Heat Intolerance, Cold Intolerance & Histamine

If you're often feeling too hot or too cold, and have an issue regulating your temperature, perhaps histamine is to blame...

When everyone is telling you that being outside in the warmth and sun is going to make you feel better, do you think that you’re going crazy when you know that the heat and humidity will surely increase your symptoms?

On the other hand, are you afraid to go anywhere in case the location has their air conditioning unit switched on and you know that this may cause you to break out in hives? 

 

Have you been wondering if you have some sort of heat intolerance or cold intolerance that nobody seems to think is real?

Perhaps you have even been told that you’re probably in perimenopause or that there’s something wrong with your hormones because of your strong reactions to temperature changes? 

The truth is that’s likely not the case. And I can assure you, you’re not going crazy… You have a right to be anxious about places where you think the temperature might be too hot or too cold. 

Wondering why?

Histamine affects your body temperature; and histamine intolerance, with high levels of histamine flowing around your system, causes your temperature regulatory mechanisms to become dysfunctional. This dysfunction means that you’re not only more sensitive to temperature changes, but these temperature changes combined with additional stress in the body, can cause your histamine reactions to flare. 

 

Although issue may come across as having a heat intolerance or, on the other end of the spectrum, a cold intolerance... it's really histamine that is the culprit which could be behind these thermoregulatory symptoms.

Let’s find out more....

Heat Intolerance, Cold Intolerance and Histamine

Having likely read some of our other blog posts, such as our Ultimate Guide to Histamine Intolerance, you know that there are four histamine receptor types in the body, H1-4. 

When it comes to temperature dysregulation, it’s the H1 and H3 receptors that are the main culprit (1). 

As a little recap, histamine is a compound that attaches to these receptors in a lock and key fashion, which causes a reaction to occur. Histamine receptors are particularly dense in the specific part of the brain that plays a significant role in temperature control, called the anterior hypothalamus. When histamines attach to the H1 and H3 receptors located within this area of the brain, it triggers a series of events, which ultimately leads to the misfiring of your nerve cells that control thermoregulation, or body temperature (2).

Misfiring of these nerve cells means that you’re not able to manage sudden changes to temperature very well (giving the impression of having a heat intolerance or a cold intolerance), which can place a high load of stress on the body, which brings us to another important factor. 

The activation of mast cells also needs to be considered in your response to overheating or shivering when everyone else seems to be just fine.

Your mast cells, which are part of the cells in the response your body has to the disruption of homeostasis - or balance in body systems and processes - contain histamines and other inflammatory compounds. Mast cells are in high density within the brain, including the hypothalamic regions. 

When your mast cells are already more sensitive to stress - like when your body is not in a state of balance as a result of infection or inflammation, for example - they will begin to release their contents and flood your body with histamines. It is for this reason and the rush of histamines throughout your body that feeling anxious, worried or stressed can also increase your risk of symptoms relating to temperature changes. 

In other words, that anxiety you have about the effects of temperature changes means that your mast cells are already wreaking havoc on your temperature control systems long before you even step one foot out of the door!

The next question is, what do you do to ensure you’re not flaring up every time you leave your home?

Managing Histamine to Regulate Temperature Changes

Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you that you have to stay home and within your ‘safe’ temperature limits. As you already know, you’re probably having reactions in this environment anyway, likely thanks to stress!

There are, however, additional steps you can take to manage histamine reactions in irregular temperature environments.

 

1. Manage stress: Time and time again we see that stress is one of the biggest contributing factors to histamine reactions (3). Stress management, which includes breathing exercises and other parasympathetic nervous system activation techniques, may prove extremely helpful. Managing anxiety before you are placed in an environment where temperature ranges might leave you feeling ‘histamine-y’, can go a long way to reducing the risk of experiencing symptoms, or at the very least, reducing their effect. You can read more about your options and strategies in our article on stress and histamine intolerance.

 

2. Reducing overall histamine levels: The less histamine you have flowing around your body, the less severe the heightened histamine release during temperature changes may affect you. Reducing your histamine load through diet may be one of the most effective ways to do so. Consider following a low histamine diet not only to help with overall symptoms of histamine intolerance, but those related to dysfunctional thermoregulatory pathways (as in, heat intolerance or cold intolerance). Click below to get the free low histamine foods list and diet guide which will show you exactly how to achieve this:

 

Get the FREE Diet Guide

 

3. Support your mast cells: If your mast cells are irritable, they’re going to release their histamine and inflammatory compounds without much pressure to do so (4). Supplements such as quercetin may help to stabilize mast cells so that they’re not so easily activated. There are other supplements you may find useful for controlling histamine intolerance, and you can even consider trying the top 7 supplements for histamine intolerance. Of course, I encourage you to speak with your doctor or healthcare provider to determine whether quercetin or any other natural supplements would be beneficial in your specific instance. 

Histamine, Heat and Cold Intolerance: Conclusion

Now that you know what is actually going on inside your body when you’re exposed suspecting a heat intolerance or a cold intolerance, you have the power to not only do something about it, but to explain to others why you may be reacting like you do. 

I sincerely hope that you’re able to make some small but meaningful changes in your everyday routine that help you to manage your histamine intolerance, and that you’re able to move about more freely within your environment, without the stress or anxiety about the temperature-related symptoms it may cause. 

 

The first step I would encourage you to do is read the articles I mentioned above and start on a low histamine diet that also eliminates foods that liberate histamine or destabilize mast cells. You can get the foods list for this diet below and see if your heat or cold intolerance symptoms improve in the first 1-2 weeks!

 

Get the FREE foods list

 

Wishing you the best of health.

Anita Tee, Nutritional Scientist

 

References:

1. Gregorsson Lundius, E., et al. Histamine Influences Body Temperature by Acting at H1and H3 Receptors on Distinct Populations of Preoptic Neurons. J Neurosci. 2010 Mar 24; 30(12): 4369–4381.
2. Tabarean, J. Histaminergic Modulation of Body Temperature and Energy Expenditure. Hyperthermia. 2013. 
3. Kempuraj D, Selvakumar GP, Thangavel R, et al. Mast Cell Activation in Brain Injury, Stress, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis. Front Neurosci. 2017;11:703.
4. Makabe-Kobayashi, Y, et al. “The control effect of histamine on body temperature and respiratory function in IgE-Dependent systemic anaphylaxis.” The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2002