Brown Butter Histamine Information

Brown butter, also known as beurre noisette, is essentially regular butter that is melted and cooked until the milk solids become brown. It is used as an ingredient in various dishes due to its rich, nutty flavor, and is derived from milk fat. There is no direct research indicating the effects of brown butter on histamine levels. However, it is known that dairy products can occasionally stimulate the release of histamine. Butter, especially whole butter from cows' milk, contains dairy proteins that can act as histamine liberators, though the fermenting or cooking may reduce this effect. Nevertheless, the levels and impact can vary greatly among individuals, as it is, in part, dependent on your body’s ability to metabolize and handle histamines. Furthermore, the browning process in brown butter results from the Maillard reaction, a chemical reaction between amino acids (which proteins are made of) and reducing sugars as it cooks. The Maillard reaction in food preparation can potentially form biogenic amines, such as histamine, in the process. The extent to which this occurs in brown butter and its impact on histamine levels in the body when consumed are not well documented. There is a need for more primary research on brown butter and its impact on histamine levels, as well as a more comprehensive understanding of cooking processes and their effect on histamine formation and release. Therefore, our team is working hard to gather concrete data. Although the connection between brown butter and histamine is not thoroughly researched, individuals with histamine intolerance are often advised to monitor their responses to individual foods and ingredients, including brown butter. This is because personal responses to food can vary and what triggers histamine-related symptoms can differ between individuals. For concrete references & potential impacts of butter on histamine levels, please refer to the following sources: (1) Maintz, L., & Novak, N. (2007). Histamine and histamine intolerance. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 85(5), 1185-1196. (2) Reese, I., Ballmer-Weber, B., Beyer, K., Fuchs, T., Kleine-Tebbe, J., Klimek, L., ... & Worm, M. (2017). German guideline for the management of adverse reactions to ingested histamine. Allergo journal international, 26(2), 72-79.