Cardamom

Cardamom is notable for salicylate, oxalates and histamine. Clear on tyramine, sucrose, FODMAPs, lactose, oligosaccharides, sorbitol, fructose, nickel and gluten.

Yes — cardamom is high in salicylate. Dried pod and seed, high in salicylate per gram and used sparingly in cooking. Cardamom-heavy drinks — spiced coffee, chai — are where a genuinely large dose accumulates.

Yes — cardamom is high in oxalates. Green cardamom is the highest-oxalate spice of the ten measured, and not by a little: 4,014 mg per 100 g of total oxalate, of which 3,977 is soluble - almost all of it in the absorbable form. What keeps the eaten dose small is the pod: three or four in a rice dish, usually lifted out before serving, so most of that 100 g figure never reaches the plate. Ground cardamom in a spice mix is the form where the number starts to count.

Cardamom contains only low levels of histamine. Cardamom is dried plant material with no protein and no fermentation, so it produces no histamine of its own. It is used in pinches besides. The Swiss list rates “cardamom” 0 of 3, without the L it reserves for liberators. Amounts vary by brand and recipe, so always check the label of the exact product.