Is Methylation a Cause of Your Child’s Histamine Intolerance?

Could Methylation be a cause of your child’s histamine intolerance? Seeing your child fussy, irritable, and cranky after food is frustrating. Symptoms of histamine intolerance vary from simple red-hot ears to life-threatening tachyarrhythmia.

In some children, symptoms are similar to that of an allergic reaction, but allergy tests results are usually negative. You must be wondering what causes this histamine intolerance, well here is the answer.

The Methylation Process

It is a critical biochemical process that happens in every human cell every minute and depends on the presence of enzymes for its optimal functioning. Some of the works that depend on effective methylation are as simple as ‘thinking’ to as complex as ‘repairing a DNA’. It is also capable of either switching off or on a gene. Therefore, when methylation is impaired it leads to a battery of symptoms.

Since methylation is a critical process by which the body removes toxins including histamine,  impaired methylation can present itself in many forms: from mental disorders (such as autism) to gastro issues (such as food intolerances) to heart issues and it is often missed in diagnosis.

Link Between Methylation and Histamine Metabolism

Histamine in the body is primarily stored in mast cells and are used in many useful functions of the body. The body has a natural mechanism to break down histamine which is why blood levels of histamine are minimal in healthy individuals. There are two enzymes, which are central to the metabolism of histamine:

HNMT –  Histamine N-Methyltransferase

• It catalyzes the methylation of histamine in the presence of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) forming N-methylhistamine.
• HNMT is present in most body tissues but is not present in serum.
• This requires an effective MTHFR enzyme to help produce SAM.
• It is involved in Histamine breakdown in the liver
• It requires Methylation to function correctly for its effective histamine degradation

DAO –  Diamine Oxidase  (aka “Histaminase”)

• Requires vitamin B6 and copper as co-factor
• Reduces extracellular histamine (bacteria and food)

Role of Methylation in Histamine Intolerance?

In a child or an adult with histamine intolerance, there is an imbalance between the production and breakdown of histamine. The excess histamine in circulation either due to overproduction or due to no inactivation causes Histamine intolerance also called as ‘histaminosis’.

Histamine metabolism varies from person to person if it is due to genetics as there are various mutations of these genes called as genetic polymorphism, also known as SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism).

For effective histamine breakdown, it is essential to have a normal methylation process. HNMT enzyme can effectively degrade histamine only when methylation is normal. Thus when methylation is impaired it will cause a decrease in histamine degradation, resulting in symptoms of histamine intolerance due to excessive (non-metabolised) histamine.

MTHFR Gene and Methylation

Methylenetetrahydrofolatereductase (MTHFR) is an enzyme that is important for the body’s Methylation process. Both the gene and the enzyme are named as MTHFR. It is also a key regulatory enzyme in the metabolism of folate.

The body’s cells cannot actually use folic acid in the form it is consumed thus it needs to be converted to methylfolate (an active form of folate) before the cells can use it. It is this metabolic pathway that the MTHFR gene defect inhibits and cause methylation deficiencies and/or neuro-immune syndromes. Low folate also means less conversion into methyl groups that further methylate molecules within the cell, thus causing a build-up of toxic chemicals and heavy metals. It is always a good idea to check for folate levels in the body and consider supplementing with an active form of folate if required. Dr. Ben Lynch has some great articles that explain the MTHFR gene and its impact.

How to Improve Methylation?

Making dietary and lifestyle changes

• Eat more dark green vegetables like bok choy, escarole, swiss chard, kale, watercress, spinach, dandelion,  or beet greens. These are among the most abundant sources of folate that is a methyl donor.
• Get more vitamin B’s – Good food sources include sunflower seeds and wheat germ (vitamin B6); fish and eggs (vitamin B6 and B12); cheese (B12); beans and walnuts (vitamin B6 and folate). Folate, B6, B12 and riboflavin are good methyl donors
• Reduce saturated fat, processed food and sugar. Animal fat has a tendency to increase homocysteine whereas sugar and processed food can deplete the body’s vitamins

Take supplements to support methylation

• Cofactors are the nutrients that are required for an enzyme to function properly. These micronutrients, which support methylation are also needed in adequate amounts in the diet
• Magnesium and zinc, TMG trimethylglycine (betaine) act as cofactors in the methylation process, thus, children should be provided with an adequate amount of magnesium, zinc TMG (betaine)

Improve gut health

• Improve stomach acid so that absorption of B6, B12 and folate is optimal. Use herbal digestives (bitters) or take supplemental HCl

Take histamine reducing probiotics

• It might be surprising to hear that bacteria play a role in the methylation cycle. It is one of the essential steps to improve the gut health of your child when suffering from histamine intolerance. However, picking up a random bottle of probiotic can prove disastrous, as there are certain strains of bacteria you must avoid because they are histamine producers. Some of the notable examples are lactobacillus casei, lactobacillus bulgaricus, streptococcus thermophilus, lactobacillus delbrueckii, lactobacillus helveticus
• Almost all probiotics in the market contain some or the other form of histamine producing lactobacillus group of bacteria hence be careful to read contents on probiotic bottles.
• Recommended histamine reducing probiotics are bifidobacterium infantis, lactobacillus plantarum lactobacillus salivarius and lactobacillus rhamnosus 

Remove methylation competitors and inhibitors

• Canned food, processed, aged food may contain foods that compete with histamine for methylation. On consumptions of such foods, histamine degradation will be slowed or stopped and are needed to be avoided.
• Try to provide your child with naturally fresh, unprocessed food. Use a cooking method that preserves vitamins and protein value of the food to the maximum

However, you should keep in mind that dietary and lifestyle changes are the main part of the treatment. Supplements will enhance healing from intolerance only when diet is modified and is devoid of high histamine foods.
The doses of supplements need to be titrated individually as per symptoms, improvements and response. Note: it is always recommended to consult your health practitioner regarding the appropriate dosage

Higher doses can be provided to children (for a limited period) when they are going through stress like fever, infections and other oxidative stresses.
It is clear that methylation is a very complex issue. Nevertheless, the treatment to it is a very simple and straightforward path where you modify a child’s diet as per his /her body suitability.
One more advice is to keep a food diary for your child. Record the behaviour and other complaints you notice with every meal and modify the diet as and when required. I would strongly recommend that you also consult a dietician/nutritionist who is well versed in food intolerance and methylation.

If you are struggling with food intolerances, allergies, SIBO, digestive problems or you want to simply support methylation there are products that can help.

I have designed this product guide to equip you with the best and most effective supplements you can buy for treatment as well as symptom relief. This list has been compiled through my own experience as well as working together with trusted and experienced practitioners.

You can check out my recommended supplement guide here.

Written By:

Dr. Priti V. (M.B.B.S., Diploma In Child Health, India)

Disclaimer: The content provided in this article, and in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately licensed physician or certified health care worker who can provide personalised advice.