Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
A lot of the time
our period problems are
exacerbated, are caused by lowprogesterone, high estrogen, or
inflammation, maybe somecombination of those.
But if you are somebody who,when you take antihistamines,
you realize that your PMS isalleviated or your period pain
is much less.
Well, it might not be rooted inprogesterone or estrogen.
(00:24):
It could be a histamine problem.
And that is what I'm gonna walkyou through today.
Because if you are somebody whohas period pain, you have PMS
that you just cannot figure out,this episode is gonna be for
you.
We are diving into histamines.
Welcome to the I'm HormonalPodcast.
I'm Bridget Walton, a women'shormone coach helping busy,
(00:45):
ambitious women throughpersonalized coaching and
science-backed solutions.
Whether you're listening to mehere or you're working with me
one-on-one, my goal is the same,which is to help you to stop
guessing about your hormonehealth and start seeing real
progress.
Now, I am so sorry, guys.
These episodes normally come outfor you all on Tuesdays and
(01:06):
Thursdays.
I had a little bit of atechnical, I don't know, is
Mercury in retrograde kind ofthing happening because let me
tell you, yesterday I recordedat least, no, I recorded two
full podcasts before realizingthat my mic wasn't plugged in.
So I'm well versed.
We're back for round two, and Ireally wanted to talk about
(01:27):
histamines in this episodebecause this is kind of sneaky,
right?
Most women don't realize thathistamines, totally normal,
natural chemicals in your body,could be contributing to period
pain and PMS.
So we are going to break downwhat is actually happening, what
in your diet might be makingthis worse and give you a quick
(01:50):
actionable plan for what to doif this is your missing piece.
So, first, what are histamines?
We usually think of histaminesas part of an allergy response,
immune reactions that result inthings like swelling or hives or
rashes.
But histamines can also bereleased in situations like
(02:11):
totally unrelated to allergies.
So let's walk through thehistamine hormone connection
because here's why histaminesrelate to your period at all.
Now, high histamine levels inyour body will drive up
estrogen.
And high estrogen levels alsodrive up histamine.
(02:32):
It's this, you know, viciouscycle where they make each other
increasingly elevated, which cancontribute to PMS or period
pain.
If you've been listening for awhile, you know that that is the
case, that it's normallyelevated estrogen relative to
progesterone that can cause thatPMS, heavy bleeding, or period
(02:54):
pain.
So when histamine levels areelevated, we just covered you've
got that elevated estrogen.
And let's talk about this in areal world example because
you're thinking, okay, Bridget,got it.
It's related to allergies, butwhat else?
So are you somebody who afteryou eat leftovers, right?
(03:16):
You maybe it's leftovers from arestaurant, maybe it's something
that you made for dinner twodays ago, and then you're
feeling itchy, you have a runnynose or watery eyes after you're
consuming it.
Also, think about if after youconsume alcohol, after you
consume dairy or chocolate, doyou have some of those same
(03:37):
experiences?
That could be because those arehistamine-containing foods or
histamine-releasing foods.
Some foods like leftoverscontain histamines that you're
directly consuming.
Um, others like alcohol ordairy, specifically that A1
dairy, which is the kind ofprotein in the dairy, that can
(03:58):
trigger your body to releasehistamines.
Either way, it's the sameresult.
Now, here is the second thingthat happens when histamine
levels increase.
Higher levels of histaminestranslate to higher levels of
prostaglandins.
You might rememberprostaglandins, they are
released at the start of yourperiod to stimulate muscle
(04:22):
contraction in your endometrium.
That's what is actually startingthe shedding of the lining,
which is voila, your period.
So if histamine levels areelevated, you also have higher
prostaglandin levels, and moreprostaglandins equals more
period pain and stronger musclecontractions.
Now, the good news though isthat there are a couple things
(04:45):
you can start doing now toaddress this.
And usually, right, if it is ahistamine problem that's causing
your PMS and period pain, youcan get some relief relatively
quickly.
So let's run through what I wantyou to consider.
And real quick, take a deepbreath with me.
These might not be the simplest,these might not be at the top of
(05:08):
your list of things that youwant to cut out, but it could be
the missing piece.
So it will be a helpful piece ofdata either way that can put you
further along in this pathtowards balance and feeling your
best and not having to thinkabout what the F is going on
with your periods.
So, first of all, firstrecommendation is to consider
(05:31):
eliminating dairy for two weeks.
Dairy is one of thosehistamine-inducing foods.
If you are having period pain,you can't figure it out, or
maybe you've had your hormonelevels tested and they looked
fine.
Try avoiding dairy to see howyou feel and see what changes
occur.
You can keep butter and non-A1dairy, like goat cheese or sheep
(05:56):
cheese or camel cheese if youhave access to camel cheese.
You can keep those in your dietbecause those are low in some of
those more inflammatorycomponents that we won't go
super deep into.
But keep an eye out as well for,you know, like whey.
Whey W-H-E-Y.
(06:18):
That's a protein from dairy aswell as casein.
So you might not see on a labelthat you're looking at that it
says milk or cheese or whatever.
It might not be so clear.
Take a look, do a Google search,have a little conversation with
your favorite AI tool tounderstand what are those
(06:38):
secret, kind of hidden ways thatdairy could be represented on
the label of something that youare consuming.
So take this for a whirl formaybe two weeks, track your
symptoms.
Um, if it helps, keep going.
If it doesn't help so much, thenmove on to this next next
recommendation.
And actually, one more thoughtis that if you have to pick, you
(07:01):
know, a time to startimplementing this, it might make
the most sense for you to do soaround the middle of your cycle
so that for your alluteal phaseor for the second half of your
menstrual cycle, you're avoidingdairy.
You're avoiding increasing thosehistamines when you would
naturally be or potentially beexperiencing PMS during that
(07:24):
part of your cycle.
So step number two is going tobe eliminating alcohol.
There's should be no surprisehere.
Alcohol is not a health food.
It also inhibits your body'sability to break down histamine
properly.
So try cutting it out, see howyou feel.
Um, there are a lot of greatnon-alcoholic options out there,
(07:49):
and just explore what is a goodfit for you.
Now, step three that I want youto consider would be coming back
to this conversation ofleftovers.
Anything that has been preparedthat is sitting in the
refrigerator for a few daysallows those histamines to build
up.
So this is one that will take alittle bit more effort, right?
If you're somebody who you mealprep and you consume that meal
(08:12):
prep for the next four days, um,you might, you're gonna need to
tweak what you're normally doingnaturally.
So that's why I have this one asstep three, but this could be
one that's really effective foryou.
It's worth mentioning too, thereare definitely other foods that
are higher in histamines.
(08:33):
And let me just rattle off someof those for you real quick.
All right, here we go.
Some of the foods or ingredientsthat are higher in histamines
include, like we mentioned,alcohol, but also processed
meats, cheeses, sauerkraut.
There are some vegetables liketomatoes, eggplant, or spinach.
Think about tropical fruit likepineapple, bananas, papaya, or
(08:55):
citrus.
We're also thinking about somefish, strawberries, nuts, and
peanuts, licorice, chocolate.
Final few here are pork, eggwhite, and then additives like
colorants or preservatives.
So it's not an all or nothinggame.
You don't need to get rid ofevery single one of those
things, but it's about beingaware of how they could impact
(09:19):
you and reflect on that so youcan make the best decision for
you and how you want to feel.
Right.
I have a couple more thoughtsfor you here.
I want to talk about seasonalallergies for just a second,
because if you have seasonalallergies, you might notice that
you have worse period cramps orworse PMS during the springtime
(09:39):
when pollen is abundant, right?
We can't get away from it.
So this could be an easy test.
If you are, maybe you're in thesouthern hemisphere listening to
this right now, and that'swhat's going on in the
springtime.
Try it out.
If you take an antihistamine, ifyou're comfortable with that,
um, does that improve what'sgoing on with you?
(10:00):
Now, we can't just well,ideally, you wouldn't be taking
an antihistamine every singleday because that can have some
other impacts on your guthealth.
You know, I'm all about guthealth here, so I'm suggesting
that you try that out just tosee if histamine is a part of
the equation for you.
(10:22):
But from there, maybe it is afocus on gut health or repairing
your gut lining.
You're gonna have a lot greaterreaction to food, great in the
bad way, unfortunately, in thiscase, but you're gonna have a
more significant reaction tofoods if you have leaky gut, if
there is that elevated immuneresponse.
(10:42):
So use it as a piece of dataabout how to move forward.
But I just want to be clear thatI'm not necessarily recommending
that you start taking in anantihistamine every single day.
Since I mentioned gut health asecond ago, I want to come back
to that as well because this iswhere the connection lies.
(11:03):
And again, if you've listened toI'm hormonal before, you've
heard me talk about gut health.
But here's what's actuallyhappening because histamine is
broken down by an enzyme in yourgut.
So if you are deficient in thatenzyme, histamine has the
opportunity to build up.
And remember, more histamineequals more estrogen equals more
(11:24):
pressed glandins and more periodpain and PMS.
Also, if you do have anovergrowth of certain bacteria
in your gut, some bacteria dorelease histamines themselves.
So this is something that I lookat with all of my one-on-one
clients when we do gut testing.
We see is there an overgrowth?
(11:45):
What type of bacteria or fungus,etc., are overgrown so that we
can support your digestionoverall, support your intestinal
lining, and really connect thedots about all of the components
that are contributing to yourexperience of PMS or period pain
or anything else that might bepresent for you, and make a
(12:07):
really crystal clear clan,crystal clear plan on how you
can move forward and um not haveto worry about that anymore.
So that is most of what I've gotfor you today.
But, you know, sometimes Ielaborate on this more at the
beginning.
For those of you who arelistening for the first time
today, and a special welcome toyou.
(12:29):
Um, what I do here, what we dohere on I'm hormonal, is focus
on women's hormone health.
Of course, if you are dealingwith period pain or PMS, maybe
you have missing periodsaltogether or just totally
unpredictable periods.
And as a part of that, we haveto talk about gut health.
It is so important.
(12:50):
Health is complex, it is not onesize fits all.
But my intention here is to giveyou some clues, give you some
information that you can take tosay and think critically.
Does this apply to me?
How does this apply to me?
How can I get more informationabout what my body is trying to
(13:10):
tell me and what direction Ineed to go from there?
So if you come back, if you keeplistening to the podcast, you
will hear me share a lot ofinsights with you through this
lens of holistic nutrition,talking about the functional lab
testing that I use with myone-on-one clients, like gut
tests, like hormone panels, likefood sensitivity tests.
(13:33):
Because when we can get so clearon the specific changes that you
can make in the short term toreally catalyze your
transformation, move beyondthese unsavory period
experiences, right?
That's what we're here to do.
So go ahead and try this out.
Let me know how it worked foryou by sending me a message on
(13:56):
Instagram at I'm underscorehormonal.
I want to hear how it went foryou, what you learned about your
body, and what worked.
Quick reminder (14:02):
everything that
I share on this podcast is for
educational purposes only,certainly not a replacement for
medical advice or diagnosis.
But if what we covered todayresonated with you, I would love
for you to rate and review thepodcast.
It is the most free way that youcan support I'm hormonal, and
(14:23):
thank you in advance for taking20 seconds to do that.
Now, the next episode is goingto be a mini where we'll dive a
little bit more into period painand histamines.
But that is it for today, myfriend.
I'm Bridget Walton, and I willsee you on the next one.