MCAS: What Mast Cells React To, and What I Work On
MCAS, mast cell activation syndrome, is the immune system’s mast cells releasing histamine and other chemicals when they should not. The symptoms look like histamine intolerance, but the source is different: the histamine is made inside the body, not in the gut.
How I think about MCAS
I had both, and I no longer have symptoms of either. The turning point was to stop thinking of my mast cells as broken. Mast cells react to something. In my case, and in most of the people I work with, that something is a toxic load the body cannot clear: mold toxins, heavy metals, or toxins coming from an unbalanced gut.
So I ask three questions. Where is the toxicity coming from? How do we stop it? How do we help the body clear what has built up? MCAS is a medical diagnosis, and nothing here replaces your doctor or your medication.
Articles on MCAS
- MCAS
Histamine Intolerance vs MCAS: How to Tell the Difference
Same symptoms, different source. The clues that point to each, and what I work on in each case.
Read the article - MCAS
How I Healed MCAS: Finding What Was Irritating My Mast Cells
What my mast cells were reacting to, and how I helped my body clear it.
Read the article - MCAS
Chemical Sensitivities and MCAS: When the Body Cannot Clear Its Toxic Load
The three ways the body deals with toxins, and why I work from the bowels upwards.
Read the article
- What Causes Histamine Intolerance? The Two Gut Problems Behind It
The two gut problems behind it, why food lists fail, and what I work on instead.
- Why Does Mold Make Some People Sick and Not Others?
The part your gut microbiome plays in coping with mold, and how I rebuild it.
Questions I am often asked
What is MCAS?
Mast cell activation syndrome. Mast cells, which are part of the immune system, release histamine and other chemicals too readily, causing symptoms in many parts of the body.
What triggers mast cells?
In my experience it is most often a toxic load the body cannot clear, such as mold toxins, heavy metals or toxins from an unbalanced gut. Infections can do it too.
Why does a low histamine diet not fix MCAS?
Because in MCAS the histamine is released inside the body. Diet lowers the load coming from food, which helps, but it does not change what is irritating the mast cells.
Want the full process, step by step?
My Histamine Intolerance & MCAS Recovery Protocol sets out how I work through diet, gut and mast cells, in order. If you would rather go through your own history with me, book a consultation.
I’m a coach, not a medical doctor. This page shares my experience and what I see with the clients I coach. It is for education only and is not medical advice, a diagnosis or a treatment plan. Speak to your doctor before changing medication or if your symptoms are severe or new.