What Are Histamines?

You've probably heard of antihistamines. They're medicines that tame allergy symptoms. But what are histamines?

They're chemicals your immune system makes. Histamines act like bouncers at a club. They help your body get rid of something that's bothering you -- in this case, an allergy trigger, or "allergen."

Histamines start the process that hustles those allergens out of your body or off your skin. They can make you sneeze, tear up, or itch -- whatever it takes to get the job done. They are part of your body's defense system.

When you have allergies, some of your triggers -- such as pollen, pet dander, or dust -- seem harmless. But your immune system sees them as a threat and responds.

Your body's intention -- to keep you safe -- is good. But its overreaction gives you those all-too-familiar allergy symptoms, which you then try to stop with an antihistamine or other medications. 

But did you know that natural remedies exist?

Histamine Intolerance

Intolerance to histamine is not to say that you are hypersensitive to histamine – rather it is more of an indication that there’s too much histamine circulating throughout your body for your metabolic systems to process and the histamine levels get high enough to start causing undesirable allergy-like side effects.

Histamine intolerance isn't like any other food allergy or sensitivity you might experience. It is more of a cumulative process, as opposed to an immediate one.

Imagine you have a bucket. Let’s call it your “histamine bucket.” Every little bit of histamine that enters your body goes into this bucket.

The rate at which the bucket fills up depends on several factors like genetics, age, medication, the environment, any nutritional deficiencies you might have, hormones, stress, perfume, chemicals, caffeine, soap, detergent, light/UV exposure, smoke, weather, red wine… the list could go on. So, yours might fill up faster or slower from day-to-day, depending on these factors.

This is perfectly fine, for the most part, as long as your bucket doesn’t completely fill up. The moment it does, any additional histamine, even a “drop” of it, will cause the bucket to overflow. Reaching this threshold level of histamine is what triggers the nasty symptoms of histamine intolerance that you experience.

When the histamine levels get too high, and the body is unable to metabolize it adequately, you will experience the symptoms associated with histamine intolerance. And, this can interfere with your normal body functions. The symptoms associated with histamine intolerance are, in many ways, very similar to those of classic allergic reactions.

High Histamine Symptoms

Because histamine intolerance symptoms can present on a spectrum of severity, they can be associated with a full allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). Intolerance can present symptoms including:

• Headaches

• Skin flushing

• Sneezing

• Stuffy nose

• Hypertension

• Diarrhea

• Stomach cramping

Histamine Intolerance Causes

The main cause of histamine intolerance is impaired DAO (diamine oxidase) activity that results in a decrease in the rate of histamine elimination from the body.

Ethanol can be another cause due to its competitive inhibition of histamine degradation produced by normal functioning DAO enzymes. Other common inhibitors of DAO include certain medications such as: muscle relaxants, antibiotics and antidepressants.

Genetic backgrounds also play a role in prevalence of histamine intolerance in specific populations, but it is believed that these effects are most likely linked indirectly to inherited gastrointestinal diseases.

Treatment

The treatment of symptoms from high histamine levels depends on the cause. Histamine intolerance may require a histamine-free diet, supported by antihistamines or the supplementation of DAO in the diet. Most antihistamines do not influence DAO activity, so if a deficiency in DAO activity is the problem, then typical over-the-counter antihistamine allergy medications are probably not sufficient for that person.

What Foods To Avoid

For most dysregulations with histamine, avoidance of certain foods high in histamines, like fish and aged meats, will reduce the intake of outside sources of histamines.

Also, histamines commonly found in wine can be a major contributor to the allergy problems experienced by a broad range of the adult population.

In a scientific study on food intolerance, an evaluation of the role of histamine in wine intolerance involved 28 patients. During the study, 22 of the patients had higher plasma histamine levels just 30 minutes after drinking 125ml of red wine, which is about 1/6 of a standard wine bottle.

Patients who participated in the study that were intolerant to wine had symptoms of sneezing, flush, headache, diarrhea, itchy skin, and shortness of breath after drinking one glass of red wine.

The results of this study showed the following data for types of wine and beer:

• White wines – 3 to 120 micrograms per liter

• Champagnes – 15 to 670 micrograms per liter

• Red wines – 60 to 3800 micrograms per liter

• Beers – 21 to 305 micrograms per liter

Products that Remove Histamine from Wine

After starting your histamine-free diet and finding an effective antihistamine medication, the next step would be to look at some of the histamine-eliminating products that are available to you. Many people do not enjoy avoiding certain delicious foods and drinks, even if it does improve their allergy symptoms. Thankfully, red wine, which is a strong source of histamine, is something that does not have to go away completely. Products are now available that allow you to drink histamine containing alcohols.

There are several commercially available products that can remove sulfites (a strong allergy inducing preservative) from wine, but only one that removes the histamines along with the sulfites. A wine consumer can now benefit from using these wine purifying products that prevent the slight allergy symptoms that histamines in wine cause, such as headaches and flush.

PureWine products help alleviate the allergic reactions that come with drinking wine. All of the PureWine products are FDA compliant, BPA-free, and 100% made in the USA. You can use these products on all red and white wines to help alleviate wine headaches, congestion, skin flush, upset stomach, and hangovers.

Introducing The Phoenix

PureWine has especially created products that remove histamines from your wine.

The Phoenix® is a revolutionary reusable wine purifier that utilizes the same patented purification resin technology used in all one-use PureWine® products. The resin beads are contained in a disposable BioPod™ cartridge to filter wine as you pour. Each BioPod™ is intended to be used with a single 750 ML bottle of wine.

To use The Phoenix, insert the Bio-Pod cartridge into the Phoenix Base. Attach the Phoenix Cap to Base and twist the Cap clockwise and lock into place. Insert Air Tube into Base and then firmly insert Phoenix into wine bottle. Tilt the bottle vertically to pour. 

As you begin pouring, there will be a 3-5 second delay as wine filters through the Bio-Pod, purifying your wine. Increase the rate of pour by tilting the bottle more vertically.

We can guarantee you'll love it, and if you don't - we've got a 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee, so you've got nothing to worry about.

The Story Behind PureWine

Dr. David Meadows and his son Derek have a shared affinity for wine. Little did they know when they had their first glass together how it would change their lives and ultimately affect the way millions enjoy this beloved drink today.

Whether partaking in a vintage blend or a store-bought variety, both were left with wine headaches and allergy-like side effects. 

Like curious scientists, they hit the lab to understand the problem of wine allergies and to solve that age old annoying problem of wine headaches.

Father and son are both from Texas and have been close collaborators from the very beginnings for PureWine. David is a lifelong “tinkerer” and inventor with a degree in chemical engineering while Derek is a serial entrepreneur that has inherited his dad’s love of invention and interest in wine production.

Combining their love of science and wine, they ambitiously set out on a two-year journey to solve a 9,000-year-old problem – unpleasant side effects to drinking wine.

After spending an intense year conducting experiments in their kitchen and a local university laboratory, the “Eureka moment” arrived when together they found the perfect way to selectively remove histamines and sulfites in wine without changing the natural taste, color, or quality of the wine.

“Based on our lab testing, we could see that our wine purification was working. When we tried that big, bold Cab and it was just as delicious as the original, we knew we had it!” says David.

“That’s when we toasted each other – To Your Health! – and that’s our motto today at PureWine,” adds Derek.

Now that PureWine has celebrated its fifth anniversary, more than ten million products have been sold and have received over 10,000 5-Star reviews in both Amazon & Shopify!

The strength of David and Derek’s relationship goes a long way into the success of the brand. They do a lot of things together aside from work, including travel and house projects.

Derek adds, “It's like any partnership. You know when someone's saying something and they mean it, and there is a deeper thought or deeper meaning behind it. Or you know when someone is just blowing smoke that doesn’t check out. So I think that’s a good balance. We can call each other out and defend ourselves. The rewards come with building value. Making an intangible idea, tangible. That is pretty rewarding.”

“We truly are creating a new industry,” said David. “We never would have anticipated that. To be able to redefine, not only just a wine industry but also a health-related industry too, we never could have projected it. It aligns perfectly with the “better for you” movement within food and beverage that is exploding with many new and exciting products.”

To this day, their common mission for PureWine is to end the problem of wine allergies and to enable more people to enjoy the unique pleasures, realizing that nothing brings people together quite like wine. Let’s toast to that!

First in class. Best in the glass. Stay tuned for more inventive ways to enjoy a glass of wine from this forward-thinking duo.

Let’s all savor the wine….Not the wine headache! 

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