Are Potatoes Low Histamine?

Yes, potatoes are low histamine, both regular white potatoes and sweet potatoes & yams. But some people with histamine issues still find that they can have a negative reaction to potatoes. Generally it’s found that histamine reactions to potatoes are due to either cooking method or other ingredients used in the dish, such as rotted oil. However potatoes also contain lectin and oxalates, two potentially toxic substances found in plants, which can be safely digested in small doses by most people.

A sensitivity to either or both of those compounds could explain a bad reaction to potatoes, but when cooked in a certain way, you can minimize the amounts of each. Potatoes’ histamine levels can also change based on how they’re cooked⁠— steamed or boiled potatoes will have the lowest histamine levels. French fries are low histamine, but only if the oil used is also low histamine.