Nutrient glossary
What is histidine?
Histidine is the essential amino acid behind histamine, haemoglobin and the buffering that lets muscles keep working.
Reviewed 20 July 2026. General information, not medical advice.
The short version
Histidine becomes histamine, the messenger of immune responses and stomach acid, and it anchors the oxygen-binding site of haemoglobin. With beta-alanine it forms carnosine, which buffers acid in working muscle.
Any complete protein carries it: meat, fish, eggs, dairy, soy and beans. Shortfall is essentially unknown outside severe protein restriction.
Daily reference
800 mg a day
The adult requirement is about 10 mg per kg of body weight a day, which normal protein intake exceeds comfortably.
This is the fixed adult reference used across these pages. In the app, your amount adjusts to your body and way of eating.
Best food sources of histidine
| Food | Per serving | Per 100g |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken Breast | 1.69 g | 992 mg |
| Ribeye Steak | 1.56 g | 1.04 g |
| Pork Chop | 1.44 g | 1.11 g |
| Sirloin Steak | 1.41 g | 939 mg |
| Pork Tenderloin | 1.36 g | 1.13 g |
| Roast Chicken | 1.26 g | 898 mg |
| Turkey Breast | 1.15 g | 960 mg |
| Tuna Steak | 1.07 g | 822 mg |
Common questions
- Does histidine cause histamine intolerance?
- No. Histamine issues come from histamine formed in aged or fermented foods and how fast you break it down, not from histidine in fresh protein.
- Where do I get histidine?
- All complete proteins: meat, fish, eggs, dairy, soy, and beans with grains together.