Can You Take CBD For Histamine Intolerance?

Histamine Intolerance is a condition in which your body produces more histamine and inflammation than it should or has difficulty breaking it down, leading to increasing build-up over time. This causes a number of uncomfortable symptoms, both allergenic in nature and also relating to the digestive system.

It would seem that CBD, being derived from cannabis (a pollinating plant that could be allergenic in nature), should therefore aggravate these symptoms. But is it as simple as that?





How CBD and Mast Cells Interact With Each Other

Mast cells, also known as mastocytes, are cells located in connective tissue that have high levels of histamine and are important to your body's immune system. In short, when a pathogen (allergenic or not) activates a mast cell, it releases inflammatory histamines to aid in the immune system's fight against the pathogen that activated it.

Those with histamine intolerance tend to have overactive mast cells that release more inflammatory histamines than they should.

It would stand to reason that consumption of pollinating flowers would cause an even more excessive release of histamines. However, studies show that CBD actually inhibits the release of histamines by mast cells. Thus, CBD would therefore be beneficial to those who suffer from histamine intolerance.

That being said, it's not quite as simple.

Final Thought: Counter-Intuitive CBD Use

It's important to understand that the way you use CBD when dealing with something allergenic in nature should be carefully considered. Any method involving inhalation (be it through vaping or smoking dry herb) might give you the benefits of inhibiting histamine release by mast cells but will also still aggravate the lungs and airways. This could result in a counter-productive increase in inflammation.

A better method of CBD usage would be the ingestion of oils or capsules. That way, you won't aggravate the airways and still reap all the benefits of CBD's anti-inflammatory properties.