Estrogen, histamine & your hormones

Did you know there is a strong link between histamine and estrogen? Although this link has been known for a while, its only now getting the attention it deserves.

So, what is histamine?
Histamine is a chemical stored in immune cells called mast cells. It signals the immune system to react causing allergies and swelling. It is also involved in nerve cell transmission, neurotransmitters, helps to regulates fertility and ovulation, stimulates stomach acid, the brain, the heart, the liver and other organs.

High levels of Estrogen trigger Histamine, and vice versa

Histamine and estrogen influence one another and can exacerbate each other’s effects. The symptoms of this are wide and varied due to the wide distribution of histamine receptors in the body, with women tending to have higher levels of these receptors. Histamine receptors are found throughout the female reproductive system, including the uterus and ovaries, so it is understandable that histamine have a large influence on hormonal symptoms. What is important to note is elevated levels of histamine will stimulate your ovaries to release more estrogen, and when your estrogen levels rise, it triggers the release of more histamine. Increase in either can cause or exacerbate unwanted symptoms

Symptoms of unbalanced histamine & estrogen:
Anxiety, brain fog, headaches, insomnia, PMS, nasal congestion, PMDD, nausea or vomiting with menstrual pain, cyclic vomiting, breast tenderness, fluid retention, short term memory loss, infertility, cyclic allergies, cyclic panic attacks, ovulation pain and more are all potentially associated with high states of histamine.

These symptoms may track with the menstrual cycle, usually getting worse when estrogen peaks at ovulation and then again with the normal estrogen rise the week before the period. In clinic, I see an increase in these symptoms in women going through perimenopause, as their estrogen production becomes more erratic.

The body produces histamine in the mast cells and clears it with the enzymes histamine N-methyltransferase (HNMT) and diamine oxidase (DAO) through various mechanism such as methylation.
Sometimes these detoxification pathways can become compromised due to things such as:
-Low progesterone. Progesterone stabilises the release of histamine from mast cells and up-regulates DAO enzymes.
– High levels of estrogen, which can stimulate mast cells.
– Low B6, zinc, magnesium which are an essential cofactor for DAO production and methylation.
– Genetic variants in methylation and enzyme production.
– Alcohol intake. Alcohol inhibits DAO production and reduces essential minerals for methylation, particularly beer and wine.
– Poor microbiome diversity and/or over abundant adverse flora that manufacture histamine.
– Issues such as SIBO, Crohns disease and leaky gut will affect DAO.
– The contraceptive pill
– High intake of histamine stimulating or containing foods.

What solutions can you begin at home to support unbalanced estrogen & histamine:
1. Ensure that estrogen clearance pathways are optimal:
o Drinking 2 litres of water daily,
o Daily intake of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussel sprouts, silver beet,
kale)
o Support the estroblome ,
o Ensure you are getting enough fibre daily,
o Exercise regularly
2. Avoiding histamine stimulating foods: dairy, gluten, and alcohol.
3. Assess your living environment for histamine triggering toxins such as mould
4. Getting your histamine checked alongside your hormone blood tests can make an enormous
difference to the success in your hormone balance for issues such as endometriosis, adenomyosis or ovarian cysts.

For further questions or to get your hormones properly assessed alongside your histamine
levels book int with Women’s Health & Fertility Expert Samantha Van Dort.