Is ginger high in histamine?
Ginger is low in histamine as far as the evidence goes: a group of 12 spice samples had none detectable, though the review does not name the spices, and fresh ginger root was not measured.
- Histamine
- Not detected
- Other amines
- Not measured
- Liberator
- Not on the lists we use
- DAO blocker
- No evidence
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Lab measurements, Spain (food group) 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine in 12 spice samples; the spices are not named. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 2 | Ginger is not on the review's chart of foods the diets exclude. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spices sold in Spain (group) 1 (Table 1, row "Spices") | 12 | not detected | individual spices not named; other amines not reported |
mg/kg = milligrams of histamine per kilogram of food. "Not detected" means below the laboratory's detection limit.
How freshness and processing change it
Ground ginger is dry and keeps well sealed. Fresh ginger root keeps for weeks in the fridge and can be frozen and grated from frozen. Pickled ginger, crystallised ginger, ginger ale and ginger beer contain other ingredients and were not measured.
A group of 12 spices had no histamine; ginger is not named in it. (estimate)
Not measured; a fresh, unfermented root. (estimate)
Not measured. (estimate)
Why we rate ginger 0
Ginger has not been tested for histamine on its own in the studies we use. The closest figure is a group measurement. A 2020 review by a University of Barcelona team reports histamine by food category for products sold in Spain, and its "Spices" group of 12 samples had no detectable histamine in any sample: the mean, median, lowest and highest values were all below the detection limit. The review does not name the spices in that group, so we do not know whether ginger was one of them.
That figure fits ground ginger, a dried spice, better than the fresh root. Fresh ginger is a rhizome, an underground stem, and it keeps for weeks in the fridge. Neither form is fermented, aged or a protein food, and the studies we use trace high histamine in food mainly to bacteria acting on spoiled protein foods and to fermentation. We rate both forms 0, "low", and mark them as estimates, because ginger is not named in the group.
For scale, the same table gives 98 vegetable samples an average of 2.82 mg/kg, with a highest sample of 69.72 mg/kg, and 136 fruit samples an average of 0.07 mg/kg. The spice group, with nothing detected, sits at the bottom of that table with legumes, fresh meat and unripened cheese.
Ginger does not appear among the foods charted as excluded by the ten published low-histamine diets in the team's 2021 review, and it is not among the examples of suggested "histamine liberators" the review lists.
The products around ginger are where to look carefully. Ginger tea made from fresh slices or ground ginger is covered by our estimate. Pickled sushi ginger, crystallised ginger, ginger ale and ginger beer contain other ingredients, and some ginger beers are brewed by fermentation; none were measured. Ginger is also sold as a supplement and promoted for many uses. This page is about ginger as a food. It makes no claim about supplements or about any effect on histamine in the body, and our sources do not test either.
Peel fresh ginger as you use it, keep the rest in the fridge or freezer, and store ground ginger sealed and dry.
Questions about ginger and histamine
Is ginger ale low histamine?
Ginger ale was not measured in the studies we use. It is a soft drink with other ingredients, so the spice figures do not apply to it, and ginger beers that are brewed by fermentation are a separate question again.
Is fresh ginger different from ground ginger?
Neither was measured on its own. Ground ginger is a dried spice and falls under a group of 12 spice samples with no detectable histamine. We do not know whether fresh root was part of that group; we estimate both at 0.
Evidence behind this page
- A group of 12 spice samples sold in Spain had no detectable histamine; mean, median, minimum and maximum were all not detected. The review does not name the spices. 1
- In the same table, 98 vegetable samples averaged 2.82 mg/kg of histamine (highest 69.72 mg/kg) and 136 fruit samples 0.07 mg/kg. 1
- Ginger does not appear among the foods charted as excluded by ten published low-histamine diets, or among the examples of suggested histamine-releasing foods the review lists. 2
- Histamine in food is mainly formed by bacteria acting on the amino acid histidine, so foods spoiled by bacteria and fermented foods are the ones likely to accumulate it. 2
Sources
- Comas-Basté O, Sánchez-Pérez S, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla M, Vidal-Carou MDC. Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art. Biomolecules 10(8):1181, 2020. doi:10.3390/biom10081181 (Comas-Basté O et al. 2020)
- 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 13(5):1395, 2021. doi:10.3390/nu13051395 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2021)
- Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI). Food compatibility list for histamine intolerance. histaminintoleranz.ch (accessed November 2026), 2026. Link (Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI) 2026)