Biology doesn’t care about your good intentions
Hey Reader,
I love this time of year. Giddy optimism. Resolutions to be better.
This is YOUR year.
You’ve purged the Christmas cookies, sworn off soda. Never mind they’re gone because you devoured them between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, a period we’ve collectively dubbed as “calories don’t count.”
Suddenly you’re that person buying organ meats at Whole Foods. Nothing says “new year, new me” like eating something that used to filter toxins for a living.
But now your face is flushed, your nose is runny, and you’re googling “Can spinach give you hives?” from the bathroom floor.
You might feel worse since starting this health kick, but let’s not mainline sugar just yet.
Today we’re diving into the paradoxical effects of healthy eating.
Welcome to Week 18.
What’s Going On Under the Hood
You’ve done everything right. Spinach smoothies. Avocado toast. Fermented everything because gut health is having a moment. You even bought kombucha that costs more than wine and tastes suspiciously like salad dressing.
So why do you feel worse than when you were living on gingerbread and eggnog?
Meet histamine. The compound quietly punishing your good intentions.
Before you start pointing fingers at me, histamine isn’t a design flaw. I put it there on purpose.
Your body makes histamine because it’s useful. It regulates stomach acid for digestion, flags potential immune issues, and plays a role in inflammation, blood flow, and staying awake. Without it, your New Year’s fitness resolution wouldn’t survive that first hungover morning.
But I didn’t just give you histamine. I wired in alarms for certain triggers.
Acidic and spicy foods irritate tissue. Historically, irritation meant potential harm. So your body responds by releasing more histamine. Blood flow increases. Sensation heightens. Discomfort shows up.
And then there’s histamine that comes from the food itself, adding to your load.
In fruits and vegetables, histamine is part of the ripening process, especially in red ones like tomatoes and strawberries. That glow-up comes with chemistry.
In animal-based foods, histamine builds on the surface over time. The longer it sits, the more it accumulates, even when the food is still safe to eat.
Which brings us to leftovers.
The Ticking Clock
You may meal-prep on Sunday like a responsible adult, but by Thursday, wilted lettuce is the least of your concerns.
Bacteria thrive on the outer surfaces of animal-based foods.
Steak has limited surface area, but grind it up into hamburger and now it’s almost all surface.
Same animal. Very different histamine potential.
Fish is especially susceptible. The moment fish stop swimming, bacteria start pumping out histamine faster than you can say “sushi omakase.” That “fresh” salmon that’s been sitting in the case for three days is basically a histamine bomb.
So does this mean I’m eating spoiled food?
No.
This isn’t food poisoning. Food poisoning is democratic.
This is selective.
That’s why one person can eat the same meal and feel amazing while you’re spiraling in the bathroom with stomach cramps.
The food may not have gone bad, but that’s little consolation when you feel sick just the same.
Here’s the thing about histamine: once it forms, it’s not going anywhere. Freezing slows production but doesn’t erase what’s already there. Cooking doesn’t touch it either.
Why This Feels Random (and Why It Isn’t)
“I swear I used to be able to eat this.”
You’re not imagining it. And you’re not suddenly failing at adulthood.
Your tolerance to histamine shifts depending on how ambitious your day has been.
Your body is constantly releasing more of it in response to everyday life, not just food. Stress counts. So does poor sleep. Then pile on illness, alcohol, hormones, and environmental exposure. All of it adds up.
You can tolerate a certain amount of histamine at any given time. As long as that load stays below your personal limit, you’re golden.
When it doesn’t, you suffer more symptoms than a pharmaceutical disclaimer.
Same food. Different result.
And the reason it seems like it’s getting worse with age is adult life has a lot of stressors.
When you were a kid, you had a higher threshold and more efficient drainage. That’s why your five-year-old can eat pizza for breakfast while you get heartburn just thinking about marinara sauce.
You’re getting by on 6 hours of sleep with an overbearing boss and a nightly cocktail to take the edge off. Eventually, you just run out of buffer.
Foods That Are Setting You Up
If you’re feeling off, there’s no need to revert to Eggos and Twinkies. Just avoid piling these on all at once.
Team Histamine (bring histamine with them)
- Anything aged, cured, smoked, or fermented
- Wine (especially red)
- Leftovers past day two
- Ground meats
- Fish (freshness matters)
Team Chaos (make you release more)
- Tomatoes
- Citrus
- Chocolate
- Strawberries
The Double Agents (add histamine and make you release more)
- Spinach
- Avocado
- Liver
- Alcohol
What Works
The solution isn’t to cut everything out. Just lighten the load.
Eat fresher food. Stop living on four-day-old meal prep. Space out the fermented stuff.
DAO supplements are also super helpful in breaking down histamine before it hits your bloodstream. Antihistamines can work too, but they just silence the alarm without removing the smoke. Plus, they make you drowsy, which defeats all that clean eating.
And, lastly, listen to your body. When you have a stressful presentation at work and know strawberries give you trouble, don’t force it thinking it’s the healthy choice.
Progress, not perfection.
Mother Nature
Next week: Why willpower is a terrible strategy — and what actually makes habits stick.
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Know someone who meal preps once and eats it all week? Check on them Thursday.
