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This grocery list to help someone kick-off their low histamine diet. No fancy recipes. Let’s keep it real… being sick is exhausting and the last thing you’re going to want to do is make fancy dishes. You can save that for a spoon-plentiful day. Besides, being overwhelmed can quickly transform to pure frustration when trying to figure out what you’re “allowed” to eat. It’s only natural. I can’t promise you won’t feel deprived, but there are still some tasty things you can put together! Know each person with a mast cell disorder is unique with their specific food sensitivities, so of course tailor your own list. Read more at the Low Histamine Diet Page.
Breakfast
- Rice Crispies or Corn Flakes
- Milk of choice- cow’s milk, rice milk, coconut milk
- Oats (For oatmeal/smoothies, add bits of apples or blueberries.)
- Chia seeds (For chia seed pudding)
- Toast/English muffin (Top with cream cheese and jam.)
- Cream cheese
- Jam of choice: mango, blueberry*, blackberry*, apricot*
- Maple syrup or Honey* for sweetener
- Butter (We’ll use this a lot…)
Snacks
- Sweet potato* chips or yellow corn tortilla chips
- Pretzels
- Popcorn (Pop on the stove with coconut oil*, toss with melted butter and salt.)
- Apples* (can slice and sprinkle with cinnamon* and/or coconut shavings)
- Apple sauce
- Baby carrots
- Rice pudding**
- Persimmons
- Pomegranate
Smoothies- Make with 1 cup milk of choice (cow’s milk, rice milk, or coconut milk), 1 cup kale or chard, 1 cup of fruit of choice (or mix)
- Kale or Chard
- Frozen fruits of choice: mango, blueberries*, cherries*, peaches*, apples*
Drinks
- Apple juice*
- Coconut water
- Carrot juice
- Holy basil tea (Holy basil has an anti-histamine affect and mast cell stabilizing properties.)*[1]
- Tart cherry juice (Tart cherry juice is anti-inflammatory.)*[2]
Lunch & Dinners
- Butternut squash puree (Make butternut squash soup or heat up and mix with butter, honey, salt, and cinnamon.)
- Fresh chicken. Sprouts has a delicious no seasoning rotisserie chicken I like to pick up fresh. (Can serve with rice/quinoa, and season with salt, rosemary*, sage*, oregano*… whichever you tolerate and like.)
- Sweet potato* or yam* (Baked with butter.)
For simple sandwiches…
- Fresh meat cuts for sandwiches (Freeze and defrost as needed.)
- Lettuce
- Choice of sliced bread
- Fresh mozzarella if you want cheese
Sides
- Zucchini* (slice and sauté in butter)
- Carrots (can get frozen and microwave, season with butter and salt to taste)
- Quinoa/Amaranth/Rice**
- Asparagus (roast and season with salt and nutmeg* if tolerable)
- Broccoli* (steam with butter and salt)
- Cauliflower (roast or steam with turmeric* and ginger*)
- Corn (on the cob or frozen, great with butter and salt)
Don’t forget to freeze left-overs (especially protein), because histamine is produced as microbes break-down food!
*High in salicylates! Keep in mind many with MCAS are sensitive to salicylates, a chemical naturally occurring in many plants. Read more here: Salicylate Sensitivity
**Rice contains much more arsenic than other grains. Learn how to select and prepare rice differently to reduce your arsenic intake: All That Arsenic in Rice. Quinoa and amaranth have much lower arsenic levels, making them great alternatives to rice.
Free Low Histamine Diet Recipes
References
Foods selected based on their histamine content as defined in the histamine food list provided by SIGHI.
[1] Holy basil: http://ispub.com/IJPHARM/7/1/6038
[2] Tart cherry juice: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20459662
Great quick list. Thanks for being so
Straightforward.
Thanks- glad it’s helpful!!
This is awesome thank you! I’m curious how French fries fare as far as histamine goes. I’m trying to concoct a low histamine diet for my daughter without taking away all of her safe foods for her gastroparesis. Nobody really talks about white potatoes or specifically French fries. I know it’s because most people are super ‘healthy eating’ motivated but for her it’s really just about feeling better. Any insight would be welcome!
Hi! Strictly following the referenced Swiss list, potatoes are fine histamine-wise. For many with MCAS potato is actually one of their safer foods. In starting the elimination diet though, some decide to avoid the white potatoes to avoid the nightshade category altogether and swap them out for sweet potatoes until it’s time to start adding foods back into the diet again. If you’re going out to eat, you’ll want to check the ingredients of French fries, because many fast-food joints and restaurants use additives and oils that might be triggering (not necessarily the potato itself). Another thing to keep in mind, since she sounds pretty food sensitive, is that some of us seem to be sensitive to salicylates, and some to oxalates. That’s an issue separate from histamine. It can be overwhelming, but hope it goes well!
I’m about to tear up! Thank you so much for putting this list together. I’ve been completely overwhelmed feeling like this diet will be impossible for me to follow. It’s so great to have a place to start.
It’s so nice to know it’s worth keeping the site up and running! Thanks so much for letting me know and I hope it goes well! -B
Thank you so much for this!
I’ve been diagnosed with Still’s Disease
but think I have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. I’m getting scared to eat period because most foods cause reactions.
Websites like this help those like me not
be so overwhelmed with what is there left
to eat. So appreciated. I’ll be checking on
your site often. God bless.
Sorry it’s been ages since you posted this! I really hope you’ve found some ways to manage your symptoms. I know how scary and unsettling it can be. I’m personally working on expanding my diet a little bit. I often feel like a scared little lab rat that’s been shocked way too many times indiscriminately. I can find it hard to know what’s rational fear/worry or not. The fact that we keep trying despite the decent likelihood of bad outcomes should be something we’re really proud of… I keep trying to remind myself. It’s just brave.
This was probably one of the best articles I have read so far! The tips are great and your recipes beyond yummy!!! Thank you!!!
Marlene xoxo
Thanks, Marlene! Each person is so different, but hopefully it’s a good starting place for lot of people.
I want to thank you very much for your help, hope and hard work on creating this invaluable information for the suffering.
Thanks for the kind feedback. Hope you’re managing well!
I’m terribly allergic to Birch, Mugwort, Pigweed, Plantain, and Ragweed. I’m trying to find a balanced diet since I’m also MCAS and even many of the safe foods on the Swiss List are cross-reactors of the weeds/trees I’m allergic to. I’m praying and carrying Benadryl and epi pens everywhere I go and scared to eat (though due to third spacing I’m fat).
I can literally eat zero fruits.
Veggies include squash, pumpkin, corn and yam. Otherwise it’s down to fresh meats, oats, quinoa, rice products (biscuits/crackers/noodles) and egg yolks, along with Swiss List acceptable dairy.
Does anyone else deal with pollen cross reactions even with low histamine foods??
Not even sure what vitamins I should take now—I’ve been taking a Natures Way Alive Woman formula but wondering if that is bad for me.
Thank you for keeping this up and available. I was feeling overwhelmed and a little sad. This was very encouraging.
Hi Marcela! Yeah I’m currently working on rebounding from another flare-up. It can get really draining and tiring emotionally on top of just being sick. Hope you’re finding some things that work for you. Hugs!
You mention salicylates but what about oxalates and lectins in the foods, a great many mcas patients can’t have those, or only low amounts. Does anyone know a cookbook that is low histamine, oxalates, and lectins?
Hi! Actually I do also mention oxalates on the “what to know” page… there are lotsss of things patients may discover they have sensitivities too- it can seem endless. You may find another site that combines all these eliminations, but I don’t have any to direct you to. There might even be an app for your phone these days? The trouble with eliminating all sorts of categories together is that the food options become even dramatically smaller, as you may already be finding. For my case, my doctor advised to do only one kind of elimination diet at a time, so I think it really needs to be based on the patient specifically and hopefully with good advice from their personal doctor. Hope you find something that works well for you!
Since tart cherry juice is in a bottle and is “not frozen”…..does that mean it has histamine? So confused here and appreciate the help. I want to add cherries to the list because they lower serum uric acid levels ….
Hi Susan! I’ve tried tart cherry myself actually and seem to do fine with small servings… It’s quite acidic! Each of us is so different. Have you run it by your doctor? I imagine the juice would be very fresh upon opening. Do know that cherries seem to be high in salicylates, which a lot of MCAS patients find themselves sensitive to. Wishing you the best!
Has the enzyme dao been tried by anyone for histamine intolerance. I am wondering if it is worth an experiment with it. I could only do it for a short time as it is expensive but if it gave me a few weeks symptom free it would confirm that histamine is my problem by itself. I am caught between trying to find out if histamine is the problem or is it salicylate or oxalate. I also have problems with aspirin/foods/chemicals. I have written a food diary for 40 years but at 76yrs now I just cannot nail anything down. Absolutely fed up.
Hi Jill! Yes these conditions are absolutely frustrating, you’re not alone! I’ve heard very mixed reviews of DAO supplements, I mention them here: https://www.naughtylittlemastcells.com/get-started/#drugs
I’d highly encourage you to ask fellow MCAS and POTS patients their experiences on the Facebook support groups in case you haven’t already! I also hope you have a doctor that has screened you for things like a mast cell disease. A lot of patients can improve the range of foods they can eat by getting on mast cell stabilizing drugs like cromolyn/gastrocrom or ketotifen. There’s definitely hope for improvement!
So wheat and yeast are ok?
Hi! I reference the SIGHI list, which does get updated over time, but yeast is still listed as low with a “1”, but now notes: “Well tolerated when produced under perfect hygienic conditions. Exceptions: baked goods with a long dough fermentation time may be intolerated.” So many now try avoiding breads like sourdough. Yeast EXTRACT however is still listed as high and a liberator by SIGHI. Important to highlight that yeast extract and yeast are not the same. The extract is actually made by essentially fermenting and processing yeast.
Bread is still listed as low with a “1”, but they now note: “Problematic ingredients: malt, iodine, long fermentation times of yeast or sourdough, possibly also ATI grains (certain varieties with amylase-tryptase inhibitors, undeclared)” So these are points to consider now.
Checking those ingredient lists is important. I personally found that I don’t do well with malt for example, so updated my food choices accordingly. Also related to this, some people do find benefit from going gluten-free, as I share on the “what to know” page. As always I defer to your doctors, and remember it should be about what you find works for you regardless of any list out there. Hope that helps, and hope you’re managing well!
Hello, thank you for your post. Can you tell me if you think yeast in gluten free bread is ok to consume daily?.
What doctor do you see for histamine intolerance and possible low DAO enzyme. My problem is roseacea.
I am just starting dealing with this. One person told le that she was advised to eat olive oil as it ups DAO production. Anyone hear of this?
Hi, thank you for doing this blog. I found it a time when I was feeling overwhelmed with MCAS issues. I’m newly diagnosed. Reading the info here, really helped me today.
Thank you for the tips. I am gluten free, soy free and yeast free. I find your simple list and suggestions so helpful!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I have MCAS, HyperPOTS, hEDS and Eosinophilic esophagitis. It’s really hard to find anything so lists like this are so appreciated. Even though I can’t have corn, gluten, dairy, eggs, shellfish or nuts😅, it’s helpful to see this and the recipes and just tweak them to my needs!
thanks everyone for sharing. just been put on low histime diet. very difficult
Thanks!!