Food & triggers
Search the directory to compare source-specific ratings for histamine, FODMAP, oxalate, other amines and tyramine. Open Sources on any row to see why a value is shown; potential-trigger reports remain separate from content ratings.
Ratings are shown per source and as low / moderate / high rather than as numbers. Both choices are deliberate. Published food lists disagree with each other more than patients are usually told: a 2021 review comparing ten low-histamine diets found that only fermented foods were excluded unanimously, and that measured histamine content justified fewer than a third of the exclusions. Averaging those sources into one number would manufacture a certainty the literature does not have.
Potential trigger is a separate literature signal, not another content rating. “Reported” means an opened review explicitly names the food as a possible endogenous-histamine trigger while also acknowledging that controlled human evidence and the proposed release mechanism are unresolved. A blank cell means no qualifying signal is recorded here; it does not promise universal tolerance.
The conflict you will meet most often is not between two laboratories — it is between a food list and a measurement. Citrus is the clearest case: 60% of the reviewed diets exclude it, and it contains no detectable histamine at all. Those entries carry a note explaining what the exclusion is actually based on, because “avoid this” and “this contains that” are different claims and deserve to be read differently.
Where two citable sources give the same axis different values, the table says “sources differ” and shows both rather than picking a winner — currently on 7 of 54 entries. They divide into two kinds, and the difference matters. Some are an artefact of measurement: one oxalate review reports per 100 grams and the other bands per serving, and servings differ enormously by food. Others are real differences in what was measured — the histamine content of avocado, tomato or canned sardines genuinely varies by region, cultivar, storage and assay. Each entry says which kind it is, because "these two papers used different units" and "this food is not the same everywhere" call for different responses from a reader.
Food directory
54 of 54 foods
| Food | FODMAP | Histamine | Oxalate | Other amines | Tyramine | Potential trigger | Source detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aged cheddar cheese · agedDairy | — | — | — | — | |||
Cured cheese is one of the few foods excluded by every published low-histamine diet, and here the measured content supports the exclusion. Ripening time matters more than variety. Histamine
Tyramine
| |||||||
| AlmondsNuts and seeds | See source | See source | — | — | — | ||
A good illustration of why the unit matters. Both sources below call almonds high in oxalate, but they rank almonds against spinach differently — because one measures per 100 g and the other per serving, and a serving of nuts is far smaller than a serving of greens. Neither is wrong; a reader comparing two food lists without noticing the denominator would think they contradict each other. Oxalate
FODMAP
Histamine
| |||||||
| AmaranthGrains and pseudocereals | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| Apple · rawFruit | — | — | — | — | |||
HistamineOxalate
| |||||||
| Asparagus · boiledVegetable | — | — | — | — | — | ||
The figure is for boiled asparagus specifically. Boiling reduces soluble oxalate, so a raw or roasted preparation is not covered by this number. Oxalate
| |||||||
| Avocado · rawFruit | — | — | — | — | |||
The two histamine sources differ, and neither is wrong: they measured different produce. Geography, cultivar, storage and assay all move this result. Histamine
Oxalate
| |||||||
| BananaFruit | See source | — | — | ||||
Commonly excluded from low-histamine diets for a reason that is not histamine. Worth knowing before eliminating it. Histamine
FODMAP
Other amines
Oxalate
| |||||||
| BeansLegumes | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
The two reviews disagree and this entry used to explain why. It should not have: a later review compiling total oxalate across bean type, form and boiling reports values from 13.9 to 547.9 mg per 100 g. A spread that wide means the two reviews may simply have measured different beans. The differing denominators — per 100 g against per serving — are one candidate explanation, not the answer. Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| Beer · fermentedBeverage | — | — | — | — | — | ||
A fermented drink with low measured histamine. That is a statement about content only — see the wine entry for the separate question of what alcohol does to histamine metabolism. Histamine
| |||||||
| BeetsVegetable | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| Brewed coffee · juiceBeverage | — | — | — | — | — | ||
The beverage, not the bean: defective green beans gave different results in the same review, so this entry does not cover “coffee” generally. Histamine
| |||||||
| Brewed tea · juiceBeverage | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| Canned sardines · cannedFish | — | — | — | — | — | ||
The exception to an otherwise reassuring picture for fish. Most fishery products carry little histamine — EFSA found it in only 27% of 6,329 European samples, generally at low levels — but where freshness failed before processing, the result is locked in. Histamine
| |||||||
| Canned tuna · cannedFish | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Not merged with fresh or frozen tuna. Tuna is a scombroid species, so what happened before canning determines the result — and canning cannot undo it. Histamine
| |||||||
| Chicken breast · rawMeat | — | — | — | — | — | ||
As with fish, freshness rather than species is what moves this. Histamine forms through bacterial action after death, and no cooking step removes what has already formed. Histamine
| |||||||
| Chickpeas · driedLegumes | — | — | — | ||||
The clearest illustration on this site that “low histamine” and “low in all amines” are not the same statement. HistamineOther amines
Oxalate
| |||||||
| Cocoa powder · powderOther | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Appears both in the oxalate tables and among the foods implicated in reported cases of oxalate nephropathy. Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| CornmealGrains and pseudocereals | — | — | — | — | |||
Another per-100 g versus per-serving disagreement. Worth noticing that the conflict here is not about the food at all — both reviews would agree on the number. Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| Dry-fermented sausage · fermentedFermented | — | — | — | — | |||
Histamine
Tyramine
| |||||||
| EggplantVegetable | — | — | — | — | |||
Histamine
Oxalate
| |||||||
| Fresh salmon · rawFish | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Histamine
| |||||||
| HazelnutsNuts and seeds | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| Ketchup · cookedOther | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Kept separate from fresh tomato. Processing and storage change the result, and the range here is wide enough that a single figure would misrepresent it. Histamine
| |||||||
| Kiwi · rawFruit | — | — | — | Reported | |||
Kiwi illustrates why measured content and a reported trigger must remain separate: its measured histamine is low, while one review records an unconfirmed endogenous-release hypothesis. Potential triggerMechanism uncertain
Histamine
Other amines
| |||||||
| Lentils · boiledLegumes | — | See source | — | — | |||
Oxalate
Histamine
Other amines
| |||||||
| Miso · fermentedFermented | — | — | — | — | |||
High on two independent axes, which is unusual — most entries here are a concern on one. Histamine
Oxalate
| |||||||
| MushroomsOther | — | — | — | — | |||
Another separation between preformed histamine and the other amines, this time consistent across several mushroom types. Histamine
Other amines
| |||||||
| OkraVegetable | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| OrangeFruit | — | — | — | ||||
The clearest published example of a food list and a laboratory disagreeing: 60% of reviewed low-histamine diets exclude citrus, and citrus contains no detectable histamine. Histamine
Other amines
Oxalate
| |||||||
| Papaya · rawFruit | — | — | — | ||||
The 2018 amine review did not report a histamine figure for papaya, so no histamine rating is recorded against it. A source that did not measure something is not a source saying the value is low. Other amines
Histamine
Oxalate
| |||||||
| PeanutsNuts and seeds | — | — | — | ||||
Oxalate
Histamine
Other amines
| |||||||
| Pear · rawFruit | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Rated on one axis only, because one axis is all that was measured. An empty cell here means nothing has been recorded — not that the value is low. Other amines
| |||||||
| Peas · rawLegumes | — | — | — | — | |||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| Pineapple · rawFruit | — | — | — | — | |||
Fresh fruit only. A cited study found detectable histamine in processed pineapple juice, so the juice is a different object and is not covered by this entry. Histamine
Other amines
| |||||||
| Pistachio nutsNuts and seeds | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| PotatoesVegetable | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| QuinoaGrains and pseudocereals | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| RaspberriesFruit | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| RhubarbVegetable | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| Rice branGrains and pseudocereals | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
| |||||||
| Sauerkraut · fermentedFermented | — | — | — | ||||
Histamine
Tyramine
Oxalate
| |||||||
| Soy sauce · fermentedFermented | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Kept separate from soybeans deliberately. The same starting material, fermented, produces a completely different measurement. Histamine
| |||||||
| SoybeansLegumes | — | — | — | ||||
Oxalate
Histamine
Other amines
| |||||||
| SpinachVegetable | See source | — | — | Reported | |||
Two axes worth separating. Spinach is unambiguously high in oxalate. Its histamine content is a different matter: it is present, and it rises the longer the leaves are stored. Potential triggerMechanism uncertain
Oxalate
Histamine
FODMAP
| |||||||
| Star fruit · rawFruit | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Star fruit also appears in published case reports of oxalate nephropathy. A measured composition figure is a stronger basis for listing it than a case report alone, which is why it is recorded here on the measurement. Oxalate
| |||||||
| Strawberry · rawFruit | — | — | Reported | ||||
Three independent sources agree the measured content is low on every axis they cover. A separate review signal records the unconfirmed claim that strawberry may trigger endogenous histamine release. Potential triggerMechanism uncertain
Histamine
Other amines
Oxalate
| |||||||
| Sweet potato · rawVegetable | — | — | — | — | |||
Low on one axis and high on another, which is the whole reason these axes are kept apart. The oxalate figure comes from a kidney-stone literature and says nothing about mast cells. Histamine
Oxalate
| |||||||
| Swiss chard · rawVegetable | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Rated high rather than variable: the magnitude moves a great deal between datasets, but every reported total stays above the high boundary. Oxalate
| |||||||
| TofuLegumes | — | See source | — | — | — | ||
Oxalate
Histamine
| |||||||
| TomatoVegetable | See source | — | — | — | Reported | ||
Potential triggerMechanism uncertain
Histamine
FODMAP
| |||||||
| Watermelon · rawFruit | — | — | — | — | |||
Low on both axes measured, though each dataset behind those figures is small. HistamineOxalate
| |||||||
| Whole-grain flourGrains and pseudocereals | — | — | — | — | — | ||
The widest gap between the two reviews. One measured a specific flour; the other banded a whole category. A category band cannot be finer than its coarsest member, which is how a food measured at 11.6 mg per 100 g ends up inside a band defined as above 50 mg per serving. Oxalate
| |||||||
| WineBeverage | — | — | — | — | — | ||
One of the clearest cases where a food is excluded for what it does to histamine metabolism rather than for the histamine it contains. Histamine
| |||||||
| ZucchiniVegetable | — | — | — | — | — | ||
The reverse of the banana case, and the more revealing one. If putrescine is the reason citrus is excluded, the published diets are not applying that reason consistently. Histamine
| |||||||
Why some sources show no rating
3 of the sources used here are linked rather than restated, for reasons that differ between them. For a laboratory database, coarsening a measured value into “low” or “high” reduces its precision but not its provenance — it is still that database's figure. For a practitioner's list, the value lies in which foods it selects and how it groups them, and that selection is the author's own work. Either way the build enforces it: an entry that puts a rating against a link-only source fails validation, and a link-only source that does not explain itself fails too.
- Mast Cell 360 low-histamine food list Widely read by patients, and included because readers will arrive having already seen it. Its authors describe it as drawn from 'the best research available about low histamine foods and our experience in the clinic with hundreds of very sensitive clients', and individual foods are not attributed to particular sources. That makes it a clinical opinion rather than a measurement, which is why it is link-only: its value lies in which foods it selects and how it groups them, and that selection is the authors' own work. Note that it places several foods — bananas and citrus among them — in its higher-histamine section, where laboratory analysis has found no detectable histamine.
- Monash University FODMAP Diet App Monash laboratory-tested the foods in this database and licenses access through their app. Their measured values are facts, and facts are not themselves copyrightable — but the database is accessed under terms of use, the compilation and its thresholds reflect their editorial judgement, and the certification mark is theirs. This site links out to their published high- and low-FODMAP food page rather than restating, which also keeps every rating here traceable to something a reader can open.
- SIGHI Food Compatibility List for Histamine Intolerance Widely used by patients and published by the Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance under their own terms. Listed because readers will encounter it, and linked rather than reproduced. Note that comparative review has found published low-histamine lists disagree substantially with each other and with measured histamine content.