formerly: autoimmune
A strong immune system is not the same as a balanced one. In allergies, histamine intolerance and autoimmune processes the problem is not too little immune response but a response aimed at the wrong target.
The immune balance rank scores what a food brings for that balance: anti-inflammatory compounds and omega-3, vitamin D, a good microbiome with probiotics, zinc and vitamin C — and what it does not bring in histamine and allergy triggers.
In a large randomised trial, vitamin D and omega-3 over five years cut the risk of developing an autoimmune disease by about a fifth. That is an effect on a risk — not treatment of an existing condition.
Points come from omega-3, vitamin D, zinc, vitamin C, probiotics and anti-inflammatory plant compounds. Points are lost to histamine, biogenic amines, DAO blockers, histamine liberators, plus sugar, alcohol and heavy processing.
The practical point: fresh beats aged. Histamine forms during ripening, storage and fermentation — the same fish is unproblematic fresh and no longer so two days later.
Frequently asked questions
Which foods help with chronic inflammation?
Blueberry, turmeric, hemp seeds, aronia, walnut, rocket, sardine and black seed oil lead our ranking. Behind them sit omega-3, polyphenols such as anthocyanins and curcumin, and fibre for the microbiome.
The microbiome is not a side note here: it is one of the five defence systems we score in the body systems area.
The Food Secrets app holds all 1000+ foods sorted by this goal. all 1000+ foods sorted by this goal
Which foods are low in histamine?
The basic rule: fresh, unprocessed, not aged. Fresh meat and fresh fish, most vegetables, pome fruit, rice, potatoes, cream cheese and butter carry little histamine.
Worth avoiding: aged cheese, salami, red wine, sauerkraut, tomatoes, spinach, strawberries and tinned food. The app carries four separate values per food — histamine, biogenic amines, DAO blockers and histamine liberators — because those four are not the same thing.
The ranking in the Food Secrets app shows how far up each of these foods sits for your goal — and why.
What is the difference between immunity and immune balance?
Immunity scores what strengthens the defence. That is the right list when you want to fight off an infection.
Immune balance scores what regulates it. That is the right list when your immune system tends to overreact rather than being too weak. They are separate goals with separate rankings — a food can lead one and sit mid-table in the other.
What diet fits an autoimmune condition?
That is set by your doctor, together with you. What the research on diet shows concerns mainly two things: the inflammatory load, and the supply of omega-3 and vitamin D.
At the front of our ranking for that: hemp seeds, chia seeds, natto, maitake, trout, mackerel, nettle and blueberry.
Is there a low-histamine food list?
There is something better than a printable table: a list that calculates. 1000+ foods, each with four histamine-related values, filterable and combinable with your own intolerances.
Why a printed list works especially badly here: histamine tolerance is individual and depends on freshness and quantity. A fixed order on paper cannot represent that.
Studies
- [1] Hahn J, Cook NR, Alexander EK, et al. Vitamin D and marine omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and incident autoimmune disease: VITAL randomized controlled trial. BMJ 2022;376:e066452. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-066452
- [2] Calder PC. Omega-3 fatty acids and inflammatory processes: from molecules to man. Biochem Soc Trans 2017;45(5):1105–1115. https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20160474
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