Histamine intolerance and oral nickel allergy

This blog post is all about nickel and oral nickel allergy, because this can also occur in combination with histamine intolerance and be one reason why the symptoms cannot be controlled despite a low-histamine diet.

Oral nickel allergy most often occurs in people who already have a contact nickel allergy, meaning they experience skin reactions upon contact with nickel. Have you ever developed a rash from wearing jewelry?

Approximately 2-10% of people with a nickel allergy also react to nickel in food. Unlike IgE-mediated food allergies, the trigger here is not a protein, but a trace element.

Symptoms of an oral nickel allergy when consuming nickel-containing foods can include:

• Constipation & Diarrhea
• heartburn
• nausea
• Heart palpitations
• migraine
• fatigue
• depressive moods
• dry, cracked skin
• cracked fingertips
• Eczema

And lo and behold: The symptoms of oral nickel allergy are very similar to those of histamine intolerance.

We will now show you a first way to confirm, or ideally not confirm, a suspected oral nickel allergy.
As a first step, you should follow an elimination diet and avoid foods containing nickel. A food and symptom diary can help you with this.

Since nickel is present in many foods and a completely nickel-free diet would lead to many deficiencies, you should initially avoid the "nickel bombs" to feel the first changes.

Here is a list of foods with a high nickel content:

• oatmeal
• cocoa
• Legumes
• nuts
• seeds
• whole grain products
• Coffee
• peel of fruit & vegetables

Furthermore, you should ensure that your cooking and baking utensils are also nickel-free, as nickel is released from pots and pans during the cooking process and can end up in your food. Stainless steel pots and pans are a good option here.

The elimination phase should last approximately 4-6 weeks. If your suspicion of a nickel allergy is confirmed, you can have the diagnosis made by a dermatologist or allergist. Skin tests, such as the prick test or the patch test, are used for this purpose. An oral nickel allergy is not curable according to conventional medicine. However, there are some steps you can take to reduce your allergy-related and histamine-related symptoms:

Treatment option for oral nickel allergy

The first step is to have a test done by a doctor in order to have a confirmed diagnosis.

➡️ Afterwards, a low-nickel diet is important to alleviate the symptoms.

Since nickel is present in most foods (albeit in small amounts), the long-term goal should not be a nickel-free diet, as this can lead to nutrient deficiencies.

➡️ The aim here is to minimize the organism's hypersensitivity.

We have a step-by-step guide for you to address the cause(s):

It is important that you slowly take care of your gut and liver and consciously integrate certain antioxidants into your diet.

1. Intestinal cleansing

with low-histamine bacterial strains

2. Strengthen the liver

The stronger our detoxification organs are, the better our body can eliminate pollutants and heavy metals.

3. Integrate antioxidants into your diet

Examples include berries, carrots, apples, garlic (1), onions (1), pomegranates, lettuce and grapes.

4. Vitamin C-rich diet

Foods with a high vitamin C content include:

🥔 Potatoes
🥬 Cabbage vegetables (e.g., savoy cabbage)
🫐 Currants
🍒 Acerola cherry (this can also be supplemented as pure juice or powder)

Sources