Pecans Histamine: Friendly or Flare-Up Foe?

Pecan pie, pecan nut cookies, pecan crumbles on freshly baked banana bread, pecan crusted salmon… the possibilities when it comes to using pecan nuts in sweet or savory dishes is endless. And while all of them sound delightfully delish, you’re probably left wondering about pecans' histamine content and whether they’re safe for you to eat while following a low histamine diet. After all, the thought of tucking into a yummy dish only to have a significant flare of your histamine intolerance symptoms, just isn’t worth it. 

So, today, let’s talk about pecans; are they friendly or a flare-up foe?

Pecan’s Histamine Declared Safe… for Most of You!

The evidence is sparse, but most resources confirm pecans are a low histamine food. Of course, there’s nuance in everything relating to you as an individual and while one person with histamine intolerance may tolerate pecans, another may not. 

So, what does the evidence we do have access to, say? 

• A study assessing various nuts in asthma suggest pecans are among the nuts that may trigger histamine-related asthma events (1). 
• A review study showed there is significant variation in different types of pecan preparations with storage and processing affecting the way people react to eating the nuts (2). 
• Community pages on histamine intolerance and nut consumption suggest pecans rarely contain histamine and many people tolerate them, but others don’t. 
• Resources I used to create my comprehensive low histamine food list include walnuts and cashews as the most problematic nuts when it comes to histamine intolerance. 
  
  

The overall theme around pecans' histamine content appears to be that they’re likely not a source of histamine themselves, but may have a tendency to trigger symptoms in those who are highly sensitive or who have multiple sensitivities in addition to histamine intolerance. For most of you, you’ll be able to consume them in small amounts without any issue. 

So how do you know?

 

Get the free diet guide!

 

6 Questions To Ask Yourself When It Comes to Pecans’ Histamine Content

Since we don’t know whether pecans are indeed 100% safe for everyone dealing with symptoms of histamine intolerance, and we have very little scientific data to go one, we need to use good clinical judgement when it comes to adding pecans to your low histamine diet (3). Here are six factors to consider to help you to make that decision, and whether pecans are right for your low histamine diet.

How are the pecans stored?  

For all foods, as they age and spoil, their histamine content generally increases due to the various microbial and enzymatic activities of the compounds making up the food. When it comes to nuts specifically, because they’re made up of oils, they tend to go rancid and oxidize, which has also been shown to increase their potential to aggravate conditions such as histamine intolerance. 

The answer is to always use fresh pecans that have been stored correctly in a cool and dry place. If you have more than you need, it’s best to freeze the leftovers in an airtight container. Frozen nuts can be used as easily in your recipes as fresh ones. 

How are the pecans processed?

Buying roasted pecan nuts might sound like a great idea for a bigger flavor profile, but there’s one problem: roasting the nuts and putting them on the shelf is a one way ticket to oxidation of their healthy fats. Roasted nuts are more susceptible to going rancid, which as noted in the point above, may increase their likelihood of triggering histamine symptoms. 

Similarly, buying chopped nuts could save you a ton of time in the kitchen, but it may leave you spending more time dealing with histamine flares. Chopping nuts allows more of their oils to be exposed to the air, increasing the degree of breakdown and oxidation. 

That’s why it’s always best to stick to using whole, unprocessed forms of pecans, wherever possible. 

Are pecans histamine liberators?

When it comes to nuts and histamine intolerance, I usually suggest to my clients they restrict specifically cashews and walnuts. There’s evidence to suggest these two nuts are histamine liberators in that they can trigger the release of histamine stored in the body. Now, look at a pecan and a walnut side-by-side. They’re pretty similar, aren’t they? So, while we don’t have enough research to show pecans will have the same effect on your body as walnuts, their similarities do leave the question as to whether they’ll have the same effects, especially in more sensitive individuals. 

The bottom line is that pecans have not been shown to be high histamine but, because of their similarities to walnuts, those of you who are in the first weeks of their healing histamine journey, those of you that have multiple food sensitivities, and those of you who are simply more sensitive to histamine should stay away from pecans until your condition has stabilized. 

How are you currently reacting to histamine?

Pecans histamine content is generally found to be low but that doesn’t mean you, as an individual, won’t react to them. Each of you reading this article will have different levels of sensitivity, different levels of the histamine degrading enzymes in your body, and different ways of processing histamines at any given time of the day depending on what is going on in your life at that moment. For example, if you’re stressed, you’re more likely to react! 

It’s for this reason you could tolerate pecans one day, and not the next. 

Are you reacting to something other than the pecans’ histamine itself? 

True allergies are mediated by compounds in the immune system called immunoglobulins (Ig). The specific Ig related to allergic reactions is called IgE, and can trigger anaphylaxis. Because there are many compounds in tree nuts shared across all families, if there’s a true allergy to one type of tree nut, you may have an allergy to another type, which is usually the case when it comes to walnuts and pecans (4). If you’ve ever experienced swelling of the face and/or mouth, difficulty breathing or had to use an epipen after exposure to tree nuts, it’s likely a true allergy, and not a reflection of the histamine content of either nut. In this case, nuts should be completely avoided. 

What does the histamine community say about pecans’ histamine?

Most of my histamine community seem to be able to tolerate small amounts of pecans without any trouble. But, these are people who are typically a few weeks or months into their histamine healing journey, and have been following a strict low histamine diet alongside healing their root cause. Those of you still being triggered by nuts and other lower histamine foods may also be reacting to processing, storage or mold in these otherwise low risk foods. As per my comprehensive low histamine food list, it’s best to avoid all nuts for at least the first two weeks of your low histamine diet. If you notice your sensitivity diminishing greatly, and unless you’re truly allergic, you can add small amounts of fresh pecans to your diet to determine your sensitivity to them. 

 

Get the free diet guide!

 

Health Benefits of Pecans To Add to Your Low Histamine Diet

If you do tolerate pecans, you’re in luck. They hold several health benefits that may make them a welcome addition to your otherwise limited diet. 

I often talk about the importance of healthy fats in the diet. Not only are they a great benefit to your overall health, especially your heart health, they’re a source of calories you may otherwise be lacking. They’re also high in fiber, contributing to a healthy digestive system, and they provide a good variety of minerals such as zinc, potassium and magnesium, which are valuable to the immune system (5). 

Another reason to add pecans to your diet if you tolerate them is their potential effect on inflammation. Due to their high antioxidant content, they may contribute to mast cell stabilization, reducing the amount of histamine flowing around your body. 

Low Histamine Cooking: Six Tips to Use Pecans in your diet 

Testing your tolerance to pecans may take a little trial and error. Here are six of my general tips. 

1. Start slow. As with any food introduction, test a small amount of pecans in your diet on one day, added to an otherwise well-tolerated meal. Monitor your reactions over a day or two before adding any more. Ideally, track your symptoms using a food-diary so you can reflect back on how you felt after adding the pecans. 
   
   
2. Go fresh. The freshest nuts will have the least amount of additional compounding variables to consider. Cracking your own nuts would be ideal, but freshly packaged ones from an organic origin (as long as they’re mostly whole and not roasted or chopped), will do the trick. 
   
   
3. Don’t combine. If you're testing your tolerance to pecans, be sure to limit other medium to high histamine foods in that meal. Always combine potentially troublesome foods with otherwise tolerated low histamine ones. 
   
   
4. Timing matters. If you’ve developed a histamine flare for any reason, don’t add pecans to your diet until you’ve completely resolved your symptoms. Adding an additional potential trigger may cause your symptoms to worsen and you won’t know whether your symptoms are truly related to the addition of pecans or not. 
   
   
5. Cooking method matters. Eating them raw or baking your nuts is the preferable way to use them in your diet. Baking is usually at a lower heat for a longer time, which doesn’t have as much of a detrimental effect on the healthy oils in the nuts as roasting them does. If you’d like that roasted flavour, briefly toast them in a hot pan, making sure to keep a close eye as to not burn them. 
   
   
6. Storing safely. As mentioned above, any leftover nuts should be stored in an airtight container and frozen to preserve the oils as best as possible. Avoid leaving nuts in a hot, humid environment as the potential for mold growth increases exponentially. Use your frozen nuts within a reasonable time. Whole nuts should be used within a year of freezing.  
   
   

Now, if the thought of crumbled pecans on freshly baked banana bread caught your eye and got your mouth watering, here’s one of my favorite recipes: faux banana bread. I included macadamia nuts in this recipe as part of the batter, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t chop up another ½ a cup of pecans and sprinkle them over the top once the batter is in your baking tin! They’ll add an extra layer of healthy goodness and a little more crunch, and allow you to enjoy them without being hidden in the loaf.

Additional Tips for Keeping Pecans’ Histamine Symptom Free

I do hope you’re able to tolerate pecans! Of course, each of you being individuals means you may have a different reaction to someone else going through their histamine journey. 

If you do tolerate them, as with any food on your current diet, don’t over do it. Too much of a good thing is still too much, and you can develop an intolerance if you’re pushing your histamine threshold. 

If you do find you’re reacting to even small amounts, it may be time to dig a little deeper into why. You may still need to address other parts of your histamine intolerance picture. Think about your overall gut health, whether your mast cells are overreacting, or you have other sensitivities you need to address. 

While pecans are considered low histamine, remember they can be a friendly food choice for many, but a foe for others. If they work for you, go ahead and enjoy them! If not, they’re best to avoid. 

 

Get the free diet guide!

References: 

1. Vassilopoulou E, Konstantinou GN, Dimitriou A, Manios Y, Koumbi L, Papadopoulos NG. The Impact of Food Histamine Intake on Asthma Activity: A Pilot Study. Nutrients. 2020 Nov 5;12(11):3402. doi: 10.3390/nu12113402.
2. Gargano D, Appanna R, Santonicola A, De Bartolomeis F, Stellato C, Cianferoni A, Casolaro V, Iovino P. Food Allergy and Intolerance: A Narrative Review on Nutritional Concerns. Nutrients. 2021 May 13;13(5):1638. doi: 10.3390/nu13051638.
3. Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Low-Histamine Diets: Is the Exclusion of Foods Justified by Their Histamine Content? Nutrients. 2021 Apr 21;13(5):1395. doi: 10.3390/nu13051395.
4. Midun E, Radulovic S, Brough H, Caubet JC. Recent advances in the management of nut allergy. World Allergy Organ J. 2021 Jan 13;14(1):100491. doi: 10.1016/j.waojou.2020.100491.
5. Gonçalves B, Pinto T, Aires A, Morais MC, Bacelar E, Anjos R, Ferreira-Cardoso J, Oliveira I, Vilela A, Cosme F. Composition of Nuts and Their Potential Health Benefits-An Overview. Foods. 2023 Feb 23;12(5):942. doi: 10.3390/foods12050942.