[g_podcast id="13968839"]
10 years ago, NoraHodeige had reached a point where nothing worked: she had daily dizzinessandregular panic attacks.Despite numerous visits to the doctor, no one could find out what was wrong. Although she was diagnosedwith Hashimoto'sthyroiditis and also received conventional medical treatment, the dizziness persisted.
Only a visit to a naturopath brought clarity: she was suffering from histamine intolerance.
In this interview, I talk to Nora about:
Julia: I am very pleased to have the lovely NoraHodeige as my guest. Welcome, dear Nora, and thank you for taking the time.
Nora: Hello and thank you very much for having me. I'm really looking forward to it.
JuliaYou came to the topic of health and histamine through your own story. Would you like to tell us what happened back then, how you felt and how you dealt with the situation when you were feeling so bad?
Nora: Yes, I'm happy to do that. I'm celebrating an anniversary this year. It was exactly ten years ago. In 2010, I actually got quite ill more or less from one day to the next. Of course, I still know exactly what happened.
I was at lunch and then had a panic attack during the meal - I know that today ss. I didn't even know what was going on at the time. I was eating, everything was normal, and suddenly I noticed my heart beating faster and then ...Everyone who has experienced this tells the same story: A wave comes at you and hits you and youdon't know what's going on. Then I was shaking and the ambulance was called because I just fell off my chair.
They couldn't do anything. They said:"Your heart is beating very fast. Your blood pressure is high." They then sent me home again and said:"Calm down. It's nothing." They just couldn't find anything.
That's how it started, with this panic attack. The main thing that remained was dizziness.From that day on, I was dizzy every day, every minute I was awake. It was a kind of"vertigo dizziness", which meant that whenever I walked, I felt like the ground was shaking. For a while, I just about made it to the supermarket across the road and back home again. Then I sat down and breathed.
I was living alone at the time. I was a student, had just moved out of my shared flat and was alone all day. These panic attacks came veryregularly, sometimes several times a day. I quickly linked them to food. It almost always had something to do with food. I didn't know at all,not at allwhat it was.
Then I went on a medical marathon. I was studying in Vienna, far away from home, and I didn't have any doctors there yet. I was always at home during the semester break.If there was anything wrong, I wentto the family doctor. Then I tested all the doctorsinVienna, and they all said the same thing:"No, everything is great with you. You're totally healthy."
I went to my normal GP, who then didan ECG. There was nothing there either. Then to the neurologist. Nothing abnormal there. Then an inner ear test for balance, and there was nothing abnormal there either. Then they even did an MRI of my brain. There was simply nothing. They found nothing.
On the one hand, this somehow reassured me, and on the other hand, I was feeling so bad. Feeling this discrepancy too... Then , of course, the doctorssaid very quickly:"It's psychological. You may have a bit of stress during your studies. Dizziness... that can happen. Just calm down and keep breathing. It will go away."
But it didn't go away at all.In the end, the dizziness was there every day. No matter whether I was sitting, walking or lying down. It was always shaking, just like on a boat. That's how I would describe it. By the way, it was best on a boat! When I wason a boat, it didn't shake because it was shaking anyway. I really enjoyed doing that.
I somehow kept it up for three quarters of a year and even went to university.I thought:"You have to get on with your life somehow. It will go away."
And then I pulled theripcordand went back home to my mom and said:"We needto see what's going on here. I need to regain my strength and get back to a normal life. I can't cope with my life at the moment. I can 't do anythingon my own."
Of course, I was constantly afraid. Afraid that I was in a really, really bad way. Or, I was doing very badly. I was afraid that I would somehow fall over. That I wouldbe all alone. Then
I was at home with my GP . He said:"Oh, we can do a blood test." It's interesting that the 20 doctors hadn't thought of this before. He then suspected Hashimoto's. Thethyroid values weren't good.He sent me to an expert who then diagnosed me with Hashimoto's. I was super-happy that they found something.I then took L-thyroxine.The palpitations actuallygot better. But the dizziness didn't stop.
Then I happened to meet my dog's vet. I took the dog to the vet. She then said:"I'm also a naturopath for people.If you're not feeling so well " - I had told her that things were so difficult at the moment -"why don't you come and see me? We're sure to find something." Itold her my symptoms and she said:"That totally sounds like a histamine intolerance. Here's the list. You'll have to leave it all out for once and then we'll see in a week whether it has improved."
And that was so blatant! I cut out all these foods and itonlytook a few days for the dizziness to become noticeably less.After a few weeks itwassimply gone. That was very serious.
I found itvery easy to live with this omission at first, because the difference between before and after ... It was worlds!I was finally able to look up againand get out of my hole a little bit and out of all the fears and bad feelings.
Julia: And what did you think then? That a few foods - that's how many there are then in the end not even - can trigger something like that, hould you have thought that possible?
Nora: No. No. I wouldn't have thought it possible at all. It's like this: as long as you don't know what's going on ... At some point, I hardly ate anything at all. I realized it had something to dowith food, but I didn't really knowwhichfoods.Exceptfor a few things. I realized that tomatoes weren't good. I realized that myself. When I eat a tomato, I immediately go on alert. So I left a few things out. And - and I hear this all the time - you then start to leave out more and more, leave out more and more, leave out more and more andat some point you hardly eat anything at all.
It's a difficult situation because you always think:"Food should actually be good for me. I need something to eat. I need food and the nutrients it contains." That something like that can have such blatant effects!Evenapart from digestive problems, which areof course very unpleasant.But to hit the whole cardiovascular system like that... You feel like the ground is beingpulled out from under yourfeet.
JuliaYou then became involved with the topic of histamine and read a lot about it. You now advise people with histamine intolerance. What would you say are typical symptoms? You listed a few of your own symptoms. Are there any other things that might make someone prick up their ears and think about histamine?
Nora: Yes. I think skin problems are alsoquite typical: Skin rashes, especially those red patches that some people get, which aremainlyin the throat area. and décolleté area. Some people have red wheals on their arms, more like blotchyrashes. I think it's quite typical that when histamine is released, it causes these reactions. It's similar withpeople who are excited or who drink red wine, they often get these spots. It's always the histamine that causes problems.
Then, as I said, the cardiovascular things, the blood pressure system that doesn't work. It's either too high or too low. Many people struggle with extremely low blood pressure and feel somehow dizzy and unwell.
Then of course digestive problems, like gas and bloating, from-to, so to speak. Migraines and headaches are also relatively typical. Many people then realize when they cut out histamine:"Oh yes! I've always had headaches like that." I was one of those people, for example. In my youth or early 20s, I definitely had a headache once a week. This is no longer the case. It subsided with thehistamine story. Many people have that too.
I think you can see from that that it's very broad.
JuliaYes. In retrospect, would you also say that the panic attacks are actually related to histamine? Or with the Hashimoto's? Or both?
Nora: No, with hindsight I would say that it was probably more to do with the histamine. It was perhaps a bit more potentiated in my case, however, but ultimately it definitely has to do with histamine, and that's also a typical symptom that many people talk about.
Histamine simply leads to restlessness in the body, to increased blood pressure, which is also the purpose of histamine. Everyone has histamine as a substance in their body and we need it. It also causes this immune reaction: it binds to the receptors and ensures that the bloodvesselsdilate and the blood flow becomes faster.
This makes sense for the body, but if it is misdirected or happens relatively frequently, it is very, very unpleasant. Then a reaction happens. I think it's a mixture of the body andthe data-contrast="auto"> mind that tries to categorize it: "Okay, I'm just sitting and eating, and suddenly this anxiety comes up." Or a physical reaction like this:the body goes into turmoil or alarm. I can't categorize it. Then comes the fear: what's happening? And then I think it builds up a bit. And then you quickly have a panic attack ora panic reaction.
The bad thing is, if you've experienced it once, it's so unpleasant that you don't want to experience it again. And then you're afraid of the fear and you're in it faster than you're out of it, unfortunately.
JuliaI think histamine is also a sign of stress in the system.It is like a valve that then goes off. Would you say that histamine triggers stress or is it more the stress that we perhaps also have in life?, anadditionaltrigger for histamine intolerance?
Nora: Yes, according to my personal observations over the last few years, it's morelike this:the stress that we have often builds up over years, the pressure situations that we create for ourselves, the stress that we have permanently, which most people simply don't process at all - you live with stress, that's normal -all of this issimply too much for the body at some point. At some point, it builds up to such an extent that these explosive reactions occur. Then these overreactions occur.
In my experience, it's actually more the case that this stress, which wecan 't processin the body, increases histamine, and at some point it explodes.
Julia: So perhaps the doctor was unconsciously right after all when he said: "Dt's all psychological." He just said it differently meant.
Nora: Totally. But that's what you want at the moment.not not want to hear that. That also leads to the reaction that yousit there and think: "No! But I amreally sick."
Julia: The problem is that people often throw things like that at you and actually mean the wrong thing. Like this:"You're just imagining things and there's nothingreally wrong with you."
Nora: Exactly. Exactly. Or something along the lines of:"It might be a bit stressful at university right now", but that's not the stress that's the issue. It's much more about thisyears of years of stress. I then started to tidy up a lot of things in my life in order to realize: Okay, where is this stress? It's not:"I'vejust had two weeks of exams", but it's more aboutbiggerissues,about life decisions. Am I actually living the life I really want? Or am I constantly suppressing myself or my needs?Am I working far too much for others? Do I care more about others than myself? I think issues like these are more likely to cause us so much stress that it can build up.
I always find it cute when doctors say:"It's psychological." Well, what should I do with it then? I mean, then I still need help. That's nice when they say:"It's psychological. Go away again." And then you think:"Yes,but ... then I need someone all the more, ideally someone who can guide me through it somehow."
JuliaWhat would you say, if someone came to you today andthe samesymptoms that you had back then? Or you think: "Dt has to do with histamine." What would you advise such a person? What is the first thing to do?
Nora: The first thing to do is to take the standard physicalmeasures: Omit. Avoidhistamine-containing foods at all costs. Even for more than a week or two. I always see people say:"Yes, but I've been doing that for two weeks. It hasn't gotten any better yet." You have to give your body time to get used to the fact that it no longer receives histamine and that it perhaps learns to break down what is already in the body.
In other words, avoid foodsthat contain histamine and also those that we call"liberators", which cause the body to release histamine.
Julia: Can you perhaps list a few? The most important ones?
Nora: The histamine-containing foods are mainly foods that are matured for a long time or that are preserved. Cheese is a typical example. The harder or the longer it is matured, the more histamine it contains. It's the same with alcohol, wine, for example. Red wine has much more histamine thanother alcoholic beverages. The lighter, the clearer, the less histamine.
Fruit. Varieties such as bananas and avocados. Things that simply spoil very quickly. A lot of histamine developsduring the spoiling process. Everything that is smoked, cured, pickled or fermented develops histamine in the process.
And then there arehistamine liberators thatstimulate the bodytorelease histamine. These are foods that cause stress, so to speak, such as very spicy foods, which then trigger this. However, stress - whether internal orexternal- is also a Histamine liberator.
Also any kind of physical exertion: Endurance sports or very strenuous activities can also cause histamine to be released in sensitive people.
First of all, leave it out. And unfortunately, this is the case with abstinence ... Although it is helpful, it is not necessarily effective if you want to get well again. Just quitting is important,butit'snot the only thing.
You don't want to, at least I didn't - I was 25 - I didn't want to have to leave everything out for the rest of my life. It'squite restrictive because it'sindividual foodsfrom such different food groups. You can't justsay you're going to cut out dairy products. That is nowrelatively easy, I think, in terms of handling. It's also annoying, of course. Omitting it as a form of therapy forever, that wouldn't have been my goal either.
First of all,omitting, and then we definitely have to take care of the gut! The gut is always, always affected when you have a histamine intolerance. It caneven bethe solecause. There are figures: In over 70 percent of those affected,the gut is actually the main cause or thephysical main physical cause. The gut is always affected. We always have to make sure that we take care of it.
I think that's actually quite exciting.In normal life, youdon't take that much care of your gut.Then you can also learn: What is healthy food? What is good, healthy food for my gut that I can process well? What doesn't also lead to inflammation? How do I cook fresh? With fresh food? Do I cook at all? What do I have to look out for when I go shopping? That there are no additives, that there are no preservatives, that there are no substances labeled with E and so on.
That's an extreme change for many people. On the other hand, I think it's also a great opportunity to eat and be a bit healthier all round. We can also learn thatis not just about food. food are, but also the people we surround ourselves with, the environment we live in and how we deal with our stress management. These things are also"food". Everything that"getsinto us " - on whatever level, through whatever opening - always does something in our body.We can also learn to be mindful of this.
JuliaRight. I think you've also focused on this topic in particular over the years. What do our thoughts - de talk about mindfulness - in our body? What influence do they have on our health? I think that once you get to grips with nutritionssI think that's really the most important place to start.:Diet and gut. But once that's in place and you know a little bitss,how it worksthen it definitely makes sense to take a look: How do I live my life? What do I think? How can I perhaps change something?? It's new to people that you can simply change your thoughts.
Nora: That is indeed very new. And it'snot that easy either.It's a process in which you can make a decision. And then you can take it step by step.Actually, I think the best stress management we can do is to realize that we can decide what we want to think. And that we can chooseone thought over another and say:"I'd rather have this one, and I'm going to establish it now so that it becomespart of myDNA or part of my core belief." And then part of myself, yes.
What I also alwaysfindinteresting ...Thatyou can see You can already see that! My head is part of my body. Connected. Everything we think originally goes into our body. Every thought also sends out a message, a neurological message via the central nervous system, and goes into our body, into every cell. And if I then tell myself something like:"I'm not good enough. My body is bad. My body just wants to annoy me. My body is stupid because it doesn't do what I want." Thathears him! He hears that 1:1, all the time. It's very, very difficult to get out of an illness if we tell ourselves all the time that our body isn't cooperating or that it's stupid or that it's not good enough.That we don't like it.
On the other hand, we would like to get well again, and then we have thishuge discrepancy that arises. The body hears all the time that it can't do it and that it's no good. That it's doing badly anyway and that it's only doing things to annoy us.On the other hand, we would like him to get better. And that we can learn to use our thoughts to support ourselves and our bodies, to steer them in a good, positive direction.
Julia: How do you go about it? How do you even recognize what you are constantly thinking?
Nora: I think that's thegreatestart. How to proceed: First of all, observe and find out and get to know what you are really thinking. We think 50,000 thoughts a day. We don't even think them consciously.We only think very few thoughts consciously.
Of course,I find that when you talk to a coach,someone who is trained in communication techniques, you quickly come across these thoughts, which are relatively strong. Thoughts that we call beliefs, on which we have built our belief construct or all our other thoughts, this foundation. We can get there by simply removing things and looking more and more into them: Okay, where are the strong beliefs that are holding us back?
In addition, it is also simply a daily practice that we can practise by pausing from time to time and asking ourselves:"What am I actually thinking right now?"Or:"Where am I in my thoughts right now?" A kind of check-in. Where am I right now? Then we ask We also notice - if wedo this regularly ssig- that our thoughts arerarely in the situation we are currently in. We often think about something else and worry about someone else, or what will happen later, or think aboutthe fact thatour body will probably be like this or like that again, or why it's already like this again... And simplylearning to be with yourself, to be in the situation, brings a lot of relaxation, to practise this mindfulness.
I think you can start very small. Okay, where am I right now? Where are my thoughts? Thenyoulearn. It's best to write it down: What kind of thought was that? Or one, two, three thoughts. If you do thisregularly, you can see certain patterns. You get closer to certain topics and then realize: Oh, maybe there's one or two things that have a relative influence on me because I keep thinking them, because they keep coming up.
What I also notice with people who have been unwell for a long time or who have been ill for a long time is that they often have a sense of hopelessness. If you ask them, they can't even imagine what it would be like to be healthy again. Or what it would be like to get rid of certain symptoms. You can work on that too. That's what you need. To get out of all the symptoms and complaints, you can find hope in yourself again.
Julia: Would you suggest - if we come back to the procedure now - that we first change the diet aroundtothen get the bowels in ordertointestines and then get your thoughts to andtolook: What am I thinking all the time? And then lookn: Wow can I change that? Un order to support my body from the side that it can heal itself again.
Nora: Exactly. Exactly. I find that during the what-do-I-actually-think process, you often come across issues like: Is the life I've built for myself actually good for me? Is the way I'm currently living and thinking causing me a lot of stress or is it good for my health? And we often find out that this is not the case and that we can simply change certain things for ourselves in order to make relaxation or new thoughtspossibleat all.
Julia: Why don't you tell us how you're doing today?Is there any hope? If someone here listens now and says:"Ihave' histamine intolerance, and I have all these symptoms." Or:"I knowss already thatahistamine problem I have a histamine problem." Is it possible to get out of it?
Nora: Yes. I firmly believe that. I've experiencedit myself. I haven't had a histamine intolerance for over five years. No symptoms, I can eat anything. You can't even detect it any more. My gut is completely fine. That's why I always say: yes, there is hope. I am living proof.
I've already accompanied a few people and I always see that this work with thoughts and with themindset... That makes such a huge leap for a lot of people. It gets better beforehand. It gets better. They are already helped with many symptoms if they let go. Many symptoms get better when theyget the gut under control. But then sometimes you fall back. Or then something comes up and then you fall back and then the symptoms come back. When we then start to work on themindset, to work with the thoughts, it sometimes takes such a leap. Then you have reached a level from which you no longer fall back. Instead, you've reached a level where it really gets better.
Iknow - I was there too - youoften can't imagine what the point is while you're in the situation.You think:"Huh, mybody is sick." Is it all psychological? Mybody is ill. Yes. Butthere is an interplay.I can also work on my psyche and my mental health, just like my body.
JuliaYes. Exactly. That's what I always say with my gut happiness process. It really does go together. I believe that the longer you deal with the topic of nutrition and health,the less comesyouthis topic of thoughts andmindset can you avoid, can't you?
How do you do this with your clients? I think you have a coaching program that you guide your clients through, or how should we think of it?
Nora: Yes, exactly. I have a coaching program and I've called it"Think yourself healthy!" to make it a bit clear what it's actually about. I also have various pre-programs that cover the body. But I prefer to work with people when they are a bit further along and we look at their thoughts.
Wereally start at the very beginning. We first look at: Okay, what do you think? We start by getting to thebottomofit all.We find your strong beliefs that are not contributing to your health. Then we slowly go through the process step by step. What can change now? How do you change your thoughts? Actually establishing a daily routine, a daily practice that helps you more and more to actually change your thoughts. A lot with mindfulness exercises.
And what I always do is work onthe topic of"I'm not good enough". I've realized that: Everyone has that. Sometimes you get there relatively quickly anyway and sometimes you don't. I always take it on board because I always say:that's the basis. If you didn't have it before, then you get there in the process of the illness. Even if you just say:"My body isn't good enough."
I have a short program where we work together for six weeks.ButI prefer to takethe time, together with my clients, so that wecan work together for three monthsand then theycan reallyareso strongly positioned thatthey can getahead on their own.
JuliaAnd where can people find you if they are looking for you?
Nora: People can find me on my websitewww.leben-mit-ohne.de and preferably on"Work with me", where you can read through this"Think yourself healthy" program at your leisure if you like, andyou also have the option of sending me a message.
Julia: Is there anything else you would like to pass on to my listeners? Something we may have forgotten to mention, orwhat else is neededto perhaps take the next step?
Nora: I think it's nice to realize that health is a process. We start somewhere and then we can go further and further, step by step. Ultimately, it's a process that leads you closer and closer to yourself. That's how I feel. Health is the way back to yourself. I think that's a beautiful image and perhaps it helps you to actually get started. When you think: Is this a lot of work? Do I even want to do it? Yes, but it really does help you a lot. You will become more and more yourself. You will know more and more who you are, know more and more what you really want in your life, become clearer and more relaxed. And these are really, really wonderful things.
JuliaGreat! Thank you so much for the lovely interview, Nora.
The links to the episode are:
You can find out more about Nora and her approach at: https://www.leben-mit-ohne.de
Freeonlineseminar by Julia on the 3 most common mistakes you probably make when it comes to gut health: https://arktisbiopharma.ch/onlineseminar
Free Gut Happiness Facebook Group:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/502317769835023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> https://www.facebook.com/groups/502317769835023/
Instagram profile Julia Gruber: https://www.instagram.com/juliaelisabethgruber/
Gut Happiness Online Course: https://gruber-ernaehrung.ch/darmglueck
And here you can purchase the self-hypnosis mini course: https://arktisbiopharma.ch/selbsthypnose
Do you have any questions for me? Or feedback on the podcast? Then feel free to leave me a voicemail!https://arktisbiopharma.ch/voicemail
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Thank you very much.
10 years ago, NoraHodeige had reached a point where nothing worked: she had daily dizzinessandregular panic attacks.Despite numerous visits to the doctor, no one could find out what was wrong. Although she was diagnosedwith Hashimoto'sthyroiditis and also received conventional medical treatment, the dizziness persisted.
Only a visit to a naturopath brought clarity: she was suffering from histamine intolerance.
In this interview, I talk to Nora about:
- The signs you can recognize if you might also suffer from histamine intolerance
- What are the first steps you can take to improve your symptoms
- Why your mindset, i.e. your thoughts and beliefs, also play abig play a major role when it comes to your long-term health
Julia: I am very pleased to have the lovely NoraHodeige as my guest. Welcome, dear Nora, and thank you for taking the time.
Nora: Hello and thank you very much for having me. I'm really looking forward to it.
JuliaYou came to the topic of health and histamine through your own story. Would you like to tell us what happened back then, how you felt and how you dealt with the situation when you were feeling so bad?
Symptoms that puzzled the doctors
Nora: Yes, I'm happy to do that. I'm celebrating an anniversary this year. It was exactly ten years ago. In 2010, I actually got quite ill more or less from one day to the next. Of course, I still know exactly what happened.
I was at lunch and then had a panic attack during the meal - I know that today ss. I didn't even know what was going on at the time. I was eating, everything was normal, and suddenly I noticed my heart beating faster and then ...Everyone who has experienced this tells the same story: A wave comes at you and hits you and youdon't know what's going on. Then I was shaking and the ambulance was called because I just fell off my chair.
They couldn't do anything. They said:"Your heart is beating very fast. Your blood pressure is high." They then sent me home again and said:"Calm down. It's nothing." They just couldn't find anything.
That's how it started, with this panic attack. The main thing that remained was dizziness.From that day on, I was dizzy every day, every minute I was awake. It was a kind of"vertigo dizziness", which meant that whenever I walked, I felt like the ground was shaking. For a while, I just about made it to the supermarket across the road and back home again. Then I sat down and breathed.
I was living alone at the time. I was a student, had just moved out of my shared flat and was alone all day. These panic attacks came veryregularly, sometimes several times a day. I quickly linked them to food. It almost always had something to do with food. I didn't know at all,not at allwhat it was.
Then I went on a medical marathon. I was studying in Vienna, far away from home, and I didn't have any doctors there yet. I was always at home during the semester break.If there was anything wrong, I wentto the family doctor. Then I tested all the doctorsinVienna, and they all said the same thing:"No, everything is great with you. You're totally healthy."
I went to my normal GP, who then didan ECG. There was nothing there either. Then to the neurologist. Nothing abnormal there. Then an inner ear test for balance, and there was nothing abnormal there either. Then they even did an MRI of my brain. There was simply nothing. They found nothing.
The path to diagnosis
On the one hand, this somehow reassured me, and on the other hand, I was feeling so bad. Feeling this discrepancy too... Then , of course, the doctorssaid very quickly:"It's psychological. You may have a bit of stress during your studies. Dizziness... that can happen. Just calm down and keep breathing. It will go away."
But it didn't go away at all.In the end, the dizziness was there every day. No matter whether I was sitting, walking or lying down. It was always shaking, just like on a boat. That's how I would describe it. By the way, it was best on a boat! When I wason a boat, it didn't shake because it was shaking anyway. I really enjoyed doing that.
I somehow kept it up for three quarters of a year and even went to university.I thought:"You have to get on with your life somehow. It will go away."
And then I pulled theripcordand went back home to my mom and said:"We needto see what's going on here. I need to regain my strength and get back to a normal life. I can't cope with my life at the moment. I can 't do anythingon my own."
Of course, I was constantly afraid. Afraid that I was in a really, really bad way. Or, I was doing very badly. I was afraid that I would somehow fall over. That I wouldbe all alone. Then
I was at home with my GP . He said:"Oh, we can do a blood test." It's interesting that the 20 doctors hadn't thought of this before. He then suspected Hashimoto's. Thethyroid values weren't good.He sent me to an expert who then diagnosed me with Hashimoto's. I was super-happy that they found something.I then took L-thyroxine.The palpitations actuallygot better. But the dizziness didn't stop.
Then I happened to meet my dog's vet. I took the dog to the vet. She then said:"I'm also a naturopath for people.If you're not feeling so well " - I had told her that things were so difficult at the moment -"why don't you come and see me? We're sure to find something." Itold her my symptoms and she said:"That totally sounds like a histamine intolerance. Here's the list. You'll have to leave it all out for once and then we'll see in a week whether it has improved."
Histamine intolerance
And that was so blatant! I cut out all these foods and itonlytook a few days for the dizziness to become noticeably less.After a few weeks itwassimply gone. That was very serious.
I found itvery easy to live with this omission at first, because the difference between before and after ... It was worlds!I was finally able to look up againand get out of my hole a little bit and out of all the fears and bad feelings.
Julia: And what did you think then? That a few foods - that's how many there are then in the end not even - can trigger something like that, hould you have thought that possible?
Nora: No. No. I wouldn't have thought it possible at all. It's like this: as long as you don't know what's going on ... At some point, I hardly ate anything at all. I realized it had something to dowith food, but I didn't really knowwhichfoods.Exceptfor a few things. I realized that tomatoes weren't good. I realized that myself. When I eat a tomato, I immediately go on alert. So I left a few things out. And - and I hear this all the time - you then start to leave out more and more, leave out more and more, leave out more and more andat some point you hardly eat anything at all.
It's a difficult situation because you always think:"Food should actually be good for me. I need something to eat. I need food and the nutrients it contains." That something like that can have such blatant effects!Evenapart from digestive problems, which areof course very unpleasant.But to hit the whole cardiovascular system like that... You feel like the ground is beingpulled out from under yourfeet.
Typical symptoms of histamine intolerance
JuliaYou then became involved with the topic of histamine and read a lot about it. You now advise people with histamine intolerance. What would you say are typical symptoms? You listed a few of your own symptoms. Are there any other things that might make someone prick up their ears and think about histamine?
Nora: Yes. I think skin problems are alsoquite typical: Skin rashes, especially those red patches that some people get, which aremainlyin the throat area. and décolleté area. Some people have red wheals on their arms, more like blotchyrashes. I think it's quite typical that when histamine is released, it causes these reactions. It's similar withpeople who are excited or who drink red wine, they often get these spots. It's always the histamine that causes problems.
Then, as I said, the cardiovascular things, the blood pressure system that doesn't work. It's either too high or too low. Many people struggle with extremely low blood pressure and feel somehow dizzy and unwell.
Then of course digestive problems, like gas and bloating, from-to, so to speak. Migraines and headaches are also relatively typical. Many people then realize when they cut out histamine:"Oh yes! I've always had headaches like that." I was one of those people, for example. In my youth or early 20s, I definitely had a headache once a week. This is no longer the case. It subsided with thehistamine story. Many people have that too.
I think you can see from that that it's very broad.
JuliaYes. In retrospect, would you also say that the panic attacks are actually related to histamine? Or with the Hashimoto's? Or both?
Nora: No, with hindsight I would say that it was probably more to do with the histamine. It was perhaps a bit more potentiated in my case, however, but ultimately it definitely has to do with histamine, and that's also a typical symptom that many people talk about.
What is histamine?
Histamine simply leads to restlessness in the body, to increased blood pressure, which is also the purpose of histamine. Everyone has histamine as a substance in their body and we need it. It also causes this immune reaction: it binds to the receptors and ensures that the bloodvesselsdilate and the blood flow becomes faster.
This makes sense for the body, but if it is misdirected or happens relatively frequently, it is very, very unpleasant. Then a reaction happens. I think it's a mixture of the body andthe
The bad thing is, if you've experienced it once, it's so unpleasant that you don't want to experience it again. And then you're afraid of the fear and you're in it faster than you're out of it, unfortunately.
Histamine intolerance and stress
JuliaI think histamine is also a sign of stress in the system.It is like a valve that then goes off. Would you say that histamine triggers stress or is it more the stress that we perhaps also have in life?, anadditionaltrigger for histamine intolerance?
Nora: Yes, according to my personal observations over the last few years, it's morelike this:the stress that we have often builds up over years, the pressure situations that we create for ourselves, the stress that we have permanently, which most people simply don't process at all - you live with stress, that's normal -all of this issimply too much for the body at some point. At some point, it builds up to such an extent that these explosive reactions occur. Then these overreactions occur.
In my experience, it's actually more the case that this stress, which wecan 't processin the body, increases histamine, and at some point it explodes.
Julia: So perhaps the doctor was unconsciously right after all when he said: "Dt's all psychological." He just said it differently meant.
Nora: Totally. But that's what you want at the moment.not not want to hear that. That also leads to the reaction that yousit there and think: "No! But I amreally sick."
Julia: The problem is that people often throw things like that at you and actually mean the wrong thing. Like this:"You're just imagining things and there's nothingreally wrong with you."
Nora: Exactly. Exactly. Or something along the lines of:"It might be a bit stressful at university right now", but that's not the stress that's the issue. It's much more about thisyears of years of stress. I then started to tidy up a lot of things in my life in order to realize: Okay, where is this stress? It's not:"I'vejust had two weeks of exams", but it's more aboutbiggerissues,about life decisions. Am I actually living the life I really want? Or am I constantly suppressing myself or my needs?Am I working far too much for others? Do I care more about others than myself? I think issues like these are more likely to cause us so much stress that it can build up.
I always find it cute when doctors say:"It's psychological." Well, what should I do with it then? I mean, then I still need help. That's nice when they say:"It's psychological. Go away again." And then you think:"Yes,but ... then I need someone all the more, ideally someone who can guide me through it somehow."
Histamine intolerance: the first steps
JuliaWhat would you say, if someone came to you today andthe samesymptoms that you had back then? Or you think: "Dt has to do with histamine." What would you advise such a person? What is the first thing to do?
Nora: The first thing to do is to take the standard physicalmeasures: Omit. Avoidhistamine-containing foods at all costs. Even for more than a week or two. I always see people say:"Yes, but I've been doing that for two weeks. It hasn't gotten any better yet." You have to give your body time to get used to the fact that it no longer receives histamine and that it perhaps learns to break down what is already in the body.
In other words, avoid foodsthat contain histamine and also those that we call"liberators", which cause the body to release histamine.
Julia: Can you perhaps list a few? The most important ones?
Nora: The histamine-containing foods are mainly foods that are matured for a long time or that are preserved. Cheese is a typical example. The harder or the longer it is matured, the more histamine it contains. It's the same with alcohol, wine, for example. Red wine has much more histamine thanother alcoholic beverages. The lighter, the clearer, the less histamine.
Fruit. Varieties such as bananas and avocados. Things that simply spoil very quickly. A lot of histamine developsduring the spoiling process. Everything that is smoked, cured, pickled or fermented develops histamine in the process.
And then there arehistamine liberators thatstimulate the bodytorelease histamine. These are foods that cause stress, so to speak, such as very spicy foods, which then trigger this. However, stress - whether internal orexternal- is also a Histamine liberator.
Also any kind of physical exertion: Endurance sports or very strenuous activities can also cause histamine to be released in sensitive people.
First of all, leave it out. And unfortunately, this is the case with abstinence ... Although it is helpful, it is not necessarily effective if you want to get well again. Just quitting is important,butit'snot the only thing.
You don't want to, at least I didn't - I was 25 - I didn't want to have to leave everything out for the rest of my life. It'squite restrictive because it'sindividual foodsfrom such different food groups. You can't justsay you're going to cut out dairy products. That is nowrelatively easy, I think, in terms of handling. It's also annoying, of course. Omitting it as a form of therapy forever, that wouldn't have been my goal either.
Histamine intolerance and gut health
First of all,omitting, and then we definitely have to take care of the gut! The gut is always, always affected when you have a histamine intolerance. It caneven bethe solecause. There are figures: In over 70 percent of those affected,the gut is actually the main cause or thephysical main physical cause. The gut is always affected. We always have to make sure that we take care of it.
I think that's actually quite exciting.In normal life, youdon't take that much care of your gut.Then you can also learn: What is healthy food? What is good, healthy food for my gut that I can process well? What doesn't also lead to inflammation? How do I cook fresh? With fresh food? Do I cook at all? What do I have to look out for when I go shopping? That there are no additives, that there are no preservatives, that there are no substances labeled with E and so on.
That's an extreme change for many people. On the other hand, I think it's also a great opportunity to eat and be a bit healthier all round. We can also learn thatis not just about food. food are, but also the people we surround ourselves with, the environment we live in and how we deal with our stress management. These things are also"food". Everything that"getsinto us " - on whatever level, through whatever opening - always does something in our body.We can also learn to be mindful of this.
Thoughts can be changed
JuliaRight. I think you've also focused on this topic in particular over the years. What do our thoughts - de talk about mindfulness - in our body? What influence do they have on our health? I think that once you get to grips with nutritionssI think that's really the most important place to start.:Diet and gut. But once that's in place and you know a little bitss,how it worksthen it definitely makes sense to take a look: How do I live my life? What do I think? How can I perhaps change something?? It's new to people that you can simply change your thoughts.
Nora: That is indeed very new. And it'snot that easy either.It's a process in which you can make a decision. And then you can take it step by step.Actually, I think the best stress management we can do is to realize that we can decide what we want to think. And that we can chooseone thought over another and say:"I'd rather have this one, and I'm going to establish it now so that it becomespart of myDNA or part of my core belief." And then part of myself, yes.
What I also alwaysfindinteresting ...Thatyou can see You can already see that! My head is part of my body. Connected. Everything we think originally goes into our body. Every thought also sends out a message, a neurological message via the central nervous system, and goes into our body, into every cell. And if I then tell myself something like:"I'm not good enough. My body is bad. My body just wants to annoy me. My body is stupid because it doesn't do what I want." Thathears him! He hears that 1:1, all the time. It's very, very difficult to get out of an illness if we tell ourselves all the time that our body isn't cooperating or that it's stupid or that it's not good enough.That we don't like it.
On the other hand, we would like to get well again, and then we have thishuge discrepancy that arises. The body hears all the time that it can't do it and that it's no good. That it's doing badly anyway and that it's only doing things to annoy us.On the other hand, we would like him to get better. And that we can learn to use our thoughts to support ourselves and our bodies, to steer them in a good, positive direction.
Julia: How do you go about it? How do you even recognize what you are constantly thinking?
Nora: I think that's thegreatestart. How to proceed: First of all, observe and find out and get to know what you are really thinking. We think 50,000 thoughts a day. We don't even think them consciously.We only think very few thoughts consciously.
Of course,I find that when you talk to a coach,someone who is trained in communication techniques, you quickly come across these thoughts, which are relatively strong. Thoughts that we call beliefs, on which we have built our belief construct or all our other thoughts, this foundation. We can get there by simply removing things and looking more and more into them: Okay, where are the strong beliefs that are holding us back?
In addition, it is also simply a daily practice that we can practise by pausing from time to time and asking ourselves:"What am I actually thinking right now?"Or:"Where am I in my thoughts right now?" A kind of check-in. Where am I right now? Then we ask We also notice - if wedo this regularly ssig- that our thoughts arerarely in the situation we are currently in. We often think about something else and worry about someone else, or what will happen later, or think aboutthe fact thatour body will probably be like this or like that again, or why it's already like this again... And simplylearning to be with yourself, to be in the situation, brings a lot of relaxation, to practise this mindfulness.
I think you can start very small. Okay, where am I right now? Where are my thoughts? Thenyoulearn. It's best to write it down: What kind of thought was that? Or one, two, three thoughts. If you do thisregularly, you can see certain patterns. You get closer to certain topics and then realize: Oh, maybe there's one or two things that have a relative influence on me because I keep thinking them, because they keep coming up.
What I also notice with people who have been unwell for a long time or who have been ill for a long time is that they often have a sense of hopelessness. If you ask them, they can't even imagine what it would be like to be healthy again. Or what it would be like to get rid of certain symptoms. You can work on that too. That's what you need. To get out of all the symptoms and complaints, you can find hope in yourself again.
Julia: Would you suggest - if we come back to the procedure now - that we first change the diet aroundtothen get the bowels in ordertointestines and then get your thoughts to andtolook: What am I thinking all the time? And then lookn: Wow can I change that? Un order to support my body from the side that it can heal itself again.
Nora: Exactly. Exactly. I find that during the what-do-I-actually-think process, you often come across issues like: Is the life I've built for myself actually good for me? Is the way I'm currently living and thinking causing me a lot of stress or is it good for my health? And we often find out that this is not the case and that we can simply change certain things for ourselves in order to make relaxation or new thoughtspossibleat all.
Recovery is possible
Julia: Why don't you tell us how you're doing today?Is there any hope? If someone here listens now and says:"Ihave' histamine intolerance, and I have all these symptoms." Or:"I knowss already thatahistamine problem I have a histamine problem." Is it possible to get out of it?
Nora: Yes. I firmly believe that. I've experiencedit myself. I haven't had a histamine intolerance for over five years. No symptoms, I can eat anything. You can't even detect it any more. My gut is completely fine. That's why I always say: yes, there is hope. I am living proof.
I've already accompanied a few people and I always see that this work with thoughts and with themindset... That makes such a huge leap for a lot of people. It gets better beforehand. It gets better. They are already helped with many symptoms if they let go. Many symptoms get better when theyget the gut under control. But then sometimes you fall back. Or then something comes up and then you fall back and then the symptoms come back. When we then start to work on themindset, to work with the thoughts, it sometimes takes such a leap. Then you have reached a level from which you no longer fall back. Instead, you've reached a level where it really gets better.
Iknow - I was there too - youoften can't imagine what the point is while you're in the situation.You think:"Huh, mybody is sick." Is it all psychological? Mybody is ill. Yes. Butthere is an interplay.I can also work on my psyche and my mental health, just like my body.
JuliaYes. Exactly. That's what I always say with my gut happiness process. It really does go together. I believe that the longer you deal with the topic of nutrition and health,the less comesyouthis topic of thoughts andmindset can you avoid, can't you?
Coaching for histamine intolerance
How do you do this with your clients? I think you have a coaching program that you guide your clients through, or how should we think of it?
Nora: Yes, exactly. I have a coaching program and I've called it"Think yourself healthy!" to make it a bit clear what it's actually about. I also have various pre-programs that cover the body. But I prefer to work with people when they are a bit further along and we look at their thoughts.
Wereally start at the very beginning. We first look at: Okay, what do you think? We start by getting to thebottomofit all.We find your strong beliefs that are not contributing to your health. Then we slowly go through the process step by step. What can change now? How do you change your thoughts? Actually establishing a daily routine, a daily practice that helps you more and more to actually change your thoughts. A lot with mindfulness exercises.
And what I always do is work onthe topic of"I'm not good enough". I've realized that: Everyone has that. Sometimes you get there relatively quickly anyway and sometimes you don't. I always take it on board because I always say:that's the basis. If you didn't have it before, then you get there in the process of the illness. Even if you just say:"My body isn't good enough."
I have a short program where we work together for six weeks.ButI prefer to takethe time, together with my clients, so that wecan work together for three monthsand then theycan reallyareso strongly positioned thatthey can getahead on their own.
JuliaAnd where can people find you if they are looking for you?
Nora: People can find me on my websitewww.leben-mit-ohne.de and preferably on"Work with me", where you can read through this"Think yourself healthy" program at your leisure if you like, andyou also have the option of sending me a message.
Julia: Is there anything else you would like to pass on to my listeners? Something we may have forgotten to mention, orwhat else is neededto perhaps take the next step?
Nora: I think it's nice to realize that health is a process. We start somewhere and then we can go further and further, step by step. Ultimately, it's a process that leads you closer and closer to yourself. That's how I feel. Health is the way back to yourself. I think that's a beautiful image and perhaps it helps you to actually get started. When you think: Is this a lot of work? Do I even want to do it? Yes, but it really does help you a lot. You will become more and more yourself. You will know more and more who you are, know more and more what you really want in your life, become clearer and more relaxed. And these are really, really wonderful things.
JuliaGreat! Thank you so much for the lovely interview, Nora.
The links to the episode are:
You can find out more about Nora and her approach at: https://www.leben-mit-ohne.de
Freeonlineseminar by Julia on the 3 most common mistakes you probably make when it comes to gut health: https://arktisbiopharma.ch/onlineseminar
Free Gut Happiness Facebook Group:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/502317769835023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> https://www.facebook.com/groups/502317769835023/
Instagram profile Julia Gruber: https://www.instagram.com/juliaelisabethgruber/
Gut Happiness Online Course: https://gruber-ernaehrung.ch/darmglueck
And here you can purchase the self-hypnosis mini course: https://arktisbiopharma.ch/selbsthypnose
Do you have any questions for me? Or feedback on the podcast? Then feel free to leave me a voicemail!https://arktisbiopharma.ch/voicemail
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