Other and tyramine: 82 foods rated

Fermented tofu cures in brine for weeks, and tyramine accumulates for as long as it sits there. It is the soy product furthest from plain tofu on this axis, though the two share a name. Fermented soy is where this axis is decided, and it was measured as such: the level follows a survey of biologically active amines in FERMENTED SOY PRODUCTS. The fermentation is the variable - the same bean unfermented is a different food here.

• Toro-Funes N. et al., Food Chemistry 173 (2015) 1119-1124, biologically active amines in fermented soy products

Fish sauce is anchovy left in salt for a year and drained - protein, warmth and twelve months, which is the most tyramine-productive process in any kitchen. It is used in teaspoons, and it needs to be: measured concentrations are among the highest of any food.

• EFSA Journal 2011 (tyramine and histamine in fermented foods)
• McCabe-Sellers et al., J Food Compos Anal 2006

Miso ferments for anywhere between three months and three years, and the colour tells you which: white miso is the young one, red the long-fermented. That is a real lever on the tyramine - shiro and hatcho miso are not the same food, and the paler pot is the shorter ferment.

• EFSA Journal 2011 (tyramine and histamine in fermented foods)
• McCabe-Sellers et al., J Food Compos Anal 2006

Natto is whole soybeans fermented by Bacillus, and surveys of soy products put the fermented ones far above the unfermented. The bean itself is low; what the bacteria do to it over days is the entire difference. Fermented soy is where this axis is decided, and it was measured as such: the level follows a survey of biologically active amines in FERMENTED SOY PRODUCTS. The fermentation is the variable - the same bean unfermented is a different food here.

• Toro-Funes N. et al., Food Chemistry 173 (2015) 1119-1124, biologically active amines in fermented soy products

Soy sauce is brewed for months with mould, yeast and lactic bacteria in turn, each stage breaking the soy protein down further - which is exactly what produces tyramine. It is poured in small volumes and it is very concentrated, so the volume is the only thing keeping the dose down.

• EFSA Journal 2011 (tyramine and histamine in fermented foods)
• McCabe-Sellers et al., J Food Compos Anal 2006

Tamari is a long-brewed soy ferment, and soy sauces are among the highest-tyramine condiments measured. It is poured rather than served, but the concentration is such that a tablespoon still counts. Fermented soy is where this axis is decided, and it was measured as such: the level follows a survey of biologically active amines in FERMENTED SOY PRODUCTS. The fermentation is the variable - the same bean unfermented is a different food here.

• Toro-Funes N. et al., Food Chemistry 173 (2015) 1119-1124, biologically active amines in fermented soy products

Tempeh ferments for only 24 to 48 hours, by a mould grown deliberately and then stopped by cooking - far shorter than miso or soy sauce. Short and controlled is the best case for a ferment's tyramine. Over-ripe tempeh going grey and ammoniacal is a different matter.

• EFSA Journal 2011 (tyramine and histamine in fermented foods)
• McCabe-Sellers et al., J Food Compos Anal 2006

Beef stock is worth splitting in two, because the two forms are not the same food. A concentrated extract - the cube, the paste, the jar - is the form to watch, and it is the concentrated yeast extract such a cube usually carries that the MAOI reviews name by brand: the water is gone and everything the meat carried is left behind at many times its original concentration. A stock simmered at home from fresh bones is a different proposition. Six to twelve hours at a simmer PRODUCE no amines - at 95 degrees the bacteria that make them are long dead - the hours extract what the meat already held and the reduction concentrates it. So what governs this is how fresh the meat and bones were, and which of the two forms you are using.

• Gardner et al., J Clin Psychiatry 1996
• McCabe-Sellers et al., J Food Compos Anal 2006
• Shulman KI et al., J Clin Psychopharmacol 1989

A stock cube is broth with the water removed, and it usually carries yeast extract on top - one of the four foods the MAOI-diet reviews restrict absolutely, named there as concentrated yeast extract. The cube is a concentrate of a concentrate.

• Gardner et al., J Clin Psychiatry 1996, the review that narrowed the MAOI diet
• Shulman KI et al., J Clin Psychopharmacol 9 (1989)

Oyster sauce is not fermented oyster: it is oyster extract cooked down with sugar, salt and caramel, and most brands contain very little oyster. Reduction is not fermentation, which is why its tyramine sits below the others' in this group despite sharing their shelf.

• EFSA Journal 2011 (tyramine and histamine in fermented foods)
• McCabe-Sellers et al., J Food Compos Anal 2006

Pesto is blended and then kept open in the fridge, and both halves matter: blending exposes everything to air at once, and an opened jar keeps working for weeks. It also contains aged cheese, which is the larger tyramine contributor of the two.

• EFSA Journal 2011
• McCabe-Sellers et al., J Food Compos Anal 2006

Almond yogurt is cultured, and culture is what makes tyramine - but the culture here is short and chosen for acidity, not the months of ripening that build amines in an aged cheese. Plant milks and their ferments have been surveyed; the quick-set ones stay low.

Breadcrumbs are dried bread, and the yeast stopped when it was baked. Tyramine needs three things - protein, bacteria and time - and a cooked or dried product has had the second removed and the third stopped.

• Sen N.P., Journal of Food Science 34 (1969) 22-26, per-food tyramine content

Cashew cheese is cultured, and culture is what makes tyramine - but the culture here is short and chosen for acidity, not the months of ripening that build amines in an aged cheese. Plant milks and their ferments have been surveyed; the quick-set ones stay low.

Chicken broth is simmered meat and water, made and eaten the same day. Tyramine needs three things - protein, bacteria and time - and a cooked or dried product has had the second removed and the third stopped.

• Sen N.P., Journal of Food Science 34 (1969) 22-26, per-food tyramine content

Chocolate is a weak entry and worth saying so: it sits on legacy MAOI lists, and modern reviews found its tyramine too low to matter at normal portions. What effect it has, if any, is attributed to phenylethylamine - a different amine entirely. It was dropped from the strict diet decades ago.

• Gardner et al., J Clin Psychiatry 1996, the review that narrowed the MAOI diet
• Shulman KI et al., J Clin Psychopharmacol 9 (1989)

Chocolate chips carry the small amine load of cocoa. Chocolate was on the old MAOI restriction lists and came off them: the assays that measured it found tyramine at levels an ordinary portion does not reach. Dark chocolate carries more cocoa and so a little more.

Cocoa mass is the most concentrated cocoa ingredient a recipe uses, and it still sits low here: chocolate came off the MAOI restriction lists when the two reviews narrowed them, and neither names cocoa among the foods that need restricting. Low rather than nothing, because the bean does carry a small amine load.

• Gardner et al., J Clin Psychiatry 1996, the review that narrowed the MAOI diet
• Shulman KI et al., J Clin Psychopharmacol 9 (1989)

Cocoa nibs are the rawest cocoa product and the one eaten by the handful rather than the square. Even so, the measured tyramine of cocoa is low - the portion multiplies a small number rather than a large one.

• Gardner et al., J Clin Psychiatry 1996, the review that narrowed the MAOI diet
• Shulman KI et al., J Clin Psychopharmacol 9 (1989)

Cocoa powder is the bean with its fat pressed out, so the solids are more concentrated per gram than in cocoa mass — but chocolate came off the MAOI restriction lists when the two reviews narrowed them, and neither names cocoa among the foods needing restriction. Low rather than nothing, because the bean does carry a small amine load.

• Gardner D.M. et al., J Clin Psychiatry 57 (1996) 99-104, and Shulman K.I. et al., J Clin Psychopharmacol 9 (1989) 397-402, the two reviews that narrowed the MAOI diet

Coconut yogurt is cultured, and culture is what makes tyramine - but the culture here is short and chosen for acidity, not the months of ripening that build amines in an aged cheese. Plant milks and their ferments have been surveyed; the quick-set ones stay low.

Dairy-free chocolate is cocoa, sugar and fat, and it is low in tyramine for the same reason every other cocoa product is: chocolate came off the MAOI restriction lists when the two reviews narrowed them, and neither names cocoa among the foods that need restricting. Removing dairy changes nothing here, though it changes a good deal on the lactose axis.

• Gardner et al., J Clin Psychiatry 1996, the review that narrowed the MAOI diet
• Shulman KI et al., J Clin Psychopharmacol 9 (1989)

Dark chocolate carries more cocoa than milk chocolate and therefore more of everything the bean holds - but the starting figure is low enough that the difference does not change the answer. Chocolate came off the MAOI restriction lists when the two reviews narrowed them, and neither names cocoa among the foods that need restricting.

• Gardner et al., J Clin Psychiatry 1996, the review that narrowed the MAOI diet
• Shulman KI et al., J Clin Psychopharmacol 9 (1989)

Hazelnut spread carries the small amine load of cocoa. Chocolate was on the old MAOI restriction lists and came off them: the assays that measured it found tyramine at levels an ordinary portion does not reach. Dark chocolate carries more cocoa and so a little more.

Ketchup is cooked tomato with sugar and vinegar, and tomato is low. Tyramine needs three things - protein, bacteria and time - and a cooked or dried product has had the second removed and the third stopped.

• Sen N.P., Journal of Food Science 34 (1969) 22-26, per-food tyramine content

Milk chocolate carries the small amine load of cocoa. Chocolate was on the old MAOI restriction lists and came off them: the assays that measured it found tyramine at levels an ordinary portion does not reach. Dark chocolate carries more cocoa and so a little more.

Sourdough: the same fermentation that raises histamine also produces tyramine, though in smaller amounts than in aged cheese or cured meat.

Soy yogurt is cultured, and culture is what makes tyramine - but the culture here is short and chosen for acidity, not the months of ripening that build amines in an aged cheese. Plant milks and their ferments have been surveyed; the quick-set ones stay low.

Spirulina answers tyramine the way it answers histamine: a dried microbial biomass is protein and bacteria at once, and tyramine needs both. No assay covers the spirulina itself, so what can be said of its tyramine comes from what the biomass is made of.

Tomato powder is dehydrated tomato, concentrated but from a low base. Tyramine needs three things - protein, bacteria and time - and a cooked or dried product has had the second removed and the third stopped.

• Sen N.P., Journal of Food Science 34 (1969) 22-26, per-food tyramine content

Tomato sauce is cooked tomato, where heat ends any bacterial activity. Tyramine needs three things - protein, bacteria and time - and a cooked or dried product has had the second removed and the third stopped.

• Sen N.P., Journal of Food Science 34 (1969) 22-26, per-food tyramine content