Histamine intolerance test · At-home cheek swab · UK clinic
Histamine Intolerance Test
The Histamine Intolerance Test is an at-home cheek-swab genetic test that reads the gene variants (SNPs) affecting how your body breaks down histamine, including the genes for the enzymes DAO and HNMT. For flushing, hives, headaches, a blocked nose or gut symptoms that flare after wine, cheese, fermented food or leftovers, when allergy tests have come back clear.
- Price includes the kit, lab analysis and your full lab report
- Free UK delivery by Royal Mail, prepaid return
- Results in 10 working days
Not sure if this is the right test for you? Book a free 15-minute Discovery Call with a registered practitioner.
What you receive
Your at-home cheek-swab kit, laboratory analysis of your DNA for the gene variants involved in histamine metabolism, plus a lab report that shows where your genes may slow histamine clearance and which nutrient co-factors those enzymes depend on. View a sample lab report.
Delivery and turnaround
Free UK delivery by Royal Mail 48-hour service and prepaid return, both included in the price. Kits are dispatched within 1 to 2 working days. Results ready approximately 10 working days from when the lab receives your sample. International delivery is available, with costs calculated at checkout.
What does the Histamine Intolerance Test measure?
It looks at the genes behind the two routes your body uses to clear histamine, the DAO enzyme in the gut and the HNMT enzyme in your tissues, and the variants that can weaken them. It is a genetic test: it does not measure your histamine levels or how active the enzymes are right now, so a practitioner reads it alongside your symptoms and diet.
DAO & HNMT genetics
The variants in the genes for the two histamine-clearing enzymes, which decide how fast you can break histamine down.
Read once, for life
Your genes do not change, so the result stands for life. It shows your predisposition, not a snapshot of recent weeks.
Nutrient co-factors
The nutrients the enzymes depend on, so a shortfall that is slowing clearance can be addressed.
Reaction pattern
Whether your symptoms fit histamine intolerance, which guides a low-histamine trial rather than a blanket elimination.
Who is the Histamine Intolerance Test for?
For reactions that look like allergy but test negative for it, and for symptoms that flare after histamine-rich food and drink: aged cheese, wine, fermented foods, cured meat, leftovers and vinegar.
Allergy tests that come back clear
Often linked to: histamine intolerance, which is not an allergy and does not show on IgE tests.
This test measures: the histamine clearance pathways directly.
Anxiety or poor sleep with the above
Often linked to: histamine acting as a stimulating neurotransmitter.
This test measures: HNMT variants, the tissue route for clearing histamine.
Asthma-like symptoms without asthma
Often linked to: histamine tightening the airways.
This test measures: histamine metabolism markers.
Bloating & diarrhoea after meals
Often linked to: low DAO activity in the gut lining.
This test measures: the DAO variants and co-factors.
Blocked or runny nose without a cold
Often linked to: histamine acting on the nasal lining.
This test measures: the gene variants that affect histamine clearance.
Flushing & hives
Often linked to: histamine building up because it is cleared too slowly.
This test measures: DAO and HNMT variants and how well histamine is being broken down.
Headaches after wine or cheese
Often linked to: histamine-rich food and drink overwhelming a low DAO capacity.
This test measures: DAO genetics and histamine metabolism.
Itchy skin at night
Often linked to: histamine release and slow clearance, which peaks in the evening.
This test measures: histamine metabolism and the enzymes behind it.
Racing heart or dizziness after eating
Often linked to: histamine affecting blood vessels and heart rate.
This test measures: how efficiently you clear histamine.
Reactions to fermented or aged foods
Often linked to: the histamine content of those foods meeting a low clearance capacity.
This test measures: DAO and HNMT function.
Symptoms since a course of antibiotics or a gut infection
Often linked to: damage to the gut lining where DAO is made.
This test measures: DAO activity and the nutrients it depends on.
Symptoms worse around your period
Often linked to: oestrogen lowering DAO activity in the second half of the cycle.
This test measures: DAO genetics and clearance.
How does the at-home histamine test work?
A cheek swab at home, then posted back with the prepaid return. No blood needed.
Order online
Secure checkout. No clinic visit or GP referral required.
Your kit arrives by post
Dispatched within 1 to 2 working days. Delivered by Royal Mail 48-hour service.
Cheek swab at home
Rub the swab inside your cheek, following the instructions in the kit. Do not eat or drink for at least an hour before.
Return with the prepaid label
Post it back with the prepaid return in the kit. Results ready in 10 working days.
How do I interpret my results?
Making sense of a lab report is the most important part of testing. Once your results are ready, your lab report is uploaded to your secure Client Folder. From there, you choose your level of support from our UK-registered nutritional therapist (optional, priced separately): a Lab Findings Review or a Comprehensive Consultation.
BSc, CNHC, NLP Dip
Which consultation is right for me?
Understand your results with a Lab Findings Review, or go a step further and act on them with a Comprehensive Consultation.
Lab Findings Review
£99- Clinical analysis of your lab results
- What the findings mean for your symptoms and health
- Time for your questions
Comprehensive Consultation
£180- Everything in the Lab Findings Review
- In-depth review of your health history, diet and lifestyle (Health Questionnaire and Food & Symptoms Diary)
- A fully personalised nutrition & lifestyle action plan
What do our customers say?
“This test was advised and requested by me based on the findings from my gut test but also from some of my symptoms such as poor sleep and itchy skin at night. The test is really easy to do from home and the results come back within weeks, followed by a clear explanation of the results from Carmen and the next steps required.”
AdamVerified customerFound the foods I never suspected
This Food intolerance test helped me identify multiple foods that I have low grade intolerance to (eggs and onions) that I did not suspect at all and that have been causing my symptoms without me realising.
PujaVerified customerReview of the Food Sensitivity & Intolerance Test (200+)Findings later confirmed by a gastroenterologist
I was unable to digest anything when I first met Carmen but using this GI MAP test she identified what was wrong (her findings were confirmed later by intensive testing by a gastroenterologist). I can't recommend working with her more.
AishaVerified customerReview of the Comprehensive Stool Test (GI MAP) Plus ZonulinRead the review of this testWrite a review
Add a review
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I do the Histamine Intolerance Test at home in the UK?
Yes. It is an at-home test: you order online, the kit comes to your door by Royal Mail, you collect at home and the prepaid return takes it to the lab. No GP referral or clinic visit is needed. We send kits to any UK address, and international delivery is priced at checkout.
What is the difference between histamine intolerance and a food sensitivity?
A food sensitivity is an immune reaction to a particular food. Histamine intolerance is a capacity problem: your body cannot clear histamine as fast as it comes in, so the reaction follows the histamine content of what you ate rather than the food itself, which is why cheese, wine, leftovers and fermented foods tend to be the triggers. If your reactions track those foods, start here; if they track specific foods regardless of age or fermentation, the Food Sensitivity Test is the one to look at, and the two are sometimes run together.
Is the histamine test worth it if I could just try a low-histamine diet?
A low-histamine diet is restrictive and hard to keep up, and if your symptoms have another cause it will not help. The test tells you first whether histamine clearance is actually the weak point, and where: the gut enzyme, the tissue enzyme, or the nutrients they depend on. That turns a blanket diet into a targeted trial with support for the enzymes, and it saves cutting out foods for nothing.
How accurate is the Histamine Intolerance Test?
The test reads your DNA from a cheek swab, looking at the gene variants in the enzymes that clear histamine. Genetics do not change, so the result stands for life. It does not measure your current histamine levels or how active the enzymes are right now, which is why a practitioner reads it against your symptoms and your diet.
Can I get the Histamine Intolerance Test on the NHS?
No. The NHS tests for allergy (IgE) and can measure some blood markers in specific cases, but it does not offer histamine intolerance testing. This is a private test ordered through a clinic. The price covers the kit, the lab analysis and your lab report; having the report interpreted is a separate, optional consultation.
When should I collect my sample?
Any time. Do not eat or drink for at least an hour before the swab; there is no need to fast overnight. You do not need to stop medication or supplements, because the test reads your inherited DNA rather than anything that changes from day to day. Rub the swab inside your cheek as the kit instructions describe, then post it back with the prepaid return. Full instructions are in the kit.
Can someone help me interpret my results, even if I tested elsewhere?
Yes. Book a Lab Findings Review with us and a registered nutritional therapist will take you through every marker against your symptoms and history, whether you tested with us or elsewhere; bring your report to the session. If you then want a personalised plan, that is the Comprehensive Consultation.
1 review for Histamine Intolerance Test
Adam verified customer
This was a second test for me after my comprehensive gut test. This test was advised and requested by me based on the findings from my gut test but also from some of my symptoms such as poor sleep and itchy skin at night. The test is really easy to do from home and the results come back within weeks, followed by a clear explanation of the results from Carmen and the next steps required.