Apples & Onions
… with natural antihistamines?
Quercetin, a compound found in many plants, is a flavonoid and an antioxidant with many valuable properties. It’s readily available in natural foods, especially apples and onions.
- Quercetin is an antioxidant, and may promote good health by decreasing or even helping to prevent some of the damage free radicals do to our bodies.
- It may help guard against heart disease and cancer.
- It is thought to have anti-inflammatory properties.
- In addition, quercetin may have an antihistamine effect by aiding in the stabilization of histamine-releasing cells in our bodies.
In laboratory tests, quercetin stops immune cells from releasing histamine. If this mechanism also works in living humans, then quercetin would be a valuable aid in reducing symptoms of allergies such as –
- itchy skin
- runny nose
- watery eyes
- hives
- sneezing
- wheezing, shortness of breath
Quercetin can be bought in the form of a dietary supplement (capsules, pills etc.). In the form of supplements it is generally considered safe, however the University of Maryland cautions people against taking more than the recommended dose. It is possible to harm your health by overdosing on quercetin supplements, but it’s unlikely you could eat enough apples or onions to cause any problems!
You can eat apples and onions raw or cooked – you’ll still get the benefits of quercetin. Cooking can change the levels of quercetin in foods, but not enough to worry about. For example, in a study on onions, “Baking and sautéing produced a 7–25% gain in quercetin concentration, while boiling produced an 18% decrease in quercetin concentration.”
So grab an apple now, or slice up an onion for a salad, and enjoy crunching on a nutritious fruit or vegetable that may help reduce your histamine intolerance symptoms!
References:
[Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Volume 18, Issue 6, September 2005, Pages 571–581 Quercetin in onion (Allium cepa L.) after heat-treatment simulating home preparation. Kevin Lombard, Ellen Peffley, Emanuel Geoffriau, Leslie Thompson, Andy Herring. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2004.03.027]
The skin of apples and other fruits are high in histamine so it’s not necessarily always the fruit itself. I have a severe reaction to eating apples with the skin on. When I peel them, I have no reaction at all.
Ate a gala apple today…not feeling well at all anxiety, stomach hurting and headache.
I’m looking for natural ways to block histamines in foods that I can eat I see apples are one of them please give me a list of things I can put in my diet to block histamines so I can control my sinus problems thank you so much Frank
My naturopath suggests that onions need to be avoided in a low histamine diet. What say you on this?
I totally agree but that’s my sensitivety for now. Onions don’t affect me alot but they do affect me mildly. Apples on the other hand cause me alot of symptoms like stuffy nose and even some itching if I eat it for a few days in a row.
Apples often show up as low histamine, but apples are only fresh a couple months in the year. The other 7 or 8 months we are sold apples from cold storage, most supermarkets are selling apples 9-10 months old. I love eating them but how much histamine is in these stored apples compared to fresh?
Ya I’ve been getting tingly arms after eating apples so I wonde r
That’s why you buy organic
Good point!
When I pick a fresh apple off a tree, I don’t have problems but if I buy them in the stores, man do I have a problem.
Thank you. I have had a terrible month. My chin is currently swollen and this is immediately after a swollen chin. I’m trying to establish what is different between this month and the last. I’ve been eating Pink Ladies Apples.
I will try two weeks without.
I haven’t cut it out because everything I’ve reading says it lowers histamine.