Asthma and Histamine: Could Your Breathlessness Be a Mast Cell Misfire?

Asthma is a chronic condition that impacts an estimated 262 million people worldwide (2019 statistic 1). It is one of the most common chronic conditions in children.

In the US, an average of 10 people die each day from asthma (2). In Canada 9.5% of the population has asthma. That’s about 1 in every 10 people.

The statistics are staggering!

Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest. Asthma can leave people feeling like they can’t breathe. When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters!

The involvement of histamine in allergic asthma has been understood for a long time, but what about when your asthma isn’t from allergies? Researchers have been trying to identify factors for a long time.

Asthma can be the result of hyper-responsiveness in the airway. Studies suggest that histamine intolerance (3) or mast cell activation (4, 5) can be at the root of lung sensitization and asthma.

Other studies show that markers of mast cell activation may be high in asthma (6, 7), further confirming mast cells' role.

Another component of asthma is epithelial permeability. Tight junctions in the lungs can be dysfunctional, contributing to compromised barrier function in lungs, which may contribute to inflammation and immune activation. (8)

If you are familiar with the concept of leaky gut, then this might seem familiar. We have also discussed compromised barrier function in the skin with eczema. These compromised barrier tissues in the body allow substances to “leak” through tissue that can then trigger mast cell activation. The same thing is happening in the lungs with asthma.

Looking to get better control of your asthma?

One important step that’s often overlooked: try a low histamine diet. Since histamine and mast cell activity can play a role in asthma symptoms, lowering your histamine load through food can be a powerful way in. That’s exactly why the Histamine Haven protocol includes both mast cell stabilization and barrier repair strategies.

Not sure where to begin?

Start by giving a low histamine way of eating a try—and to make it easier, grab our free shopping list here. It’ll show you which foods are most likely to support you as you get started.

Then, commit to eating as low histamine as you can for four weeks. Pay attention to how your body responds—are your symptoms easing up? Less tightness in your chest? Fewer wheezing episodes? This kind of shift can offer real insight into how much histamine and mast cells may be part of your asthma picture.

You might be surprised by how much better you can feel—just by changing what’s on your plate.

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Need more than a grocery list? Ready to start figuring out the histamine piece to the puzzle here for you or someone you care for who is struggling with asthma, including exercise or cold-induced asthma?

Join us at our upcoming class The Histamine Connection. It's at no cost to you; we dive in to exploring a bit more what histamine is in the body, what it does, why you need it, but what's going on when it seems to be driving symptoms.

Register here.