FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK
FACTSHEET
Amines
All foods are made up of hundreds of naturally occurring compounds that can
have varying effects on us, depending on how much we eat and how sensitive we
are.
Biogenic amines are formed by the breakdown of proteins in foods. They
can affect mental functioning, blood pressure, body temperature, and other
bodily processes. Some hormones, such as adrenaline (epinephrine) are compounds
containing an amine. There are many different amines, including:
• tyramine (e.g. in cheese) •
histamine (e.g. in wine) • phenylethylamine (e.g. in chocolate) • agmatine,
putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine (e.g. in decomposing fish) • tryptamine •
adrenaline (ephinephrine) • serotonin • dopamine.
Biogenic amines are normally quickly broken down in the body with the
help of enzymes such as MAO (monoamine oxidase-A) which render them harmless.
Missing, sluggish or blocked enzymes can lead to a build up of amines in the
body.
• The ‘cheese effect’. In
people who are taking certain drugs known as MAOIs (monoamine oxidase
inhibitors), the enzyme is inhibited and a build up of tyramine can occur,
leading to life-threatening high blood pressure as well as a range of symptoms
including headaches, itchy skin rashes, heart palpitations and diarrhoea. A
number of MAOI patients died from strokes or heart attacks before doctors
realised that patients taking MAOIs needed to avoid foods high in tyramine.
This is called the ‘cheese effect’ because it was recognised in the 1960s by a
British pharmacist who noticed that his wife developed a headache every time
she ate cheese - high in tyramine - while taking MAOI antidepressants.
• Lacking the enzyme. There
is a rare condition in which people who are born without the MAOA gene lack the
MAO enzyme. Researchers have long known that this condition is associated with
aggression in men.
• Low activity enzyme. Much
more common is a low activity variant of the gene known as MAOA-L, which seems
to occur in about one third of the population. A study with nine uncontrollable
children in 1985 found that on average there was five times more para-cresol in
their faeces than for a control group. Para-cresol is a breakdown product of
tyramine. Could it be that these children were failing to metabolise dietary
tyramine due to a sluggish enzyme? We don’t know because the study was never
followed up, although the researchers commented that ‘the results point to
dietary involvement’. In 2002, a study found that men with MAOA-L who had been
badly treated as children were more likely to exhibit antisocial behaviour than
those who had been well treated.
Amines and Behaviour
Behavioural effects fit with what we see in the Food Intolerance
Network. Children with oppositional defiance are the ones whose parents are
often told ‘he just needs a good smack’. But smacking has the opposite effect –
if you smack these kids, when they are big enough they will hit you back. Or if
they are scared of their parents, they will hit other people, and this is
defined as conduct disorder. You have to treat these kids as if they are your
friend – a calm approach – and avoid backing them into a corner at all times. It
can be difficult to maintain a calm approach with someone who is extremely
aggressive, and experts acknowledge that this approach has limited success.
Network members find that it is easier to avoid the food chemicals that cause
these effects.
Research suggests that about 70 per cent of children with behaviour
problems are affected by salicylates,
artificial colours and preservatives, compared to only about 40 per cent
affected by amines. Many mothers have reported that their child becomes silly
and hyperactive on salicylates whereas amines make them aggressive. In our
experience, children who are expelled from day care centres due to aggressive
behaviour are usually sensitive to amines as well as to other food chemicals.
Reader stories:
[435] Amines are the really
big problem (August 2006)
My 14 year old son goes off his face with food colouring but it only
lasts a couple of hours so we can put up with that. Salicylates aren’t too bad
either, at home, although it must be terrible at school. He gets bouncy and
silly. In class he wouldn’t be able to sit still or listen to the teacher. He
would be too busy poking and prodding the kid next to him. Amines are the
really big problem though. When he eats amines it’s World War III at our place.
We need an air-raid siren. He’ll get up in a foul mood, kick the wall, swear,
throw things, yell. Absolutely revolting. After we started the elimination diet
we had five months of a perfect child but when we started our challenges that
was the end of our wonderful existence. With his amine challenge he took nearly
four weeks to calm down again.
[103] World war three (August
2001)
I contacted a dietitian through the Base hospital and with their help we
managed to get through the Elimination Diet. ... We both reacted to amines and
our symptoms were the same and severe - aggressive behaviour with a lack of
self-control, depression etc. It was like world war three in our house by the
end of the week and both of us took at least a week to recover …
Amines and migraines, depression and other
symptoms
Amines have been associated with migraines and headaches, as well as
other symptoms of food intolerance, including irritable bowel symptoms, eczema
and depression.
Reader Stories:
[437] Amines and eczema
(August 2006)
I am now 46, and have lived for most of those years with dreadful eczema
all over my body, some times much worse than others. I went to many skin specialists,
all who told me that diet was not linked, not to scratch, bathe in the sea when
possible, not to use harsh soaps and apply cortisone creams. My eczema never
got any better. I started the elimination diet a few years ago with my
daughter, who suffers migraines, and not only did her headaches decrease, but
my eczema also faded to almost nothing!
Amines were the trigger for her migraines, and with keeping off amine
rich foods in our house, I have not had any eczema problems since, and I no
longer need to apply creams to any parts of my body. What a relief!
[436] Amines: depression and
hungover (August 2006)
This father who was doing the elimination diet to support his son chose
to do the amine challenge first because he thought he wouldn’t react. ‘How
wrong can you get!’ he wrote in his account of the challenge:
'I had a violent reaction within a few hours and have never felt so
awful in all my life. Here are some of the symptoms: depression, suicidal
tendencies not just thoughts, melancholy, looking for an argument, feeling the
whole world was against me, lethargy, shakes, pressure on the skull and tingles
in the extremities, feeling of hangover, inability to focus on thoughts,
ringing in the ears, inability to sleep. The hungover feeling lasted until the
next day. Not the best 24 hours but at least I know there is a cause for
symptoms that I have experienced in the past.’
[400] Amine-related migraines
since the age of 3 (March 2006)
My 7 year old daughter Caitlin (not her real name) has had migraines
since she was about 3 years old. We had no idea what they were for several
years. She usually gets a fever with her migraines and because of the fever the
doctor would always put it down to a virus, prescribing painkillers. I would
often give her panadol for 4 days straight just to keep the headaches at bay.
She goes limp and listless, her eyes always droop, she lies there and sleeps
for hours until the panadol wears off and then the pain and fever return. Most
times she will scream and cry, grabbing her forehead and pleading with me to
take the pain away, “Mummy Mummy my heads hurts, please stop it.” She has
always complained of feeling sick (nausea) when she gets them too, and ‘sore
legs’. As well, she has had problems with nasal congestion and had been using
Rhinocourt nasal spray daily. She has always been a nail biter and a teeth
grinder at night.
One year after she started getting the migraines, we were referred to a
pediatrician who could find no medical reason for them either. He thought it
may have been an attention grabber or perhaps the start of a cold. The
migraines continued on and off with no regular pattern that I could work out,
once a week, then maybe another in 6 weeks times, then 2 months. It varied
greatly.
Two years later we started taking a fish oil Supplement called ‘Eye-q’.
(I later found ‘Eye-q’ has amines in it). The migraines became more frequent
and she started throwing up with them. She would go to sleep with a migraine
and wake at
We have been eating failsafe since about March this year and have never
looked back. On day 2 of the amine challenge, Caitlin got a migraine, droopy
eyes, became listless, and a fever. School rang and asked me to collect her
again. She stayed unwell for several days with the headache.
During the challenge, she also got a blocked nose, sore tummy, sore
nose, nightmares and was badly constipated. Since the end of the amine
challenge (3 months ago) we haven’t had one migraine! No more snotty nose or blocked nose, nasal
sprays, nightmares, sore tummies, nail biting, teeth grinding, or sore legs -
her nails are growing for the first time in her life. So, no more amines for
Caitlin! – by email, NSW
Amines and a possible link with schizophrenia
A biogenic amine called dimethyltriptamine (DMT for short) is the only
known hallucinogenic compound naturally produced by the body. Normally it is
metabolised by the monoamine oxidase enzyme before its effects can be noticed.
It is used in tribal and religious rites in
Which foods?
Fish, cheese, wine, some meats, some fruit such as bananas and avocados,
some vegetables such as mushrooms, and fermented foods such as chocolate,
sauerkraut and soy sauce are just some of the foods that have been listed as
containing varying levels of amines, but basically any protein food can contain
amines depending on the way it is handled. The amine content of foods varies
greatly due to differences in processing, age, ripeness, handling, storage,
variety of grapes or other produce, cooking method and many other factors. An
Australian analysis of the amine contents of fish-based oriental sauces found
up to 6 times the legal limit of histamines in some of the samples. Freshness
is a key factor for avoiding amines. The new method of meat distribution in our
supermarkets is a problem for amine responders. All meat is now vacuum packed,
repacked and sold as fresh which means it can be up to ten weeks old when you
eat it. Studies show that vacuum packing can inhibit the growth of bacteria but
does nothing to retard the development of amines.
Many drugs can contain amines, including over the counter cold tablets,
decongestants, nasal drops or sprays, some pain relievers, general and local
anaesthetics and some antidepressants.
In 1996, researchers in a medical journal reported a more user-friendly
MAOI diet based on laboratory analyses, claiming that many dietary restrictions
were not necessary. Doctors on an internet forum were reluctant about advising
patients to relax their diets. ‘It is easy but is it safe?’ asked one. Another
reported a patient whose diet infringement with a now supposedly safe food
resulted in headaches, high blood pressure and seizures: http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/maoi.html.
Experience suggests that people who are sensitive to amines need to know
a lot of about the history and freshness of their foods and approach all
possible amine-containing foods with caution. Lists of amine-containing foods
such as the one on the World Headache Alliance website http://www.w-h-a.org/wha2/Newsite/resultsnav.asp?idContentNews=548)
are not complete from our point of view. People with migraines who have avoided
some amine-rich foods often say ‘I tried avoiding foods and it didn’t work’.
This is because migraines can be provoked by many other amine-containing foods
and/or other food chemicals such as additives, salicylates and glutamates. For
recipes that are free of additives and low in salicylates, amines and flavour
enhancers, see the Failsafe booklet.
REFERENCES Abstracts
for most of the papers below can be found at www.pubmed.com
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additive, low salicylate diet in the treatment of behaviour and learning
problems in children. Aust J Nutr Diet
1991;48(3):89-94. (Certain amine containing foods such as chocolate were also
excluded).
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tyramine in ripening cheeses. Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig 1995;46(3):243-6. Abstract
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More information
People have different reactions to various food chemicals. Some people
are affected by any or all of the following foods and food chemicals:
artificial colours, natural colour annatto 160b, preservatives, synthetic
antioxidants, flavour enhancers, salicylates, amines, dairy foods, wheat,
gluten. See the Failsafe Booklet on the website www.fedup.com.au under Failsafe Eating. Some people find that reducing their intake
of these food chemicals helps. For best results, you can do a full elimination
diet with systematic challenges to find the cause of your problem. You can
email for our list of supportive dietitians: confoodnet@ozemail.com.au
The information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult
with your doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary
investigation, consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance.
© Sue Dengate Update August 2006
