Is wine high in histamine?
Wine is moderate in histamine: 299 wines averaged 3.63 mg/L, red more than white. Alcohol also slows histamine breakdown, and all 10 published low-histamine diets exclude wine.
- Histamine
- Present
- Other amines
- Low
- Liberator
- Not on the lists we use
- DAO blocker
- Possible
Why sources disagree. Wine's measured histamine is moderate, far lower than cured cheese or sausage, but all ten published diets exclude it, and alcohol itself slows the breakdown of histamine.
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Lab measurements, Spain 1 | Measured | Histamine in all 299 wines, averaging 3.63 mg/L; 95% had 12.3 mg/L or less. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 1 | All 10 exclude wine. | |
| Review of low-histamine diets, 2021 1 | Alcohol and acetaldehyde compete with histamine for the same breakdown enzyme, so histamine builds up. | |
| Review of low-histamine diets, 2020 2 | Red wine averaged 3.81 mg/L and white 1.24 mg/L; alcohol can temporarily reduce DAO activity. | |
| Clinical review, 2024 3 | Reports that alcohol increases the release of the body's own histamine. | |
| SIGHI food list 4 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wine sold in Spain 1 (Table 1) | 299 | mean 3.63 mg/L, range 0.09–34.25 mg/L, 95th percentile 12.3 mg/L | tyramine mean 2.42 mg/L (up to 15.85); putrescine and cadaverine not detected |
| Red wine 2 (Table 1) | 260 | mean 3.81 mg/L, range 0.09–55 mg/L | median 1.90 mg/L |
| White wine 2 (Table 1) | 83 | mean 1.24 mg/L, range 0.1–13 mg/L | median 0.45 mg/L |
mg/kg = milligrams of histamine per kilogram of food; mg/L = per litre of drink. "Not detected" means below the laboratory's detection limit.
How freshness and processing change it
Histamine in wine forms during winemaking, so it is in the bottle when you buy it, and the amount varies widely between wines: red wines ranged from 0.09 to 55.00 mg/L. Cooking with wine does not remove histamine, because it is heat-stable.
Averaged 3.81 mg/L in 260 wines; median 1.90; up to 55.00. (measured)
Averaged 1.24 mg/L in 83 wines; median 0.45; up to 13.00. (measured)
Why we rate wine 2
Wine is a food where the histamine in the glass is only half the story. The measurements first: a University of Barcelona team tested 299 wines sold in Spain, and every one contained histamine. The average was 3.63 mg/L, 95% of wines had 12.3 mg/L or less, and the highest was 34.25 mg/L. A 2020 review from the same group split wine by colour. Red wine averaged 3.81 mg/L across 260 samples, with a median of 1.90 and a maximum of 55.00 mg/L. White wine averaged 1.24 mg/L across 83 samples, with a maximum of 13.00 mg/L. Red wine, on these figures, carries roughly three times as much histamine as white.
Those amounts are moderate. Cured cheese in the same survey averaged 33.10 mg/kg and dry-fermented sausages 21.57 mg/kg, and the 2021 review notes that histamine in wine and beer is much lower than in other fermented foods. On histamine alone, wine would sit at 2 on our scale, which is where we put it.
The bigger concern is the alcohol. The 2021 review explains that alcohol and its breakdown product, acetaldehyde, compete with histamine for an enzyme they share, aldehyde dehydrogenase, so histamine builds up in the body. The 2020 review adds that alcohol can temporarily reduce the activity of diamine oxidase (DAO), the gut enzyme that clears histamine from food, and a 2024 clinical review reports that alcohol increases the release of the body's own histamine. A glass of wine, in other words, brings in some histamine and also makes it harder to deal with. All ten diets in the 2021 review exclude wine.
We rate wine 2, "moderate", and mark it disputed, because the histamine figure alone is lower than the lists imply. The alcohol effect is real and is shown on this page as a possible DAO blocker. Every published diet in our sources leaves wine out. If you reintroduce it later with your dietitian, white wine has had the lower levels in the studies we use, but individual wines vary a lot.
Questions about wine and histamine
Is white wine lower in histamine than red wine?
On average, yes: white wine averaged 1.24 mg/L across 83 samples and red wine 3.81 mg/L across 260. Both vary, and the alcohol affects histamine breakdown in the same way whatever the colour.
Does cooking with wine remove the histamine?
No. Histamine is heat-stable, so it stays in the dish even when much of the alcohol cooks off.
Evidence behind this page
- Across 299 wines sold in Spain, histamine averaged 3.63 mg/L, 95% of samples had 12.3 mg/L or less, and the range was 0.09 to 34.25 mg/L. 1
- Red wine averaged 3.81 mg/L of histamine across 260 samples (up to 55.00) and white wine 1.24 mg/L across 83 samples (up to 13.00). 2
- Histamine in wine and beer is much lower than in other fermented foods, but alcohol enhances histamine's effects; alcohol and acetaldehyde compete with histamine for aldehyde dehydrogenase. 1
- Alcohol can cause a temporary, reversible reduction in DAO activity. 2
- Alcohol was found to increase the release of endogenous histamine. 3
- All ten published low-histamine diets exclude wine. 1
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)
- Jochum C. Histamine Intolerance: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Beyond. Nutrients 16(8):1219, 2024. doi:10.3390/nu16081219 (Jochum C 2024)
- 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)