The Histamine Bucket

The Histamine Bucket is a simple and helpful way to understand how histamine can build up in the body—and why symptoms may appear seemingly “out of the blue.” This analogy is often used by people living with conditions such as histamine intolerance, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), or related sensitivities, because it explains complex body reactions in an easy, relatable way. You may suspect or know that you are dealing with histamine intolerance.

Rather than viewing symptoms as random or unrelated, the bucket analogy shows how many small factors can quietly add up over time. Each exposure might feel manageable on its own, but together they can push the body past its comfort limit. This helps explain why you might tolerate something one day but react to it the next. For example, a food that caused no issues yesterday might trigger symptoms today if it’s combined with stress, poor sleep, or exposure to allergens.

How it Works

Histamine intolerance is often explained using the histamine bucket analogy.

Think of your body as having a bucket that holds histamine. Every source of histamine can increase your histamine level —food choices, stress, hormonal changes especially menopause, infections,—they add to that bucket. As long as the bucket is empty or only partly full, you may feel fine and less likely to notice symptoms. But as histamine builds up, the bucket gradually fills. Once it overflows, symptoms occur.

High-histamine foods don’t usually cause the problem on their own—until they simply add to an already full bucket, pushing it past the tipping point.

Once the bucket becomes too full, it may overflow. This “overflow” is when symptoms appear, such as skin rashes, digestive discomfort, headaches, flushing, brain fog, or fatigue. Some people may have heart palpitations ,itchy skin, anxiety, or sleeplessness, You may have one or a few of these symptoms. You may be dealing with post viral fatigue, POTS, or long Covid which are all connected to histamine and mast cell activation.

Everyone’s bucket is a different size. Some people can tolerate higher histamine levels before symptoms appear, while others have a smaller margin. Even for the same person, bucket size can change from day to day depending on overall health, stress levels, sleep, and other lifestyle factors.

What Is Histamine?

Let’s start with the basics, because histamine is often misunderstood. It’s a busy compound that plays several very different roles in the body.

Histamine is a chemical messenger that your body naturally produces. It’s released mainly by a type of white blood cell called mast cells as part of a healthy immune response. When histamine is released, it creates inflammation, which is actually a good thing in the right context. Inflammation helps your body fight infections, heal injuries, and respond to threats.

But histamine doesn’t stop there.

In addition to its role in the immune system, histamine is also involved in:

  • Stomach acid production, which helps digest food
  • Brain function, including alertness and wakefulness
  • Allergic reactions, such as hay fever or food allergies

On top of the histamine your body makes, there’s also histamine naturally present in many foods and drinks, with some foods containing much higher levels than others.

How the Body Breaks Histamine Down

Under normal circumstances, histamine doesn’t hang around for long. The body uses enzymes to break it down efficiently:

  • Diamine oxidase (DAO) breaks down histamine in the digestive system
  • Histamine N-methyltransferase (HNMT) breaks down histamine in the brain and nervous system

When these systems are working well, histamine levels stay balanced and symptoms don’t occur.

When Does Histamine Become a Problem?

Histamine-related symptoms can develop when there’s an imbalance—specifically when:

  • The body releases too much histamine from mast cells
  • The body doesn’t produce enough enzymes (like DAO) to break histamine down
  • Both of the above are happening at the same time

This imbalance is often linked to gut dysfunction, chronic inflammation, or immune system dysregulation. When histamine builds up faster than the body can clear it, symptoms may appear.

Histamine often becomes a problem for women over 40 (and for some under 40)—especially if you’ve noticed your body reacting differently than it used to. These changes are often linked to histamine and hormones. Histamine levels tend to rise when oestrogen is higher—around ovulation, just before your period, and during the hormone rollercoaster of peri-menopause and menopause. What many women don’t realise is that mast cells (the immune cells that release histamine) also have oestrogen and progesterone receptors. This means hormonal shifts can directly
influence how much histamine your body releases. They work closely together.

As a result, peri-menopause and menopause can trigger allergy-like symptoms that don’t always look like classic allergies. See our section below where we discuss the common symptoms of histamine intolerance. If it feels like your body has suddenly become “reactive,” you’re not imagining it—your hormones and histamine are likely having a very real conversation behind the scenes.

Lets repeat what fills the Bucket?

Many everyday factors add to your histamine load, including:

  • High-histamine foods, such as aged cheeses, fermented foods, cured meats, and alcohol
  • Environmental triggers, like pollen, dust mites, mould, or chemicals found in cleaning products and perfumes
  • Stress and emotional strain
  • Hormonal changes, particularly around the menstrual cycle, pre- menopause, menopause , and post menopause.
  • Illness or infection, which can increase inflammation and histamine release
  • Physical exertion or overheating

Some of these add just a few drops to the bucket, while others may pour in much more. Often, it’s not one single trigger that causes symptoms, but the combined effect of several smaller ones.

What Is a Low Histamine Eating Plan ?

The low histamine eating plan is a therapeutic eating approach used to help manage histamine intolerance.
The goal is to reduce the overall histamine load by:

  • Limiting foods that naturally contain high levels of histamine
  • Avoiding foods and drinks that can trigger histamine release from mast cells
  • Reducing substances that may block histamine-degrading enzymes, particularly DAO

Unlike a true food allergy, histamine intolerance isn’t really about specific foods being “bad” for you. In fact, high or very high histamine foods are not bad foods- they are good and great foods. It’s just that they are not appropriate to eat while your bucket is full. Eat them later on when your bucket is empty. Instead, it’s about what’s happening behind the scenes. The body may be struggling to break histamine down, releasing too much of it, or both.

Why Try a Low Histamine Eating Plan?

A low histamine eating plan is used for two main reasons:

  1. To help identify histamine intolerance
    Think of it as a diagnostic tool. If symptoms improve when histamine intake is reduced, that’s a valuable clue.
  2. To reduce symptoms while addressing root causes
    By “emptying the bucket,” you give your body some breathing room while working on underlying issues such as gut health, inflammation, or immune balance. It may be useful while waiting for your probiotic to give a better and better response over weeks then months of taking them.

Is the Low Histamine Eating Plan Right for You?

The low histamine eating plan can be a helpful tool if you suspect—or already know—that histamine is playing a role in your symptoms. It’s most commonly used by people with histamine intolerance or mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), but it can also benefit certain gut and nervous system conditions where histamine is part of the picture.

Here are the Common Symptoms of Histamine Intolerance in detail

Symptoms may include (but are not limited to):

  • Joint pain and stiffness (especially during flares)
  • Muscle pain and aches
  • Pain sensitivity (making minor aches feel much more intense)
  • Bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, reflux, or other digestive symptoms
  • Fatigue
  • Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
  • Hives (urticaria) or general itchiness
  • Headaches or migraines
  • Flushing or feeling overheated
  • Heart palpitations or a rapid heart rate, especially after eating
  • Anxiety or a sense of internal “wiredness”
  • Shortness of breath
  • Insomnia or trouble staying asleep

How to Follow a Low Histamine Food Plan (Without Making It a Forever Thing)

A low histamine food plan can be an incredibly helpful tool if you’re dealing with histamine intolerance, mast cell activation symptoms, or related conditions. But it’s important to say this clearly from the start:

A low histamine eating plan is not meant to be followed forever. Just for 1-2-3 weeks or a little longer if your symptoms are prominent. So that is good news. You go back to eating as you did before once you have followed it for this short time. It is likely you may have to repeat it every 6 months. This is because the histamine level will slowly rise again over the next 6 months. Once past menopause it may be needed three times a year.

It works best when used temporarily, much like an elimination diet—to calm symptoms, reduce your histamine “load,” and help you identify what your body can and can’t tolerate right now. The ultimate goal is always to return to the widest, most nourishing diet possible while addressing the root causes of histamine overload.

The most effective way to approach low histamine eating is to think of it as a three-phase process: elimination, reintroduction, and personalisation.

Phase 1: The Elimination Phase

In the elimination phase, you’ll follow a low histamine eating plan strictly, avoiding high-histamine foods and known histamine triggers. (See below The Low Histamine Food Plan- The Food List)

Most people should plan to follow this phase for at least two weeks to one month. If you’ve been highly symptomatic for a long time, a longer elimination period may be appropriate—but this is still meant to be temporary.

During this phase:

  • Pay close attention to how you feel
  • Keep a food and symptom diary if possible
  • Think of this as an experiment, not a diagnosis

There are currently no definitive tests that can diagnose histamine intolerance on their own. Your body’s response to dietary changes is often the most informative tool we have.

Just as important as the food plan itself is what’s happening behind the scenes. Histamine intolerance is rarely the root problem—it’s usually a sign of something else, such as gut dysbiosis, immune system dysregulation, chronic stress, nutrient deficiencies, or infections.
The food plan helps calm symptoms, but healing happens when underlying causes are identified and addressed.

Phase 2: The Reintroduction Phase

Once you’ve noticed improvement—both from dietary changes and from addressing root causes—it’s time to move on. Back to your usual eating.

In the reintroduction phase, you can go back to eating as you did before. Keep in mind you may identify over time a food high in histamine that you are particularly reactive to. You may want to reduce how often you eat this when you return to your usual eating,. If you want to identify a food that you think may be a problem for you but are not sure, begin adding the higher-histamine but otherwise healthy foods back into your diet one at a time.

For this here are a few key guidelines:

  • Reintroduce only one food at a time
  • Leave several days between new foods, as reactions can be delayed
  • Watch for both obvious and subtle symptoms

If a food triggers symptoms, set it aside for now. That doesn’t mean it’s “off-limits forever”—just that your body may not be ready for it yet.

If you don’t notice symptoms, that food can move into your longer-term eating plan.

Phase 3: The Personalisation Phase

This is the most important phase—and the one that often gets overlooked.

In the personalisation phase, you’ll create a sustainable, long-term way of eating based on what your body tolerates. This is not about perfection or rigid rules. It’s about flexibility, variety, and nourishment.

The goal is to:

  • Eat a wide range of whole, nutrient-dense foods
  • Avoid only the foods that consistently trigger symptoms
  • Continue adjusting as your health improves


There are a few foods not recommended to reintroduce regularly, such as processed meats, artificial additives, sugar and alcohol. This isn’t just about histamine—these foods tend to promote inflammation through multiple pathways.

Low Histamine Food Plan - The Food List

Histamine content can vary based on freshness, storage, and preparation, which is why you’ll sometimes see disagreement between food lists. Still, the following foods are among the most commonly agreed upon.

Here is a link to a comprehensive list of high histamine foods (referred to here as high amine foods) There are many lists available to compare - you can check lists and use what is easiest for you to follow. Just make sure your list is reliable. This list is reliable. Thank you Wellington Chiropractor for your work on this list.

Examine the tables for each food type in the list. Please go through all the food groups. For 1-2-3 weeks, stop eating the foods listed in the high and very high group. Eat the foods in the negligible and low group. Remember it is a short term eating plan so not permanent changes in your eating. You will eat them again soon. If you go out for a meal -or decide that you really want to eat a food from the moderate list occasionally, that is OK. It will just take you a little longer to empty your bucket!

https://www.wellingtonchiropractor.co.nz/amine-food-list/

Foods to Avoid (During Elimination)

  • Alcohol (especially red wine and champagne; ideally avoid all alcohol)
  • Aged cheeses
  • Smoked, cured, or processed meats (salami, ham, bacon, sausages)
  • Fermented or pickled foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, pickles)
  • Chocolate
  • Spinach, eggplant, tomatoes, squash, avocado
  • Black tea, energy drinks
  • Citrus fruits
  • Papaya, plums, bananas, kiwi
  • Wheat and gluten-containing grains
  • Peanuts, walnuts, cashews
  • Chilli powder, cayenne, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, curry powder
  • Shellfish
  • Soy sauce and most soy products
  • Most dairy products
  • Most legumes
  • Preservatives and food additives

Foods to Enjoy (If Otherwise Tolerated)

  • Fresh chicken and fresh meats (ideally organic)
  • Fresh fish
  • Olive oil, coconut oil
  • Most vegetables
  • Most non-citrus fruits
  • Most herbs and spices
  • Almonds, pine nuts, pistachios
  • Flaxseeds, chia seeds
  • Potatoes (if tolerated)
  • Dairy-free milks (almond, coconut)
  • Eggs (if tolerated; cooked eggs are generally better tolerated than raw whites)


Additional Considerations

Freshness Matters

Histamine builds up as food ages. Leftovers, even when refrigerated, can become higher in histamine over time. Whenever possible, eat foods freshly cooked and freeze leftovers promptly if needed.

Food Isn’t the Only Trigger

Heat, cold, emotional stress, and certain medications (including NSAIDs and some antibiotics) can all stimulate histamine release. Diet is only one piece of the puzzle.

Root Causes Are Everything

A low histamine diet helps manage symptoms—it does not fix histamine intolerance on its own. Gut health imbalances, immune dysregulation, chronic infections, and prolonged stress all need to be addressed for lasting improvement.

Clearing Your Histamine Bucket

Just remember:

This is a short-term strategy, not a lifelong restriction.

With the right guidance and root-cause work, many people are able to significantly expand their diets again and feel more resilient over time.