Many common fermentation microbes do not carry a specific gene cluster responsible for histamine production. I would like to discuss this as many MCASers are keeping away from fermented food while it deserves exatcly the opposite. I eat fermented veggies regularly, if anything. 

Examples of typical vegetable ferment microbes:

- Leuconostoc mesenteroides
- Lactiplantibacillus plantarum
- Pediococcus pentosaceus
- Weissella

These bacteria dominate sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, etc.

Because they lack the hdc cluster, they cannot produce histamine, even if histidine is present.

Histamine production is not a random metabolic accident. It requires a specific group of genes, usually organized together - the hdc gene cluster.

Note: discussions about histamine intolerance and salicylate sensitivity often overlap, even though the chemistry is unrelated. Why?

• histidine - histamine - mast cell signaling
• salicylate - prostaglandin signaling
• microbes can metabolize both pathways
• both influence inflammatory responses

I was lucky to have been culturally exposed to authentic fermentation when I was a child. I saw my grandma and my mom making sauerkraut and pickles at home, I ate them, I liked them. My microbiome was quite educated by the time my mast cells went bonkers. 

I am convinced that nearly every person who suffers from MCAS can and should introduce fermented food into their menu. But careful selection, testing and validation is a process. Taking on the task of initiating and completing it may become the signal to your whole being. A signal of your readiness to fight for yourself and defeat MCAS. This became one of my milestones, btw. And a commitment to provide food for my micribiota, food that was incomparably better that almost anything I could grab from a supermarket shelf.

Image: AI generated, don't judge, please ;)

May peaceful mast cells be with you 🌱🐦‍🔥🟢

Why some ferments never produce histamine = are potentially safe for most of us