Welcome to Dishing Out Nutrition's midweek Ask a Nutritionist program.

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Now, on to today's show of answering a question from a fellow Dishing Up Nutrition listener.

Today's listener's question is,

Would avoiding high histamine foods help lessen my allergies?

As a person living with allergies, today's question hits close to home.

Hello, I am Alyssa, a registered dietitian here at Nutritional Weight and Wellness.

I see clients in person and virtually from our St. Paul and Egan, Minnesota offices.

I believe the listener who asked today's question is referring to managing symptoms of allergic rhinitis and not food allergies.

Allergic rhinitis, or what some people call hay fever, is a condition that affects millions of people worldwide and occurs when a person's

immune system overreacts to something in the environment. There are two main types of allergic

rhinitis. Seasonal allergic rhinitis often occurs in the spring, summer, and fall months due

to outdoor pollen from trees, grasses, weeds, and possibly from outdoor molds.

Perennial or year-round allergic rhinitis is often caused by indoor allergens, such as dust mites, indoor molds, and dander from animals like dogs or cats.

Symptoms of allergic rhinitis, while a minor inconvenience for some people, can have a

significant impact on a person's quality of life.

Symptoms range in severity and can include things like an itchy nose, mouth or eyes,

nasal congestion, sneezing, mouth breathing from said nasal congestion,

snoring, dark circles under the eyes known as allergic shiners and headaches.

These symptoms can really hinder a person's ability to enjoy daily activities,

such as having fun outside when the weather is nice, working

...