Seasonal Eating for Gut Health: Natural Foods to Calm Allergy & Histamines This Spring
Spring is officially here—longer days, warmer weather, and the dreaded allergy histamine symptoms.
The good news is that the foods we eat can make a huge difference to calm histamine and allergy symptoms from their root. Let’s dive into allergies and how Spring foods can boost your gut health, strengthen digestion, and calm your allergy and histamine symptoms.
Allergies, Histamines & Gut Health
Poor gut health and liver stress can drive worsening allergies and histamine symptoms - if the bucket is already full, the Spring pollen and allergens in their air can cause that bucket to overflow leading to the congestion, sneezing, itchy eyes as well as for some the additional bloating, fatigue and skin rashes all driven by an overflow of histamines.
Thankfully, the more we support gut health and optimize nutrition, the more we can help to better balance the bucket of histamine to help reduce the overflow and calm the associated symptoms. Let’s dive in!
First stop, let's refresh on how histamines and allergies are further impacted by gut health. When our clients clean up their gut, their histamines and allergy symptoms lessen.
Histamines are natural chemicals that help regulate the body's immune and inflammatory responses. They’re found in many parts of the body, especially in the gut, immune cells, and the brain, but also in smaller amounts throughout other tissues. While histamines are best known for causing allergy symptoms, they actually play many other important roles—like helping control sleep, mood, appetite, and pain. Histamines are essential for normal body function, but problems can arise when too much is produced or when the body can't break it down properly. This can lead to a condition known as histamine overload.
When the gut is out of balance, it can make allergy symptoms worse. Poor gut health can lead to too much histamine in the body in two main ways—making too much and not breaking it down properly. This can cause allergy symptoms to get much worse, especially during allergy season.
First, when beneficial bacteria are low and opportunistic gut bacteria grow out of balance, they can produce excess histamine. This adds to the histamine from allergens like pollen or certain foods, making the total amount too high for the body to handle leading to bloating, sneezing and rashes.
Second, the body may have trouble breaking down histamine. This happens when the gut lining is damaged or “leaky”, which lowers the levels of DAO—an enzyme that helps clear out histamine. Poor gut health can also lead to low levels of important nutrients like vitamin B6, vitamin C, and copper, which are needed to break down histamine properly in both the gut and the liver.
When these two problems happen at the same time—too much histamine being made and not enough being cleared—it can overload the systems in the gut and liver that usually keep histamine in balance. During allergy season, this overload gets worse, leading to more intense symptoms like rashes, stuffy nose, headaches, fatigue and bloating.
The good news is that key Spring foods can help to reduce over production of histamines to help calm allergy symptoms, check out our Spring Recipe Guide to Calming Allergies in the Kitchen .
And if symptoms persist, we are able to take a deeper look through functional gut testing to identify the unique root cause at play to better manage histamine overload and address the root cause that is driving the entire dynamic for relief from the root.
Spring Foods to Support Seasonal Allergies
In spring, the body's histamine load tends to be higher because of environmental triggers. Seasonal allergies happen when the immune system overreacts to things like pollen, grasses, and molds, triggering a release of histamine. When histamine builds up faster than your body can break it down, it leads to classic allergy symptoms like sneezing, congestion, itchy skin, and watery eyes.
The good news? Many spring foods are naturally supportive of histamine regulation!
Let’s dive into Spring produce that offers key benefits for supporting digestion and calming allergy symptoms.
Natural Antihistamine Foods:
Nettles, especially stinging nettle, can help reduce allergy symptoms by lowering histamine levels in the body. They work like a natural antihistamine by blocking the release of histamine from immune cells, which helps ease symptoms like sneezing, itching, and congestion. Nettles also reduce inflammation and may help calm the immune system. They are rich in vitamin C and other nutrients that support the breakdown of histamine, especially in the gut. You can take nettles as a capsule, tincture, or tea, though freeze-dried forms are often the most effective. We love guiding clients to incorporate 2-3, 8 oz glasses of nettles tea daily to support the body's detox pathways, and assists in managing excess histamine. Check out the spring download for our favorite brand of nettles tea!
Vitamin C Rich Foods calm histamine overload:
Vitamin C–rich spring produce—like radishes, parsley, peas, leafy greens, strawberries, parsley—can help calm allergy symptoms by acting as a natural antihistamine and reducing inflammation in the body. Vitamin C helps lower the amount of histamine released by immune cells and also supports the enzyme systems (like DAO) that break down excess histamine. This means less buildup of histamine, which can trigger symptoms like sneezing, congestion, itching, and hives. In addition, vitamin C strengthens the immune system and helps reduce oxidative stress, which often flares during allergy season. Eating seasonal spring foods high in vitamin C is an easy, natural way to support your body’s ability to handle allergens and stay in better balance.
Aim for at least 2 servings or more of vitamin c rich foods into your meals daily for allergy support. Check out the Spring Recipe Guide for our delicious Detox Green Sauce for your go-to Spring salad dressing or dip that is loaded with antioxidant vitamin C rich veggies!
Bitter Foods help self-clean the gut to clear excess histamines:
Bitter foods help manage histamine levels by stimulating the liver and digestive system, supporting the body’s natural detoxification processes, which are key to breaking down and clearing excess histamine. Bitter compounds, found in Spring foods like arugula, radishes, dandelion, and mustard greens, activate bile production in the liver and gallbladder. Bile plays an essential role in digesting fats, self cleaning the gut and carrying away toxins, including excess histamine, from the body. By enhancing bile flow, bitter foods help the body process and eliminate histamine more efficiently and further prevent histamine buildup. This gentle stimulation of detox pathways through bitter foods is a natural way to maintain histamine balance and reduce inflammation this Spring.
Check out the Spring Recipe Guide for our delicious Bitter Smoothie to kick off easy digestion every morning and Arugula Pesto to flavor a pasta salad dish!
Feeding beneficial gut bacteria help balance histamine levels:
Eating seasonal spring foods like asparagus, peas, and cherries can naturally support allergy relief by strengthening the gut and calming the immune system. Asparagus and peas are rich in prebiotic fibers that nourish our beneficial microbes, while cherries provide red polyphenols called anthocyanins that also feed the beneficial microbiome. When these bacteria thrive, they produce anti-inflammatory compounds like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which help reduce inflammation, strengthen the gut lining, and support proper immune function. A healthier beneficial microbiome helps prevent overreactions to allergens and keeps histamine levels more balanced, making these seasonal foods a natural way to support allergy relief from the inside out.
Check out the Spring Recipe Guide for our delicious Spring Pea & Pesto Pasta and our Cherry Chia Jam to pack in gut loving Spring foods for gut health and allergies!
Simple practices like adding fresh herbs to meals, swapping in bitter greens, or enjoying a daily cup of nettles tea can make a difference in how your body handles the shift in seasons and calms your histamine symptoms.
Download our Spring Recipe Guide to Calming Allergies in the Kitchen for simple and delicious recipes to add to your meals to supercharge your allergy tools this Spring.
Spring Recipe Download
To help you bring the beauty of the season into your kitchen, we’ve created a Spring Recipe Guide featuring simple recipes made with spring farmers' market finds! These recipes are designed to support digestion, calm histamine, and align your body with the spring months!
Cheat sheet for allergy supportive Spring produce:
Peas — rich in fiber and plant-based protein, helping to feed beneficial gut bacteria and a great source of vitamin C
Asparagus — a powerful prebiotic, providing fuel for your good gut bacteria
Fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, and mint — rich in minerals, and antioxidants
Bitter greens like dandelion greens or arugula — stimulate bile flow, support the liver and improve digestion.
Cherries — packed with polyphenols and antioxidants that help reduce inflammation.
Nettles — antihistamine properties and minerals that nourish the gut
Kiwi — high in vitamin C and compounds that support digestion
One of the best parts of spring is the return of farmers’ markets filled with colorful produce! Shopping at a farmers’ market not only supports small businesses but also gives you access to foods at their peak flavor and nutrient density. Seasonal produce tends to be richer in antioxidants and minerals—key players in supporting your gut, digestion, and resilience, especially during a season when your immune system might be working harder!
Need help locating a farmers market near you? Search for one in your area HERE!
These simple and delicious recipes make it easy to bring fresh, seasonal foods into your everyday meals and snacks. Try them out and tag us on Instagram @abovehealth— we’d love to see what you’re cooking!
Get our Spring Recipe Guide to Calming Allergies in the Kitchen here.
