A new diet

So, here's a new blog, a kind of blog I never really wanted to be writing: one about a personal diet and food intolerance. I never wanted to be the kind of person who has to bring her own foot everywhere. While we are always learning about new food issues and people requiring special diets, sometimes people respond with an eye roll and say, "Really? That's a thing now?" People are so skeptical of allergies being real and so widespread. But I am trying this out to see if it helps any.

First, I have suffered from chronic headaches since I was 14 (or younger). I have seasonal allergies that do not seem to correlate with any season. I get migraines as well. I lived with the migraines for over a decade before I gave in and went to a doctor. The preventative medicine helped, but I would still end up taking my "emergency" pill twice a month and then I would get rebound headaches for days.

Then one day, my husband and I were going through the raw data in my 23andme account. A few years ago, we sent away to get our DNA tested for ancestry tracking and hoping to explore our DNA for medical purposes. We made a discovery: I had two genes that are associated with histamine intolerance.

What? What the heck is that?

As it turns out, there is histamine in our food. People with histamine intolerance who eat foods high in histamine can react in all sorts of crazy ways, including chronic headaches, fatigue, and all kinds of other "allergy"-like symptoms. I definitely have frequent headaches and I am always tired, no matter how much sleep I get.

So what do you do?

For the most part, you change your diet. I looked over the histamine diet exclusion list and kind of freaked out. "THIS IS ALL I EAT!" If I'm trying to be healthy, I make a spinach salad with strawberries, walnuts, bananas, and goat cheese. All of those ingredients are on the list. I love guacamole: avocados and tomatoes are on the list. I really like yogurt too. Also on the list... I don't drink alcohol or eat chocolate, but I could see some people feeling like all of their small pleasures are being taken away. And how can anyone avoid all artificial dyes and preservatives?! I guess I'll just have to eat eggs and rice for the rest of my life.

At first, I was like, "No way. Can't do it." After some more thought, though, I realized that the fact that the "no-no" list was pretty much my grocery is rather telling. Maybe nearly everything I eat is hurting me and contributing to my headaches and sluggishness. Maybe if I cut back drastically and allow some small histamine foods here and there, I will see a big difference. I'm going to give it a try.

I appreciate that my medication helps my migraines. Really, it has changed my life. However, I know that my migraines and my medication puts me at a higher risk of a stroke. If I can try to alleviate migraines by diet instead, that is preferable.

Here goes!