remember, histidine that converts to histamine is an amino acid. And there is no amino acid or protein in avocado oil. So many people can tolerate avocado oil.

Strategies when first starting out

Here are some strategies I use to help my clients when they're starting out. First, when in doubt fresh is best. Cook meals fresh when possible and avoid keeping leftovers for too long. If you buy, say, the frozen chicken or frozen turkey, you want to just defrost it in the microwave quickly on defrost, and then cook it immediately and then freeze it immediately in a small portion so that it freezes quickly.

And then to reheat, here's a little tip. Reheat on defrost so your meat doesn't turn into rubber. So if you have frozen chicken, you know, you've cut up some frozen chicken and you measured it out. It's like you froze it in five ounce portions, put it in a bowl and just defrost it until it's the temperature that you want.

I have some clients and I'll say, go out, eat, order a vegetable meal, but you can bring, depending upon the restaurant, bring your little Ziploc of chicken and just quickly toss it in your salad. Sure. It's a safer bet. Because you don't know when they thawed the chicken that they're cooking.

And I recommend, while you're getting used to a low histamine diet, really prepare most of your meals at home because it is Russian Roulette out there. But there are some strategies for eating out as well. I mentioned sometimes bring your own protein. Eggs that are fresh-cooked if you have an omelet, low histamine, if you're going to have a cheese omelet, you want cheese in there, you can put all the vegetables in. Just avoid the tomatoes and spinach.

And then maybe make sure it's mozzarella in your omelet. A little bit of hash browns are okay. We don't want to go crazy with potatoes. And then almost always fish is thawed the day of in a restaurant, because it spoils so quickly. Shellfish is very high in histamine, but if you're having like a mahi-mahi or a salmon, those are going to be safer bets. So, a salmon with some broccoli, maybe a salad, you're going to be a lot better off.

Britni: Those are some great recommendations. I think people are going to feel a lot more confident.

Melanie: I think so. And if they know many of the time, we'll pull up where they're going to be going out to eat. And I'll find menu items.

Consider a food symptom journal

And then, lastly, start a food symptom journal. And I have found many clients react differently to certain histamine foods and other times they're fine. I have one client, she can have fresh tomatoes, but she can't do the slow cooked tomato sauce or tomato paste, but that's her threshold. She can't go crazy with it, but she has it once a week. She's okay. But initially, like you said, Britni, I like them to be super clean for two to three weeks with a very low histamine diet.

But tolerance levels vary immensely. So then work with someone to slowly add a few things back. You're going to work on your digestive health. Track what you eat and how you feel every day. And start out, you know, trying to lower your stress levels. Don't get overheated. Don't take super hot baths. And remember, symptoms can appear right away or even days later.

So sometimes you have to do some detective work by looking back and connecting the dots. It's always good to bring those food journals in to your dietitian so that they can look back. Those patterns often reveal themselves over time.

Britni: You know, and it's important to keep in mind when you're tracking your food that a symptom isn't always pinpointed to just one certain food. It could be just enough of a variety of different foods to surpass that threshold and create a histamine response. Like you talked about earlier, it's like having a bucket that only holds so much. So if you're having even a variety of high histamine foods that can overflow your bucket and create that reaction.

Key supplements for histamine intolerance

Melanie: You know, there are a few key supplements that can be beneficial for those with histamine intolerance. I will recommend a supplement called D-Hist, a couple of those three times a day. It's kind of like a natural antihistamine. It's not going to interfere with an antihistamine if you're already taking one, but it's a stack, you're stacking to help lower that bucket.

And here's another one that can be good to try out. Not everybody, it does not help everyone, but you can actually purchase diamine oxidase, a DAO enzyme, and take that, you know, just a, a minute or two before you're going to eat and to give your body its own boost of DAO. Not everybody has a DAO deficiency, but it's worth a shot. You can, you can get those, you know, the interesting enough is DAO sources is beef kidney.

Melanie: But it also can come from pea shoots.

Britni: Okay.

Melanie: So pea sprouts.

Britni: Interesting.

Melanie: Are high in DAO, but that's a lot. And it's something that you can try down the road to see if it does help you. If you're out and you are not really sure what your meal's going to have, you can try DAO just to cover your bases.

Examples of a day of eating while following a low histamine diet

Britni: Well, we have covered a lot of information today and Melanie is an expert in this topic, so thank you so much for sharing all of your knowledge. I have no doubt you are going to help a lot of people who listen to the show. But before we wrap up, I just want to give some simple examples of what a day of eating would look like while following a low histamine diet. So breakfast could be a couple of eggs sauteed with bell peppers cooked in a tablespoon of butter, avocado oil, and a side of a small apple.

Melanie: Love that. A smoothie with some whey protein, some safe fruit like blueberries.

Britni: Yum.

Mel: And if you, if you tolerate whey that it whey is the protein powder that's lower in histamine and you can make a smoothie.

Britni: Perfect. Lunch could be a salad, some greens. Just no spinach. Top that with fresh cooked chicken breast or pulled chicken taken out of the freezer; variety of raw veggies, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots. You could even add some quinoa or a little brown rice for extra starch. Then top it with olive oil dressing with some herbs or you could add a little bit of white vinegar to your dressing.

Melanie: Wonderful. You know, an afternoon snack could be if you, dairy, if you can have dairy, cottage cheese with sliced up fruit, maybe some cherries, blueberries, or a little bit cantaloupe. You could sprinkle that with a small amount of sunflower seeds. And if you don't tolerate dairy, just some freshly peeled hard boiled eggs, and again, that fruit and some seeds, and that would be a balanced snack.

Britni: Dinner could be a sheet pan meal of some pork chops, maybe baby red potatoes and broccoli topped with a little bit of butter. You could also have a side salad with lettuce, cucumbers, shredded carrots. Again, olive oil dressing or all sorts of dressings you could make on your own. It's just that store bought is going to have the vinegar in most of them.

Melanie: And some random things to realize is that if you are, you know, you have to watch if you're doing like a protein powder with a lot of ingredients in them. If you're doing a greens powder, you have to watch out. There's usually spinach and strawberries.

Britni: Sure.

Melanie: In the greens powder you have to watch out for collagen. Because how do we get collagen? Slow cooked is how we get collagen. So some of your supplements, just keep your diet simple. And don't worry about adding in all these little extras at this point. You know, and as we wrap up our discussion today, we really hope that you've learned a thing or two, and that if today's topic resonates with you and you are completely overwhelmed, it's, it's really an overwhelming diagnosis. It's an overwhelming diet. We are here for you. That histamine intolerance, it's not easy to pin down. But with awareness and careful food choices and the right support, you can get significant relief. You can learn to live your life. You can go on vacation. You know, our initial visits with clients are a full 90 minutes.

So we really take our time to get to know you and to kind of dig into your health history to make sure that we walk along beside you and what can you eat? What do you eat? How do we start working on digestive health? And most people start to see improvements even in the first few days. You know, relief is a relief when you are in pain or you are suffering. So we want you to get your life back.

Britni: Yeah, absolutely. And if our discussion today did resonate with you, remember, you are not alone. Your symptoms are valid. We are always here to help you kind of uncover what's what is at the root of what's going on. So you can give us a call: 651-699-3438 to speak with someone in our office or visit our website, weightandwellness.com, to learn more about what we do and we accept a variety of different insurance providers. So you can check to see if yours covers visits. So we hope you have a wonderful day, and thank you so much for listening.

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Melanie: Our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It's a simple yet powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thank you for joining us today.