Histamine intolerance: is there histamine in peppers?

A low histamine diet can help if histamine is not tolerated. Find out if paprika also contains histamine.

In the case of histamine intolerance, it is important to avoid foods rich in histamine and to prefer foods low in histamine. In this way, gastrointestinal complaints and other symptoms of intolerance can be avoided as far as possible.

However, just knowing about the histamine content of food is not always enough. Because sometimes foods are low in histamine, but contain

• Substances that inhibit the histamine-degrading enzyme DAO (diamine oxidase).
• other biogenic amines than histamine, which are also broken down via the DAO. As a result, the DAO has less capacity for histamine.
• so-called histamine liberators, i.e. substances that release histamine from the body’s own cells (such as mast cells).

These are all factors that cause the histamine level in the body to rise – and can lead to symptoms in people who are sensitive to it. Find out in the following chapter to what extent this applies to peppers.

Histamine is naturally present in many foods. A high histamine content is often a consequence of the processing or storage of food (such as cheese or wine). It is therefore hardly possible to eat completely histamine-free in the event of an intolerance – and it is not necessary.

However, paprika is one of the low-histamine foods, so it contains comparatively little histamine. Paprika is also not considered a histamine liberator and also does not appear to inhibit DAO.

This means that the peppers are an alternative to histamine-rich vegetables. If you have a histamine intolerance and want to eat a low-histamine diet, you can use paprika.