Low Histamine Tahini, Oat & Honey Balls

Low histamine, no-bake, cold-pressed snack balls that are perfect for bike rides, busy days, or anytime you need a quick, nourishing bite.

If you’ve never come across histamine intolerance before, you’re not alone. I’d been dealing with unexplained symptoms for a couple of years before I finally figured out what was going on. For me, the main issue is fatigue — not the kind where you fancy a nap, but the kind where food can completely knock me out. When things flare up, I follow a low histamine diet for a couple of weeks to calm everything down. After that, I can usually tolerate small amounts of most foods again, though there are a few permanent no-gos.

That’s a bit of a problem when it comes to snacks for long bike rides. I need something carb-based that I can take with me, and in the past that would’ve been flapjack. But flapjacks are usually full of oil, fake butter, or actual butter — none of which I want in my body. So I had to come up with an alternative.

Tahini is naturally low in histamine. It wouldn’t usually be my first pick for a sweet snack, but it works brilliantly here as a binder with oats and honey. I added some hemp seeds for protein and omega-3s, and a splash of vanilla because… well, I love vanilla in everything.

If you want to bump up the protein, you can easily sneak in a scoop or two of protein powder. I didn’t think of it when I made these, but unflavoured brown rice protein (non-fermented – since fermented products aren’t suitable for a low histamine diet) would be my go-to. I’ve also got chia seed and pumpkin seed protein powders on the way — no idea how they’ll taste, but I reckon either would work in this mix.

If you don’t have histamine issues or you’re not a fan of tahini, feel free to swap it out for any nut or seed butter you like. The recipe should still work a treat. I’d personally go for almond butter or peanut butter.

If you’re strictly vegan and don’t eat honey, date syrup would be a great substitute. Maple syrup or rice syrup are probably too thin, but if you’re okay with processed sugar, golden syrup should work well too — and as far as I know, it’s low histamine.

This recipe makes 20 snack balls, though you could press the mixture into a tin and slice it into bars if you prefer. That said, I’m hopeless at cutting bars evenly, so I just weigh out 40g portions and roll them into balls. I think the balls are much easier, but if bars are your thing, then go for it (and who really cares if they’re all the same size?).

These will keep for a couple of months, but I doubt they’ll last that long.

I’ve added a tag for low histamine recipes. This is the first, but others will be added soon. You can view them all here.