Clients Only: Module 3, Week 2: Start Here For The Histamine Elimination

INSTRUCTIONS

Only watch this module if your Dietitian has advised you to!

If you are unsure which elimination diet to follow, please speak to your Dietitian about which elimination to start with.

Your Dietitian will tell you which elimination you need to follow after week 1 (subject to their advice).

Tap on the “Go To Next Module” link at the bottom of the page to move to the next module.

If you have any questions please ask in the FB group or email hello@dietvsdisease.org.

By the end of this module you will:
– Understand what histamine is
– Understand how to start your elimination diet
– Understand how to navigate eating out and make simple swaps
– Understand how to use resources to guide your decision making
– Understand how to use the Food Intolerances app


1. What is histamine intolerance?

So, if you’ve never heard of histamine or histamine intolerance, this is the place to start. In this video Taylor Hanna walks you through everything you need to know to get started..

 

  • Original
  • 540p
  • 250p

 

  • Histamine is a natural food chemical that our body naturally produces from cells and that we also absorb from some of the foods we eat.
  • Histamine is metabolized and broken to help ensure a balanced level (not too much not too little)
  • If, over time one of the processes involved in the breakdown of histamine is not working or is not being triggered properly it can result in an over-accumulation of histamine in the
    bloodstream.
  • An over accumulation of histamine irritates various nerves in our body causing symptoms such as:
    • Diarrhoea
    • Bloating
    • Sinus irritation (post nasal drip, sneezing, stuff nose)
    • Tingling or itchy lips, mouth or tongue
    • Reddening of skin, hives (urticaria), rash
    • Reflux / stomach ache
    • Headaches
    • Nausea
  • Not everyone will experience all of the symptoms above, but at least 2 will likely be present therefore pointing to a histamine intolerance (rather than FODMAP).

2. Histamine Diet – What to Expect

In this video, Taylor covers what you can expect from a low histamine elimination diet.

 

  • Original
  • 540p
  • 250p

 

 


 

3. Histamine Stacking Explained

Reaching your histamine threshold to bring on symptoms can be extremely confusing and one of the reasons why diagnosing a histamine intolerance can be so difficult; you can eat the same histamine containing food over many days without triggering a reaction until you eventually hit your threshold.

So, much like FODMAP stacking is the #1 reason people don’t do well on the FODMAP diet, it is important to understand histamine stacking as well.

In this video, Ryanne Lachman explains how it works.

 

  • Original
  • 720p
  • 540p
  • 224p

 

Downloads:

Histamine stacking guide


4. Create Your Go-To Meals Without Reinventing The Wheel

In this lesson, Ryanne Lachman shows you how to use the histamine eat this, not that list to recreate your meals without completely redesigning your whole diet!

VIDEO COMING SOON!

Eat This Not That Histamine Food List


5. What To Do When Dining Out (with Food Intolerance)

Being on a low histamine diet doesn’t mean you need to stop going out to restaurants.

You just need to be very careful about what you order.

This video has some general recommendations and then cuisine-specific tips are listed below. We also provide tips for eating at a friend’s or relative’s place.

 

  • Original
  • 540p
  • 284p

 

Before you go to the restaurant:

  • Check the menu online ahead of time, check ingredients against your Food Intolerances app.
  • Call the manager ahead of time to see if they can accommodate your dietary needs.
  • Keep things like fresh fruit handy and eat before you go to a restaurant.
  • Bring your own salad dressing.
  • Bring your own pasta sauce or stir fry sauce. They should be able to stir fry something acceptable for you.

When you are at the restaurant:

  • Don’t be afraid to speak directly to the chefs.
  • It’s okay to send something back if it didn’t come out as expected.
  • Always ask how proteins are stored (frozen vs fresh).
  • Don’t allow yourself to be bullied into believing you are not entitled to expect them to be helpful and accommodating and to do it without making you feel uncomfortable.

What to eat:

  • Most restaurants, whether it is on the menu or not, will cook you a plain omelette with herbs.
  • Choose grilled meat or salmon with no seasoning or marinade.
  • Avoid aged meats (e.g. aged steaks).
  • Avoid slow marinated meats.
  • Avoid eating from bain marie and buffet style restaurants, aim for cook-fresh (or cook to order) establishments.
  • A grilled burger and regular fries are generally safe.
  • Order plain boiled brown or white rice.
  • Wheat base pizza is ok but ask for no tomato sauce on the base.
  • Pasta with olive oil and unseasoned grilled chicken are safe.
  • Have salad with a safe serving of balsamic dressing.

Tips for eating out at Indian restaurants:

  • Avoid anything above a mild level of spice.
  • Avoid tomato based dishes.
  • Ask if they can grill you some chicken skewers chicken tikka style but using herbs and spices you can tolerate.
  • Ask for meat that has not been pre marinated.
  • Ask for no dressing on salads.

Tips for eating out at Mexican restaurants:

  • Order fajitas with no seasoning on the meat. Pair it with lettuce, black beans and rice.
  • Grilled plain steak.
  • Grilled chicken tacos, without any spices.
  • Make sure burgers are seasoning and spice free.
  • You can have corn or wheat tortillas.
  • Avoid lactose if you are or suspect lactose intolerance

Tips for eating out at Seafood restaurants:

  • Ask whether fish has been frozen before serving or how long the fish has been thawed for.
  • Order a side salad with oil and vinegar on side.

Tips for eating out at Oriental/Asian restaurants:

  • Many Oriental places will cook your food fresh to your specifications (e.g. without sauce).
  • Vietnamese food can be a good choice. Check to see if you can get non seasoned meat.
  • Rice and noodles are safe.
  • Avoid fish sauce and soy sauce.
  • Avoid crustaceans.
  • For Thai food (eg. pad Thai) avoid peanut sauces.
  • Avoid all spice (ask for mild only).

6. Why Do You Want A Meal Plan?

This lesson explores meal plans and how they apply to you and your goals.

This is what we cover:

  • Why do you want a meal plan?
  • Meal plan reality check
  • Why we provide a meal plan
  • Transform your current diet
  • Sustainability at the forefront

– Note with this lesson there are 3 different low histamine meal plans to download for those with digestive issues. You can find these under the ‘Meal Plan Downloads’ heading below, and the choice is between imperial and metric measurements.

– We can make you a custom meal plan if you request it with one of the Dietitians in messenger or contact us at support@dietvsdisease.com.

– Ideally though you do not want to rely on meal plans, but rather we want to help you create your own plan over time (hence the video above).

– There are several resources designed to help you navigate histamine more effectively.

Meal Plan Downloads:


7. Food Intolerances App

We highly recommend that you download the Food Intolerances app if you are following the histamine or salicylate elimination.

The app is extensive, updated regularly and is the main source of histamine information we recommend you use. We build our resources from the app (among others)

The app is a one off fee of $5.99USD for the basic edition on iPhone and $24.99 for the pro version. The app is one off fee $8.99USD on Android devices. The functionality does differ between the apps.

Click here to download the app for Android devices

Click here to download the app for iPhone/iPad



8. Additional Tips for Getting Started

If you made it down here, well done, you are doing great!

Here are some additional tips that will help you get and stay on track early in the process:

1) Buy a digital scale!

Having a digital kitchen scale is essential for success with the low histamine protocol. The difference between low, medium and high histamine in some foods is not a lot. If you think you can judge portions well using spoon and cup measures compared to a scale, then you’re wrong. We can take this outside or you can just take my advice. A scale will also help you learn portion sizes in general as we tend to be terrible at doing this.

Click here if you need a scale and are in the USA (our Amazon store)

2) Buy a step stool/squatty potty!

This little beauty will change your life. Seriously. Use it when you poop. Humans are designed to squat when they poop which straightens the colon, making it easier to pass a poop. A stool for a stool!

Click here if you need a squatty potty and are in the USA (Amazon store link)

3) Make sure you own some comfortable shoes…

Walking is excellent exercise and most people don’t do enough of it. Aim for 10,000 steps a day, build up slowly. It’s low impact, doesn’t cost anything, you can say hello to people you pass (yes, you can!) and stare at nice houses or the scenery, or listen to replays of our Q&As and mindset calls… or music. And it’s great for bowel motility… Unless you need to poop on your walk… 😅

4) If you are prone to constipation…

Buy magnesium citrate power and/or MiraLAX. One or both will likely help, but do speak to your Dietitian about how, when and how much to use.

Click here for products we recommend (Amazon store link)

5) If you are prone to diarrhoea…

Buy a soluble fiber supplement like psyllium husk powder (commercially as Metamucil), acacia fiber (commercially as Heathers Tummy Fiber) or PHGG (commercially as Sunfiber). This will help to slow things down. Again, speak to your Dietitian about how, when and how much to use.

Click here for fiber products we recommend (Amazon store link)

6) Bring an open mind…

This is as important as the others. We know you will have searched every corner of the internet for solutions to your problems and been advertised to by every quack out there. We all have ideas about what a healthy diet is, what healthy foods are, what health conditions are, how they can be treated and all sorts of nonsense perpetuated by doctor Google, social media gurus and people at work who think they know best.

They don’t.

We do!

Trust us to help you get to where you want to be with your IBS, weight and anything else that is within our scope of practice. Being open to learn, or relearn something you previously had ideas or a fixed mindset about, is invaluable on the journey to better health.


 

MODULE SUMMARY

At the end of the module you should:
– Understand what histamine is
– Understand how to start your elimination diet
– Understand how to navigate eating out and make simple swaps
– Understand how to use resources to guide your decision making
– Understand how to use the Food Intolerances app
If you are unsure about anything, please review the lessons again, reach out for help in the FB group, on a Q&A or to your Dietitian.

Please click the link below to move to the next module.