Sweet potatoes, pumpkins, chestnuts, persimmons, pomegranates, mushrooms, quince… Typical foods in autumn, a cold and rainy season. During these months we like hot meals: soups, stews, baked meats, cooked vegetables…

Below, we have prepared a season low-histamine food list. We are especially interested in them because of their nutrients. You will also find more intormation about other suitable foods in the low histamine foods table that you can download for free.

– Sweet potatoes: are tubers formed mainly by starch, a glucose polysaccharide with two fractions (amylose + amiloprotectin). Unlike potato, it contains vitamin A (retinol), a fat-soluble vitamin that has several functions in the body. Involved in vision as constituent of visual pigments, it stimulates bone growth and development, it is essential to maintain the integrity of the epithelia and mucous membranes, it has antithyroid effect and anti-infective action. Although we can find them throughout the year, they are really appetizing now. Our recommendation is to cook them in the oven or in the microwave so that they do not lose flavor, retain a pleasant texture and concentrate all their nutrients. In low histamine diets we usually substitute the typical pumpkin cream for a delicious cream of sweet potatoes with onion and carrots.

– Chestnuts: unlike what most people think, they are not classified as nuts, but as tubers, so they do not have histamine. In their nutritional composition we see that they stand out for their content in carbohydrates and calcium. In low histamine diets we recommend its consumption at any time without abuse, for example as a snack between meals or in a mushrooms cream. Eating large amounts of chestnuts can cause digestive discomfort (although they do not contain fructose or other FODMAPs).

– Persimmon: also known as palo santo, is a sweet fruit which stands out for its content in vitamin C (ascorbic acid), a water-soluble vitamin essential for many enzymatic reactions, such as in histamine metabolism carried out by diamino oxidase (DAO). Vitamin C is also responsible for the intestinal absorption of iron and the formation of cartilage, bones and teeth. In low histamine diets the persimmon is an ideal option as a substitute for citrus fruits. Its consumption should only be controlled if there is poor tolerance to fructans, because more than 60g could cause digestive disorders.

– Pomegranate: It is one of our favourite fruits. In low histamine diets we incorporate it in winter salads, in recovery shakes or as a dessert. Its amount in potassium, a bit less than what we found in banana, makes it special for muscle recovery and cardiac maintenance. It also contains flavonoids and tannins. Flavonoids are natural pigments that protect the body from the damage produced by oxidizing agents and have therapeutic effects in a large number of pathologies. Tannins are substances with a rough and a bitter taste with antioxidant, astringent and anti-inflammatory properties.