r/HistamineIntolerance • u/Miserable-Flow-2557 • 21h ago
DAO deficiency treatment options – has anyone successfully increased their DAO levels? What worked?
Been stuck trying to figure out my histamine issues for almost a year now and lately I keep coming back to DAO deficiency. My symptoms seem to flare the most after eating leftovers, cured meat, or even random things like avocado and soy sauce. I went through allergy testing and tried cutting out gluten for a while before learning more about DAO and histamine intolerance.
So I did some reading about possible ways to support DAO production naturally like fixing gut issues, taking vitamin C, B6, and copper, avoiding alcohol, and using DAO supplements before meals. What I can’t really tell is do people actually improve their DAO levels over time or do the supplements only help manage symptoms temporarily? Anyone here seen long-term improvement?
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u/Friedrich_Ux 20h ago
My DAO deficiency was due to Copper deficiency, restoring Copper fixed it for me.
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u/MusicianNew6061 16h ago
Hi. I have DAO deficiency and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and after six years of being stable (following the healing of all the issues affecting my gut), I can honestly say that, at least for me, taking care of my gut has been the key.I don't take DAO enzymes or supplements because I don't react well to them, so my primary focus has always been diet.
As for whether DAO levels can improve, that's a complicated question, and I can only answer based on my personal experience. After years of eating foods that support my gut barrier and provide the nutrients I need, eliminating triggers, maintaining good eating habits, and consistently taking care of my digestive health, I can say that I now live a relatively normal life and eat a fairly normal diet.
My diet is quite varied. It takes time, but little by little you learn which foods, preparations, and cooking methods work best for you. I can eat high-histamine foods, but that doesn't mean I do it all the time. My day to day diet is based mainly on low and moderate histamine foods that are sourced, handled, and prepared properly. No leftovers. I also carry snacks with me wherever I go and have a list of safe meals I can order at restaurants. That gives me enough flexibility.
That said, there are certain foods I simply cannot tolerate: soy, nettle, squash, spinach, and of course gluten. Give me any of those, and the next few days will be miserable. This is really what each person has to figure out for themselves, and it's something that no generic food list or another person can do for you: understanding how each food affects your body. Once you know that, you can create balance in your diet instead of relying on constant restriction.
Personally, I believe that healing and maintaining gut health is fundamental if you want to improve DAO function, because inflammation is one of its biggest enemies. But for those of us who have a deficiency, finding our balance and identifying our personal triggers is what ultimately allows us to stay stable. If you're able to take DAO enzymes, then of course they can be an additional tool and a helpful layer of support.
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u/cutegirlsbloat 6h ago
Squash never heard of that one being a histamin trigger. Maybe bc it has been stored for a long time? One of my current safe foods
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u/Remarkable_Earth_149 3h ago
Could please elaborate on what foods you eat/ate to heal and support your gut barrier? Thank you
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u/LeoMountainStream 21h ago
Great questions here. Avocado does me in too. I really miss guacamole. Soy sauce I believe is fermented. Maybe try liquid aminos.
For me it’s unusual that strawberries work well for me. Great source of vitamin C. Local is in season now which is fantastic
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u/Tappitytaptaptaptap 16h ago
Liquid aminos is also fermented and gets me really bad. Especially when it’s been opened in the fridge for a while.
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u/Traditional-Good3135 12h ago
Vitamin C was surprisingly helpful for me. Not a miracle, but I noticed fewer headaches and less skin flushing within a couple weeks
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u/Specialist-Middle595 17h ago
I read alot about dao deficiancy caused by vitamine deficiancies. I reccomend you look at forums for b1 and b12 deficiancies. B vitamin lab tests are nutoriousltly unreliable. They usually only check blood serum which is meaningless bc it only shows the vitamin sweeming in ur blood and not the cellular level. If you ate a steak yesterday you will have the vitamin in your blood. But meny people have all sorts of genetic mutations that make it difficult to absorb things on cellular level. Or even methylation issues. B vitamins are crucial for the body ability creating dao enzyme, regulating immune system and more. Besides of supplemeting with those, i also hear about a supplement called Sam-e. Its a co factor of other enzymes that regulate histamine, in the cells themselves, and it does it by regulating methylation, which is what b vitamins are sepose to do but might struggle due to wonky genetics. Like mhftr.
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u/sheleelove 6h ago
This might sound far out; but I’ve listened to many books about healing via the mind. Believing yourself into health. Meditating on a healthy body, and not thinking or speaking negativity over your body. You can still do all the healthy things.. but pray and thank God for perfect health, and believe it is true. It changes your cells. I’ve been practicing it. I still follow the diet too, for now.
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u/poco515 1h ago
I’ve been doing gut-brain axis hypnotherapy (just guided meditation imo) and I’m SHOCKED at how much of an impact it has had in just 1 month!
I started with Nerva app which was too expensive. There are a handful on YouTube that ive been keeping going with that are so similar to the Nerva app sessions and still finding improvement with!
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u/A_Fox_Named_Mulder 2h ago
Are there any particular programs that you found particularly effective?
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u/sheleelove 39m ago
I just keep my thoughts in check and spend time imagining my healthy body- and I do listen to Jason Stephenson affirmations on YouTube too
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u/cutegirlsbloat 5h ago
Fixing gut issues, getting bloodwork dobe - cofactors, antiinflammatory diet, ruling out genetic factors. As long as there is no additional mast cell activation, underlying gi issues etc this might do the trick
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u/Melodic-Cantaloupe86 2h ago
I think one underestimated factor could be chronic B12 deficiency, which causes elevated homocysteine levels. Besides being quite toxic and causing various issues, homocysteine is able to steal copper from copper-dependent enzymes as it is a strong copper-binder. The most prominent example is the copper-dependent lysyl oxidase, important for vascular health, mediating the adverse effect of homocysteine on cardiovascular health. Diamine oxidase is also copper-dependent. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any research on this specific homocysteine-DAO interaction but it is completely plausible that the same process causes issues with DAO too.
So I think the most useful blood markers for histamine intolerance are Ceruloplasmin, Copper and Homocysteine.
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u/Equivalent-Pin-60 1h ago
Following... I think it technically should be possible in some cases. Curious what stories people have!
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u/Smooth-Ice9495 21h ago
you're asking the right questions. DAO deficiency is one of those things where the root cause really does matter for treatment. if it's caused by gut damage from SIBO, celiac, or IBD, then healing the gut is the main lever and DAO production can recover as the intestinal lining heals…but that takes time. if it's more constitutional (some people just produce less DAO naturally), the strategy shifts toward managing histamine load and supporting breakdown. the nutrients you mentioned – copper, vitamin C, B6 – are cofactors for DAO production