Is tea high in histamine?
Tea is low in histamine: nine teas sold in Spain had none, with low putrescine and some tyramine. Only two of ten published low-histamine diets exclude tea.
- Histamine
- Not detected
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lab measurements, Spain 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine in 9 teas; tyramine averaged 5.07 mg/kg. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 1 | 2 of 10 exclude tea. | |
| Review of low-histamine diets, 2020 2 | Its table of substances shown to inhibit DAO lists medicines and two vitamins; tea is not among them. | |
| SIGHI food list 3 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tea sold in Spain (type and form not given) 1 (Table 1) | 9 | not detected | tyramine mean 5.07 mg/kg (up to 10.08); putrescine mean 2.61 mg/kg; cadaverine not detected |
mg/kg = milligrams of histamine per kilogram of food. "Not detected" means below the laboratory's detection limit.
How freshness and processing change it
Tea is dried and keeps well, and brewed tea is usually drunk fresh. Kombucha, which is fermented tea, is a different product and was not measured. Herbal teas are made from other plants and were not part of these samples.
No histamine in 9 teas; type not reported. (measured)
Why we rate tea 0
Tea had no histamine in the measurements we have. A University of Barcelona team tested nine teas sold in Spain and found none in any of them. The paper does not say which kinds of tea were included. Two other amines did turn up: tyramine averaged 5.07 mg/kg, reaching 10.08 mg/kg in one sample, and putrescine averaged 2.61 mg/kg. Both are below the 10 mg/kg average at which our scale moves a food up one step.
Only two of the ten published low-histamine diets in the team's 2021 review exclude tea. Some patient lists go further and say that black and green tea block diamine oxidase (DAO), the gut enzyme that breaks down histamine from food. We could not find support for that in the sources we use. A 2020 review from the same group lists the substances shown in experiments to inhibit DAO: they are medicines, such as some antibiotics, painkillers and blood-pressure drugs, plus vitamin C and vitamin B1. Tea and its components are not on that list. That does not prove tea has no effect on DAO, but the claim is not backed by the evidence these reviews collected.
Herbal teas are a separate question. Chamomile, peppermint, rooibos and fruit infusions are made from other plants, and none of them were part of the nine samples. A 2024 clinical review lists herbal teas among examples of foods low in histamine, but individual herbs were not measured in our sources, so we do not rate them here.
We rate tea 0, "low". Freshly brewed black or green tea is the closest match to what was measured. Kombucha is fermented tea and a different product; it was not measured. Iced teas and bottled tea drinks contain other ingredients and were not tested.
Questions about tea and histamine
Does black tea block DAO?
This is a common claim, but we found no evidence for it in our sources. A 2020 review's list of substances shown to inhibit DAO in experiments includes medicines and two vitamins, not tea.
Is herbal tea low in histamine?
A 2024 clinical review lists herbal teas among low-histamine foods, but individual herbs were not measured in the studies we use. The tea samples measured were not herbal teas.
Evidence behind this page
- Nine teas sold in Spain had no detectable histamine or cadaverine; tyramine averaged 5.07 mg/kg and putrescine 2.61 mg/kg. 1
- Two of ten published low-histamine diets exclude tea. 1
- The substances with an experimentally demonstrated inhibitory effect on DAO listed by a 2020 review are medicines plus ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and thiamine (vitamin B1). 2
- A 2024 clinical review lists herbal teas among examples of foods low in histamine. 4
Sources
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- Jochum C. Histamine Intolerance: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Beyond. Nutrients 16(8):1219, 2024. doi:10.3390/nu16081219 (Jochum C 2024)