Low amine recipes start at the grocery store.
Amine allergies and amine sensitivities make grocery shopping an overwhelmingly difficult task. All the foods you would normally grab are now on the “can’t have it” list. When you’re first starting to do food shopping with an amine allergy, it’s helpful to have this amine foods list printed as a quick reference.
*** LOW AMINE GROCERY SHOPPING LIST ***
Grocery shopping was daunting without a list, and the one I had was a word document and a nightmare to use, so I created this low-amine spreadsheet to make it easier. Remember, the lower in amines, the better. The higher in amines, the more careful you should be about intake.
Note: Amine Food List Ingredients in italics are guesses based on related items and personal experience.
Note: Foods marked with H or T correlate with Histamine and Tyramine. For instance, a “T” in the “low” column but “H” in the high column would mean that food item is low in Tyramines, but high in Histamines. Information on histamines and tyramines is difficult to find, so forgive the incomplete nature of the information regarding this.
- The fresher the food is, the better it is. If you have two cucumbers, and cuke #1 is a day older than cuke #2, cuke #2 will be higher in amines. Because amines are annoying that way.
- Almost everything preserved (dried, canned, frozen, aged, or fermented) is going to be very high in amines. In order of bad to worse, from what I understand: fresh food that’s old, frozen, dried, canned, aged/fermented/pickled.
- MSG is high in amines, and it’s a synthetic chemical. Yuck. Just avoid it, folks.
- Muscle meat of most animals (high in amines: all pork, tuna, salmon, herring, mackerel) is okay, so long as it’s very, very fresh.
- Processed foods are generally no good. The more processing ingredients go through, the older they are and the higher in amines they will be.
- For a trustworthy low-amine diet, start with fresh, whole, low-amine ingredients and produce. That said, I do not eat every meal freshly made that day. I plan in advance and try to mentally schedule my meals somewhat. For instance, I might make low-amine burritos for a week’s lunches and freeze them for a short period of time. These burritos will me MUCH better for me than frozen burritos purchased at the store that have already been processed, frozen, transported, and stored for an unknown length of time.
- Juice is tricky. Drink only fresh juices from trusted sources. Many commercially prepared juices have been sitting around in storage much longer than you ever would want to think about.
Keep high-amine processed foods out of your diet (I know… You’ll probably miss the cat food most of all. Mao mao!).
I cant wait to learn more about it, I have also added raw food and I have started taking dairy out of my diet as well. I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2010 and I also have 3 other autoimmune diseases.
Three other autoimmune diseases on top of Celiac? Goodness! I got “lucky” myself… I have an amine allergy, but my gluten intolerance is tolerable. I have problems with it, but I have so many other problems with my amine allergy that I don’t even worry about gluten anymore. I buy gluten-free for the house, but don’t care at all when I’m out and about. Too many other issues “on my plate.” What autoimmune diseases are you dealing with?
My apologizes for this being so very late. I have had a bad year and was recently in the hospital for a small bleed in my brain. 2012 cant come fast enough.
I have a form of Lupus that affects my skin, so far only my head, I suffer from small bald patches here and there. The medication has caused me many issues and I can no longer take it. I also have Sjogren’s Syndrome, which is when a person’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands. Dry eye’s and mouth are common but it can effect kidney and the liver. I have been having liver issues but my team of doctors are keeping an eye on everything.
My body just doesn’t like itself any more. Again I am so sorry I didn’t see that you responded back to me. I would love to add a link to your blog and do a write up about Low Amine Foods & Recipes. Let me know if you would be Ok with that. Thanks
I have tried a few of your dishes and really like them, in fact I am making your Cajun Spiced Beef Skewers for New Years Eve
I would absolutely love that – thank you so much! And I’m glad you’ve been liking the recipes so far. If you ever have suggestions or ideas (or think a recipe could be tweaked), I’d love to hear your suggestions. I’m all ears – it’s all about the food, and the better it tastes, the better it is for everyone! Lately, I’ve been on a mission to recreate people’s favorite foods (now off limits due to food allergies), so if you have any to suggest, please do!
Goodness, though, I’m sorry to hear you have such health issues. Do you end up having to take a lot of oils to help with that? I will have to do some reading up on Sjogren’s Syndrome, I see. Here’s to hoping you have a healthful and happy New Year!
I found your website fascinating! I look forward to perusing the recipes and perhaps tweaking one or two for my own silly allergy list. Its long. rofl I react to gluten, per oxides and peroxides, the entire mustard family, all meats, poultry and other foods.
Just a note about Gluten. Gluten actually burrows holes in intestines when you have Celiac Disease. You will then leech vitamins and minerals, which in turn, can cause even more health issues like auto-immune disorders. Its thought that gluten attacks other parts of the body too. I do understand how eating out GF is nearly impossible and don’t blame you for not worrying about GF then.
Some people I’ve talked to, have found that a Raw Foods diet has improved their health immensely, gave them more energy and reversed previous health issues. I don’t have very many raw food or low-amine recipes on my website yet, but do plan on creating these recipes in the next few months. So, my website won’t be very useful to you yet. Sorry about that!
I’m bookmarking your site and adding it to my “Special Diets” section so people can find you. Feel free to add my website to your blog if you want to.
Thanks!
Pardon the barrage of questions that are about to happen, but…
Are your allergies ingredient specific, or are they tied to something in particular?
What are per oxides and peroxides?
I Googled the mustard family and found: Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Canola (rapeseed), Cauliflower, Celery Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, Collard, Colza Shoots, Kale, Kohlrabi, Kraut, Horseradish, Mustard, Mustard Greens, Radish, Rutabaga, Turnips, Watercress. What about bok choy? Celery? Celery root / celeriac?
Gluten burrows holes into your intestines if you’re Celiac? Well that’s rude. Good grief! I didn’t know that. I am definitely gluten intolerant. If I keep it in my diet as much as is recommended in a “part of a normal American diet,” I end up… hm, let’s just say I become a very frequent and very efficient pooper. Since I’m not Celiac, I buy gluten-free for the home, but don’t worry about it when I’m out or eating at friends houses. I just try to keep it out of the house if possible. With my amine allergy, it is hard enough to eat out (I have to go online, look at menus, call, and then interrogate the poor kitchen staff when I get there (20 minutes early, to make sure I can ask them before we’re seated)). My gluten intolerance tends to take the back burner. Readers – please do not take this as a suggestion for what to do with your own allergies. If you are Celiac, you’re Celiac.
I could not do the raw foods diet, though I have known several people who went on it and had tremendous success. I have tried in the past, when more ingredients were available to me, even, and wasn’t able to keep it up (though a large portion of foods was good raw). Now, with the loss of so many ingredients, it would be very tricky. Amine allergies are not very conducive to the raw foods diet, low carb / slow carb diet, or paleo diet.
If you have suggestions for recipes or tools, I’d love to hear them! Thanks for taking the time!
Best!
Michelle F
Low Amine Recipes
I’ve found that my allergies are all over the place. With the Mustard Family, its protein that is similiar in all of the mustard family that I react too. In the other families where I react to things here and there, its ingredient specific.
I can’t explain it, as its complicated chemistry. However, it means that I react to zinc oxide, hydrogen peroxide, anything with peroxide as part of the name. Its the Oxide sub3 that I react to, as well as the peroxides, O2. A google insists that I mean peroxide and not the “per” oxides. The difference is whether the oxide is sub2 (peroxide) or sub3 (per oxide). One of my doctors says that it is very rare to react to O3 as we all need oxygen. I think he also said that there is considerable debate as to whether there really is a difference between O2 and O3.
Here is the http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/per+oxide definition of peroxide, the O2, instead of the O3.
Chemistry.
a.
hydrogen peroxide, H2O2 or H–O–O–H.
b.
a compound containing the bivalent group –O2–, derived from hydrogen peroxide, as sodium peroxide, Na2O2, or dimethyl peroxide, C3H6O2.
c.
the oxide of an element that contains an unusually large amount of oxygen.
Bok Choy is actually apart of the Mustard family. I react to it. Its also one of my fave veggies that I can’t tolerate anymore.
Celery, celeriac, and so on, I react to as well. They are apart of the Parsley family. In that family, coriander and cumin I can eat. And, for some strange reason, parsley stays down. So, I eat it, but not very often.
Getting back to the O2/O3 topic, I had this odd thought. I wonder how much oxygen is in various foods that I eat – what their oxygen rankings are, and if that has any correlation to how much I react to some of those vegetables. Not the mustard family, but the other odd ball vegetables I react to. Curious. I’m not sure my body utilizes Oxygen properly – besides the Asthma.
I can understand why a raw food diet may not work. I reread the list of allowed foods, and sticking to a raw foods diet may actually trigger EE disorder, due to the lack of variety. (See http://www.apfed.org for more information).
Suggestions:
Take the allowed vegetables, and cut them differently to get a different texture. Spaghetti squash makes good “noodles” when pulled apart with a fork, I’ve read else where.
Quinoa is a high protein source that goes well with Cilantro and Lime.
A sauce can be made using saffron in rice milk, and if you don’t react to it, arrowroot is a thickener. This goes well over rice. Saffron is expensive though, and is a very delicate spice. If you research Indian recipes using saffron, you can find out how they use saffron.
I’m still working out recipes and hope to have some up by May of next year. I have to work out GF breads that have moisture and are top 8 free.
Hope this helps! I’m now off to add your link to my blog roll.
Holy shamoley! That’s a seriously complicated allergy you’ve got going on there. I’d be really interested to see the oxygen content in foods – I wonder if that has something to do with it… Thank you for bringing your allergies to light – the clarification is much appreciated!
Spaghetti squash does indeed make for awesome noodles, and I love, love, love quinoa. It’s low amine, high nutrient, and generally awesome.
I’ve never tried making that sauce – I’ll have to give it a whirl. It sounds awesome! I’m thinking maybe a saffron cardamom sauce that I can plate under chicken… Mmmm….
I’m looking forward to trying your recipes! I’m an awful baker, so help is definitely needed in that department. I’m a cook, not a baker – It’s been proven again and again and again. In order to write my low amine blog, I had to learn to measure so that I could write down my recipes! Never really had before.
I did a google search, and no one has a oxygen content of food list, but there is analyzers that the food industry uses to test their products for oxygen in order to handle spoilage – not useful. So, I still don’t know whats really going on with me, as without that data, I can’t analyze non-mustard family foods. I never took chemistry in school,
I agree that a little cardomom with that saffron would go well with chicken. Also, cumin and coriander works well with Chicken.
I’m learning how to bake as we speak. So, all my GF baking recipes, will be from trial and error. Next week, I’m going to work out the Naan recipe that I needed to work out months ago, and I’m also working on a pizza crust at that time.
I can so relate to the measuring issue! lol I was taught to cook without measuring a thing. Now I have to save money for a gram scale so that I can convert my recipes to UK measurement, as I decided that I wanted my recipes to be more universally useable.
I’m not sure even taking chemistry in school would help! I look at the chemistry resources for amine allergies and my mind is boggled. No idea how to translate it into layman’s terms. I hope you are able to figure out your allergies. What a challenge!
I’m definitely looking forward to making a saffron sauce. Been a while since I’ve used saffron. Time to bring it back.
I learned to bake when I was younger. Then, once Christmas, I baked about 16 dozen cookies to wrap in pretty cellophane and give as gifts, not realizing that the Crisco I had used was spoiled. I was so frustrated at having to throw away 16 dozen cookies that I never really baked again. lol.
Oh man, when you get a good pizza crust recipe down, let me know. I buy mine from Namaste, and they’re awesome, but being able to make my own would be fantastic.
Can’t you just use Google to convert your recipes/measurements?
I could use google to convert but I like the excuse to buy a new thing for the kitchen. lol
Food Chemist is what degree one would want, but that is beyond me. lol
Pizza Crusts – I found out I’m allergic/very intollerant to vinegar. Alcohol causes infections in me, and being that vinegar contains alcohol, I can’t have any store boughten GF pizza crust because they all contain vinegar or onion. I’ve not dared try GF Pizza at restaurants, because those are usually shipped in and then heated up at restaurant. Those are more likely to contain vinegar or onion.
I’ll comment here IF I work out a good pizza dough. If I don’t like it, I won’t bother. lol
Wishing you a Happy New Year also. I haven’t used oils to help with my issues, if you have any information on them I would love if you you could send it. I will be working on my link to you page. I will let you know when its done. Thank you for all your great information and tasty recipes
I don’t have any info on oils, but it seems like it might be something you should look into. Raw flax oil might help (don’t cook with it, it goes from being anti-inflammatory to inflammatory when you cook it). Thank you so much for the write-up! I hope you’re able to find some recipes that help you (and that you love)! Happy New Year!
Any substitution recommendations for teas? I drink tea all day. Green, oolong, herbal, etc…
You know, I don’t worry so much about teas, though I do stay away from teas with any citrus or fruits in them. I have not had any significant reaction to tea. I drink green tea like my blood would dry up without it. lol.
Hi! Thanks for the awesome website! Keep up doing good work!
)
Thx
Let me ask you few questions – I need to substitute for an olive oil, but I cannot get hold of safflor oil, is pumpkin or linseed oil ok? What do you reckon?
Also how did you make your list? Have gathered information from all other websites and mix it with your list or??
Thank you. I would not use those oils. Can you get your hands on organic canola oil?
Oh – forgot to answer your last question… I get my info from sources at the RPAH Allergy Unit.
Hi, I’m loving your blog. Very well put together and lovely pictures and recipes too. I’ve had chemical sensitivity and food allergies for decades but am only now discovering that my “old fish” “allergy” is really histamine intolerance and I’m drastically changing things to work it out. At this point I do not think I react to other amines but I know better than to make assumptions. I’m trying to eat overall low-amine but focus on the histamine bits.
I have questions about your grocery lists. I’ve found lots of contradictions with other lists around the internet, but yours are probably better researched. Given how serious your amine reactions are, I would say that if you tolerate a particular ingredient, it probably really is low enough. My questions are with some of the things labeled as high.
For example, you list mustard seeds as very high. Mustard the condiment I can understand, as it’s made with vinegar (and indeed mustard the sauce is listed as high), but here you say seeds. Yet in your recipes, you use mustard powder in some of them and list it at the bottom as very low. Under Tofu Bites you say “mustard is high in amines” and you do not mean the condiment but rather mustard powder in curry powder. But under Baked Beans (and roast beets/carrots and lamb pastry and mayo) you say “Very Low Amine: dry mustard.” The Stuffed Cabbage says it’s “Low Amine.” Can you clarify?
Another one is seaweed. You say they’re all very high. But when I look up seaweed there are tons of articles, including medical ones, talking about how seaweed lowers histamine levels. Is it low in histamine but high in other amines?
Also can you tell me if olive oil is high in histamine? Which amines does it test high for?
Do you have links to sources? I’m looking for actual numbers (matched with amounts of the ingredient plus the form of the ingredient). I can make more informed decisions that way.
Thanks so much!
P.S. If you were to include a blog section on which tests to order from doctors to help with diagnosis that would be awesome. I’ve had two near-death experiences in hospitals from medication reactions no one could figure out and now I think they were histamine reactions. So I need some level of “proof” for my files.
Thank you, I’m glad you’re enjoying my low-amine blog, and I’m glad that you were able to figure out what your allergies were – that’s phenomenal!
My sources come from the RPAH Elimination diet handbook, from “Allergy Friendly Food,” from emailing my nutritionist (who worked with them), from emailing the RPAH directly, and from “Dealing with Food Allergies,” which gives a solid Tyramine/Histamine breakdown (you may want to get this book).
Some of my older recipes have a few mislabeled ingredients, which I need to go fix. I’m finally pretty set on the list I have, as I have checked and double checked my sources, but I haven’t had time to run through my blog yet and do updates. Thank you for the reminder!
Mustard seed is high in amines, thus mustard (the powder and the condiment) is high in amines. Sad, I know.
Olive oil is high in amines, correct. I believe it’s high in histamines and tyramines, but I am not positive.
The only test I took was the IgE blood test, and when I scored really high on the “holy moly, you’re allergic to stuff” bell curve, I did an elimination diet with a nutritionist who had been trained to identify an amine problem.
I hope that helps!
Hi! I’m new to your site and have a question on some of the foods on the “amine grocery list.” Some foods are in two columns (low and high) with maybe a “T” next to it. For example, nectarine is listed in both the Low and High columns. Can you please explain/clarify for me? Thanks so much in advance!
Ones that are listed like that are a bit special…
- If it’s listed in several columns without an H or T, the resources are highly conflicting and I could not find a solid answer.
- If it’s listed with an H or T, it’s high/low in either Histamines (H) or Tyramines (T).
Hope that helps! If you have other questions, please do let me know. Thank you!
- Michelle Ferris
Hi Michelle,
Great site – thanks so much!
My husband is about to start an amine exclusion diet under the guidance of our allergy specialist GP. He has already been diagnosed as having a gluten intolerance and a dairy intolerance.
I note that on your list there are several items that are listed but are not categorized (eg can coconut milk). Do you have figures for these? Also for rice bran oil?
I note that you use research from RPAH. Which country are you based in?
Also, I’ve heard that amine allergies can be ‘reset’ if you are very strict and careful to completely exclude for 2 years. Apparently then you can resume a normal diet with amines in it. Have you or anyone you know found this to be the case?
Thanks so much for your help, and for being so available. It is so hard to get straight, complete, well researched information on the internet. Your research is greatly appreciated.
Kerryn.
Kerryn,
Wow, good luck to both of you! Canned coconut milk is, indeed, high in amines. Coconut is out, period.
I’m not sure about rice bran oil, but my arbitrary guess (i.e. based on nothing but my own experiences with other similar ingredients) would be that it would be low or moderate in amines.
I’m based out of Seattle, Washington, in the United States. I hope that someday I will be able to get to Australia to visit the RPAH and see if there is more I can learn. It seems they are the leaders in amine research.
I have heard the “allergy reset” theory before in regards to gluten intolerances, but I am not sure about amines. I would find that very hard to believe, since pretty much all foods have some amount of amines in them, and because it’s so variable depending on season, whether you peel your vegetables or not, etc. Plus, I think if I had to go back to eating cabbage and rice every day for two years, I would either die of boredom or malnutrition… If you find out more about this, though, please let me know. I am always looking for more information about amines and how to deal with, cope with, live with, solve problems about, or cure amine allergies.
You’re very welcome, Kerryn. Thank you so much for your appreciative words. They mean the world to me! If I can be of further service, please do let me know. Again, good luck to you guys!
Best!
Michelle Ferris
Low Amine Recipes
http://www.facebook.com/LowAmineRecipes
Hi Michelle,
Thanks so much for your reply!
I should have clarified regarding the amine ‘reset’. Our allergy specialist said that it can happen if you stick quite strictly to the ‘low amine’ list and not have any high or very high foods.
Sorry for the barrage of questions to follow:
How fussy do we need to be regarding cooking? For example, could you have chicken breast skin off (low) cooking in the same pan as say sausages (higher)? Would these co-contaminate from an amine perspective? Also, how about chicken cooked with the skin on and then the skin removed, for example buying a roast chicken and the amine intolerant person removing the skin?
We have only 1 in 6 of our household being tested for amines. That makes it a challenge.
Would it be correct to assume that if an ingredient is rated ‘low’ that other forms, like flour, would be low also? For example Corn / Maize versus Corn / Maize flour or Corn starch?
Do you have amine ratings for tapioca, arrowroot, palmolein / palm oil, linseed, evening primrose seed (or oil), buckwheat, soy?
You list potato in several categories. What is the reason for this? Would there be a different rating for things like potato flour, potato starch, potato chips, etc?
Some items on your list are not in any columns. For example, you have red bull listed but with no rating. Does this mean that there are no amines?
Thank you so much for your help. It is proving to be incredibly difficult to get information on the web, and your site is by far the most comprehensive we’ve found.
Kerryn.
Kerryn,
Wow, them’s some questions you’ve got there! Ready? Here we go!
I would love to hear whether you have success with the “reset” diet. I don’t know whether I could live on “very low” amine foods alone for two whole years without losing my mind… But good gods, if you try it, let me know how it works!
- So, I don’t know for sure, but I always pull the skin off the chicken. I will occasionally eat chicken cooked with skin on and just remove it (and I seem to do fairly okay with it), but when cooking at home, I always skin it first. I work under the assumption that I would rather same my amine “cheats” for things more awesome than chicken skin that I don’t get to eat anyway.
- Typically, if a food is rated low, unless it’s highly processed (for instance, a cucumber into a pickle), you’re probably okay with flours and starches.
- I do not have ratings for tapioca, buckwheat, or arrowroot, but my educated guess would be low. For the oils, I would err on the side of caution.
- Potato is listed in several categories because white russet potatoes are lowest in amines. Other colors and varieties of potatoes are higher in amines. Also, the skin of potato is higher in amines, so if you skin your potatoes, it becomes lower amine. Whether you allow potato (skinned or not, fun cultivars or boring russets) in your diet is up to you and your sensitivity to amines. If testing, I would stick to skinned russets.
- Red bull is pretty much high amine poison. Don’t do it. All sodas are bad juju except for club soda. I need to update that category… I had put it in because I was Red-Bull-addicted and hopeful that somehow it would dodge the high-amine bullet. It did not.
Best to you, Kerryn, I hope these answers help! As always, I’m here if you have more questions or need help on a recipe!
Eat Well,
Michelle F
Low Amine Recipes
http://aminerecipes.com
I was reviewing your shopping list of foods that are low to high in amines and was wondering what the H or T meant next to certain foods. For example peaches T are very low, but peaches H are high. What is the difference?
Thanks for all the great recipes!
Foods marked with H or T correlate with Histamine and Tyramine. For instance, a “T” in the “low” column but “H” in the high column would mean that food item is low in Tyramines, but high in Histamines. Information on histamines and tyramines is difficult to find, so forgive the incomplete nature of the information regarding this.
Michelle,
Thanks again so much for your help!
I’ll have to find out what varieties of potatoes are available around here. Peeling the potatoes isn’t a problem.
I have been cooking skinless chicken breast at home so that’s ok. For the moment we will avoid chicken cooked with the skin on and then removed. We are being very strict for the amine exclusion test, and we can always experiment with it later if necessary.
We eat a lot of steamed vegetables anyway, so I’m just modifying which ones we eat. Out with broccoli and cauliflower, and in with cabbage, capsicum, brussels sprouts etc. Most of the other vegetables we eat are on the good list anyway.
It’s a pity about the Red Bull, but we had expected it to be high. My husband gets severe migraines (up to 45 per month. Yes – more than one per day!), hence the amine test. The Red Bull is the only thing we’ve found that clears his vision. Not that he uses it often, but if he has a particularly bad migraine and for some reason HAS to go out, it is our last resort. We use it a bit medicinally, as odd as that might sound.
How did you manage to email the RPAH? How did you get an email address for them? Have their email replies been of help?
Thanks so much for your help. If I find out more, I’ll pass the information on to you.
Kerryn.
Capsicum? As in peppers? Those are very high in amines. Avoid, miss!
Good luck with your testing – are you doing sals as well, or just amines for now?
You might try other things in the red bull to help the migraines, such as B vitamins. Check the ingredient list and start testing when he gets his migraines next. Also, if the B helps, you should look into Pyroluria… http://www.facebook.com/groups/pyroluria/
I have found that my amine symptoms have reduced greatly by adding zinc and B vitamins, though I have not been tested for Pyroluria yet.
I did email them, but it was only slightly helpful. They pretty much said “what’s in our book is what’s available,” and said that other than that, amine content varies depending on ripeness, whether things are peeled or not, etc. So I would look at the books they publish and go from there, if you don’t have them yet. Check my resources page.
Best to you guys! Let me know how it goes!
Michelle F
Where did you hear that Capsicum is high in amines? My allergy doctor (Dr Margaret Taylor), who has been involved in allergy research & treatment in Australia for over 25 years, says in her Amine information sheet that capsicum (I think you call it bell pepper) is in the ‘low’ group.
Capsicum is also listed as low in the research by Dr Richard J Coleman in New Zealand.
I’m intrigued.
Overall, the web has a lot of conflicting information regarding amines in food. Where possible, we have gone with the most conservative, and also with our doctor’s information.
Kerryn.
Oops, forgot to say:
We are not testing for salicylates at the moment.
‘B’ vitamins haven’t helped. He’s also tried magnesium, fish oil, mixed tocopherals (Vit E groups), and dozens of other things. The problem is that several of the things in Red Bull are on the amine bad list (like ginger), and several others I can’t find information on with regard to amines. Since he’s doing to low amine exclusion at the moment, I’m not game to experiment with these until we know for sure if he needs this long-term. Same with the RPAH book. I can’t afford it at the moment, but will buy it if amines prove to be a long-term problem.
Zinc has been recommended by our allergy doctor for something else, but we haven’t been able to find a source that is completely dairy & gluten free for him. The Australian licensing laws are REALLY tough, and companies basically have to put on their labels that the product may contain gluten if they haven’t had it formally tested for it. Frustrating.
I read the bell peppers bit in the RPAH book. Also, I think I forgot/ignored/didn’t know about ginger. Huh… Going to have to re-look that up!
For zinc, I use lozenges. Seems to be the most effective way to get it into my body.
I’ll have to look into the bell peppers. Seems odd that others say it is low in amines.
Confusing!
This is one of the most frustrating parts about a low-amine diet; there is no definitive list. When I went lowcarb, all I had to do was figured out the grams of carbs based on the ingredients (for packaged products it’s right on the label). When I went gluten-free, I just had to learn which ingredients contain gluten and avoid them. Neither of these things is easy and there is enough bad info out there to make mistakes common for beginners (and even experts) but at least it is straightforward.
Amines are far more complicated. Partly it’s because they aren’t routinely tested (especially here in the US) and people aren’t used to the idea. And partly because there are many many different types of amines to test for (not just 4). But mostly it’s because the levels vary tremendously depending on the age and handling of the ingredients, the type of processing, and the age and storage of the finished product. Then there are foods which do not have high levels of amines but they act on the body to release histamine and so forth.
So as I read various sites, I see things like “cashews are low amine but other nuts are high” and “almonds are the only low-amine nut, whatever you do, don’t eat cashews.” And so on. Michelle’s recommendations are based on the RPAH testing but even she has recipes with information that counters her chart. And the RPAH testing is not well documented. Hence the conversation she and I had on one of her recipe posts where we both guessed that the reason that all winter and summer squash is listed as low-amine, except for pumpkin which is listed as high, is that pumpkin is usually sold canned, not fresh. But why don’t they say so on their lists? I wonder too if some of the fish listed as high amine in all circumstances is really that way or if it’s because those fish happen to be sold canned (or otherwise processed) nearly all of the time.
Of the materials that are different from RPAH, I’ve seen research papers that measure amine levels and other sources that are probably solid. So not just speculation. I wish amine levels were more consistent. And I really wish there was info about which amines were in which foods. I found one chart but so much of it is different from Michelle’s chart that I can’t take it at face value, though it looks like the numbers came from testing. I know I react to histamine but I don’t know about other amines. And I haven’t a clue which foods to trial to figure out which amines I react to. Heck, I might even be wrong about histamine, though I’m pretty sure.
As for peppers (bell, sweet, hot, etc), every site I’ve read says they’re high amine. I wish it weren’t so; I miss them too. But, like everything else, we probably just have to trial them individually (which means first staying off ALL foods that MIGHT be anything other than low in amines). Maybe it will turn out that only dried or canned peppers are the problem. Or fresh ones that have traveled too far for too long. I don’t know.
Good response! And yes, I wonder that about fish, too… Like anchovy and sardines… is it because we usually encounter them in cans???
Kerryn, caffeine is well known as both a treatment and a cause of migraines. Red Bull is all about the caffeine. I am willing to bet that if your husband went off caffeine, a lot of the migraines would go away. It would be hellish for a couple of weeks though, with more migraines and other withdrawal symptoms. He might want to switch to a low-amine source of caffeine (if there is one) and taper down slowly.
I am one who can not tolerate any level of caffeine. It gives me migraines, among other symptoms. Also chocolate and alcohol. It’s a problem with my detoxification systems. These detox on the popular p450 cytochrome pathway. After all, there is a very large overlap between being reactive to natural food chemicals (amines, sals, etc) and being chemically sensitive (detox pathways). Caffeine may be a natural food chemical but it’s one that can cause problems in large numbers of people. In addition to any detox issues, there is simply addiction and withdrawal. Which may be what is happening with your husband.
Hi Cindi,
Thanks for the feedback.
My husband went completely off caffeine for about 4 months. No coffee, no chocolate, no red bull, etc. Nothing. It made no difference to the migraines. Frustratingly, when he went back on caffeine (only coffee from plain roasted beans we purchased straight from the roaster and ground and used ourselves) it made no difference. We don’t drink a lot of coffee or caffeine drinks (maybe one caffeine drink per week – usually a coffee or tea), and he does not consume chocolate regularly. We were aware that caffeine can both cause and treat migraines, but this doesn’t seem to happen in my husband’s situation. We have likewise tested chocolate (both milk & dark), wine, other alcohols, several other food triggers, etc. The only progress we’ve made was finding out that some of his migraines were caused by gluten. However this is not the full problem.
No other ‘energy’ drinks seem to have this beneficial effect with regard to his migraines. We’ve tried quite a number. And the red bull only seems to work on the non-gluten migraines.
Pumpkin is canned in the US???!! I’m stunned – EWWW! I’ve never seen canned pumpkin in Australia (except for canned soup), so if the information is from RPAH it may be best not to assume that the canning is the issue. Could it possibly be that most types of pumpkin will keep for extended periods if their shell is kept intact and unbroken? If they keep for a long time, maybe the amine content would therefore increase and this is why they are rated high? Pumpkins will quite easily keep for 6 months or more if it is the right type and the skin is clean, whole, and unblemished.
It would be helpful if they could list foods in their fresh form, and then again maybe at 3 days old. Or to state whether the item is canned, frozen, dried, etc. Many of us are probably unable to grow our own food, but some of us can and others of us can buy directly from growers or at farmers markets to help keep our food as fresh as possible. But I suppose that research is expensive, and the funds just aren’t there for something as abstract as amines.
Thanks again!
Kerryn.
Looks like you’ve been doing some good detective work. In the US, pumpkin pie is a very popular dish. It’s a required food pretty much for Thanksgiving (late Nov) and common at Christmas too. It’s also served year round, especially in restaurants. I don’t know what the word “pumpkin” means in Aus but here it means a particular variety of round (or flattened) bright orange winter squash. The only winter squash that is very lowcarb, as it happens.
I’m going to guess that 90 or 95% of all fresh pumpkin sold in the US is for Halloween. These large very round pumpkins are bred for carving and do not taste good. They’re too watery to eat. There are also small pumpkins (mostly Jack be Littles) which are edible but most people who buy them throw them away after they’ve done their decorating duty. Most stores will have varieties like Sugar Pie pumpkin which are for cooking (you can also eat Cinderella pumpkins which are flattened and beautiful but no good for carving).
Americans tend to be lazy cooks. Almost everyone who makes pumpkin pie “from scratch” uses canned pumpkin. I always make my own puree and freeze it in measured 1 or 2 cup amounts, though I haven’t tested it since going low-amine.
Also, the specific squash we call pumpkins do not keep well. They keep for a month or two and that’s it. Other winter squash can last a lot longer. And nearly all pumpkins in the US are bred to get ripe and shipped in mid to late Oct through late Dec, with most at late Oct and a few days before the 4th Thursday of Nov. People don’t save them. Though stores may store them during the fall (our fall, Sept 21-Dec 21).
It’s amazing to me how much discussion a little thing like pumpkin has stirred.
I often opt for sweet potato as a pumpkin substitute, when I don’t feel like risking it. Hard to say whether it’s low or high amine yet, but if you test it on yourself and feel it leans one way or the other, please let me know! I would love to add notes to my chart.