Are kidney beans high in histamine?
Kidney beans are probably low in histamine, but histamine was not measured in them. Other studies found little putrescine or tyramine, and every legume tested for histamine had none.
- Histamine
- Not measured
- Other amines
- Low
- Liberator
- Not on the lists we use
- DAO blocker
- No evidence
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Other studies in the 2018 review 1 | Putrescine 0.3–0.4 mg/kg (3 samples) and up to 4 mg/kg (5 samples); tyramine 3 mg/kg in a third study. Histamine not reported. | |
| Pooled legume samples, 2020 review 2 | No histamine in any of 11 legume samples; the review does not list which legumes. | |
| Clinical review, 2024 3 | Lists legumes among foods a low-histamine diet avoids, without naming kidney beans. | |
| 10 published low-histamine diets (2021 review) 4 | Kidney beans are not on the review's chart of foods the diets exclude. | |
| SIGHI food list 5 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
How freshness and processing change it
Dried kidney beans keep for a long time; cooked ones do not. Histamine and related amines form as cooked food is stored and survive reheating, so a pot of chilli or bean stew kept for several days is a bigger risk than the beans themselves. Freeze portions once they have cooled.
Not measured for histamine; putrescine and tyramine were low. (estimate)
Not measured. (estimate)
Not measured. Stored meat and tomato sauce, kept and reheated. (estimate)
Why we rate kidney beans 0
Red kidney beans were not measured for histamine in any study we use, so this page gives an estimate. What we do have are other amines. The University of Barcelona team's 2018 review collected three studies of red kidney beans. One found putrescine at 0.3–0.4 mg/kg in three samples, another found anywhere from none to 4 mg/kg in five samples, and a third reported 1 mg/kg of putrescine and 3 mg/kg of tyramine. All of those are low; for comparison, courgette, which no published diet excludes, averaged 7.94 mg/kg of putrescine. None of the three studies reported histamine, which in these tables means it was not reported, not that it was absent.
The closest measured foods point the same way. Every legume the team tested for histamine had none: white beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas and peanuts, 33 samples in all. A 2020 review from the same group pooled 11 legume samples and found no histamine in any of them, although it does not say which legumes they were. Histamine in food forms mainly when bacteria break down the amino acid histidine, in fermented food or food that is spoiling, and a dried bean is neither.
We rate kidney beans 0, "low", as an estimate, and the page stays labelled "not measured" until someone tests them. Kidney beans have no bar on the 2021 chart of foods excluded by ten published low-histamine diets. A 2024 clinical review lists legumes in general among foods to avoid, without naming kidney beans.
The more practical question is the dish. Kidney beans are a mainstay of chilli con carne and bean stews, which are often cooked in a big batch and eaten over several days. Histamine forms as cooked food is stored, especially food with meat in it, and reheating does not remove it. A chilli made with fresh minced meat and eaten the same day is a different meal from the same chilli on day three, so freeze portions once they have cooled; we rate leftover chilli 2 as an estimate. Tinned kidney beans were not measured either, and we rate them 0 as an estimate on the same reasoning as the dried beans.
Questions about kidney beans and histamine
Are canned kidney beans high in histamine?
They were not measured. No legume tested for histamine in our sources had any, and canning is not a fermentation step, so we rate tinned kidney beans 0 as an estimate.
Is chilli con carne high in histamine?
Not measured. Freshly made chilli is mainly a question of the meat and tomato in it; chilli kept for days and reheated is a bigger risk, and we rate leftovers 2 as an estimate.
Evidence behind this page
- Studies in a 2018 review reported putrescine in red kidney beans of 0.3–0.4 mg/kg (3 samples), from not detected to 4 mg/kg (5 samples), and 1 mg/kg with 3 mg/kg of tyramine; none reported histamine. 1
- White beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas and peanuts sold in Spain had no detectable histamine (33 samples in all). 1
- A 2020 review found no histamine in any of 11 pooled legume samples. 2
- Histamine in food is formed mainly by bacteria decarboxylating histidine, so foods altered by spoilage bacteria and fermented foods are the ones that accumulate it. 4
- A 2024 clinical review lists legumes among the foods a low-histamine diet avoids. 3
Sources
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Rabell-González J, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Biogenic Amines in Plant-Origin Foods: Are They Frequently Underestimated in Low-Histamine Diets? Foods 7(12):205, 2018. doi:10.3390/foods7120205 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2018)
- 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)
- Jochum C. Histamine Intolerance: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Beyond. Nutrients 16(8):1219, 2024. doi:10.3390/nu16081219 (Jochum C 2024)
- 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)