Hi, my name’s Alex and I’m a medieval historian. I work on religion and disease in late medieval Europe. You can find out more about my work over at my research blog: https://bianchi1399.wordpress.com/

I have hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Dysautonomia (neurally mitigated syncope) and I’m currently being investigated for Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. That’s why I’m on a low histamine diet. My GP referred me to a gastroenterrologist, who referred me to a dietician, who suggested this was the best way forwards with my symptoms. I had been expecting to be put on a low-FODMAP diet, so it was a bit of a surprise, but I’m slowly getting used to the things that I can and can’t eat.

I had to do four weeks avoiding all the foods on the list, and I’m now in the reintroduction phase. Items are categorised into medium and high, and I have to introduce all the medium ones one by one before I can try anything from the high section. I’m not bothering to try things that I don’t like or normally eat, so I shan’t be adding back grapefruit.

I haven’t eaten cow’s milk dairy since 2006 so I’m being wary about the cheeses, and I’m allergic to peppers, so they’re out anyway even though they’re fine histamine wise. I didn’t eat onions, garlic or leeks before the super restrictive diet, and thanks to the no dairy I’ve become a dab hand at reading food labels and understanding what I can and can’t eat, which has been really helpful recently.

I found it quite hard to find recipes and ideas of things to eat, so I’m compiling some recipes and ideas for alternative foods while following a low histamine diet. Each person following this kind of diet reacts differently to different things, so these recipes are all things that have worked for me, but they’re not guaranteed to work for everyone following this kind of diet, so adapt away!