Gut health and histamine intolerance
This article is about our gut health – and its connection to the development of histamine intolerance, because the gut is one of the most important organs for maintaining the health of our body.
Here are a few facts: It's 6 to 8 meters long and has a surface area of approximately 400 square meters. The gut contains 100 million nerve cells and is populated by 500 to 1,500 different types of bacteria; in total, we're talking about up to 100 trillion bacteria in the intestinal lining. We can locate 80 percent of our immune cells in the gut. Therefore, the healthier our gut, the stronger our immune system.
The following section discusses what a healthy gut can do, what the gut flora is for, and what it means when it is disrupted.
What does our gut do and what does the gut flora do?
First of all: Our gut is responsible for digesting food – but not only that. As mentioned above, the gut strongly influences the immune system and therefore plays a major role in the body's own defenses.
It is also responsible for the formation of certain vitamins (B12, biotin, K) and vital nutrients, the formation of the messenger substance serotonin and for the control of important metabolic processes.
What does "disturbed" gut flora mean?
When the gut flora is disrupted, the functional balance is thrown off, leading to dysbiosis in the gut. Our gut bacteria no longer live in a balanced state, as they normally do.
Our intestinal flora can be disrupted for a variety of reasons.
These include, for example:
- unhealthy, sugar-rich diet
- unhealthy lifestyle (alcohol, cigarettes, etc.)
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Food intolerances such as: histamine intolerance, lactose intolerance or gluten intolerance
- Allergies
- antibiotics
- anti-inflammatory medications (e.g. ibuprofen)
- chronic bowel diseases (such as Crohn's disease)
- stress
Especially during antibiotic therapy, the gut flora is almost completely destroyed and takes many months to return to its normal balance. It is essential to support your gut during this process.
An imbalanced gut flora can disrupt our immune system. This process promotes the development of diseases. Commonly, these include the following:
- Hashimoto's thyroiditis
- Atopic dermatitis
- allergic diseases
- Rheumatoid arthritis
But even minor infections or ailments can then spread more easily in our bodies. Because our body's own defenses are weakened, harmful substances can simply "enter." These include, for example:
- chronic muscle and joint pain
- chronic fatigue
- nervousness
- Flatulence
- migraine
The link between an imbalance in the gut and histamine intolerance
An imbalance in the gut is called dysbiosis. The bacteria in your gut are out of balance, which unfortunately means that the "bad"* bacteria predominate.
This could have possible consequences:
- increased histamine production in the intestine**
- Impaired histamine breakdown (DAO)***
- Digestive problems
- leaky intestinal lining
- increased inflammatory potential
- reduced nutrient absorption
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Development of food intolerances and allergies
You can have your intestinal flora tested, for example, by a gastroenterologist or directly through a relevant laboratory to find out if you have dysbiosis.
* "Bad" is in quotation marks because we need both good and bad bacteria. However, it is important that there is a balance between them.
** / *** Dysbiosis can also disrupt the production of the histamine-degrading enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO), or histamine production in the intestine can be increased by, for example, putrefactive flora / excess of histamine-producing bacterial strains.
Can a disrupted gut flora be restored?
You can definitely do something good for your gut! Your gut flora doesn't have to be disrupted to benefit from support. In your everyday life, you can, for example, pay attention to your general diet.
A balanced diet rich in fiber and plenty of fruits and vegetables is recommended. You should avoid sugar and unhealthy fats as much as possible. Meat and dairy products should also be consumed only in moderation. And don't forget to drink plenty of fluids! Drinking is crucial not only for those with histamine intolerance, but also for your overall gut health.
Sources
- Gut health and immune system
- Swiss Gastroenterology League (2014): Irritable bowel syndrome.