NATURAL HOME CURES · NOPAL SCIENCE
Histidine
& Nopal
A building block for proteins, with roles in carrying oxygen and making body messengers.
Explore the science
with a role in carrying oxygen.
Histidine is part of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen around your body.
Histidine is one of the small building blocks your body uses to make proteins. These proteins help build and maintain muscle, skin and other tissues.(1)
Your body cannot make histidine for itself, so you need to get it from food. That is why it is called an essential amino acid.(2)
Histidine helps your body build proteins and make other useful substances. Two familiar examples are hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in your blood, and histamine, a natural messenger. Here is how those roles fit into everyday health.
What Does Histidine Do?
Histidine has several jobs that help your body work every day.
Building and maintaining tissues
Your body joins histidine with other amino acids to make proteins. These proteins help build and maintain muscle, skin and other tissues.(1)
Helping blood carry oxygen
Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that picks up oxygen in the lungs and carries it around the body. Histidine forms part of its structure and helps it hold oxygen properly.(11)
Making a natural messenger
Your body uses histidine to make histamine, a natural messenger. Histamine helps signal stomach acid production, takes part in immune responses and carries messages in the nervous system. It is also involved in allergy symptoms, such as itching and a runny nose.(3)
Histidine in Everyday Foods
Meat and poultry
Fish
Eggs
Milk and dairy products
Beans, lentils and soy foods
Nuts and seeds
Whole grains
Leafy vegetables
Nopal cactus pads
The amount you get depends on the food and how much you eat. A varied diet supplies histidine alongside other building blocks the body needs.(7)
How Much Histidine Is in Nopal?
USDA’s food database provides a useful reference for histidine naturally present in raw nopales, the edible cactus pads.(10)
USDA FoodData Central · “Nopales, raw”
The USDA entry lists 0.025 grams of histidine per 100 grams of raw nopales, equal to 25 milligrams. This gives an idea of the amount in fresh cactus pads.(10)
The USDA value is a general food reference.
From Our Farms to Your Bottle
Our Nopal capsule story begins on our mountain farms in Mexico, where Opuntia streptacantha grows at about 8,200 feet in rich volcanic soil. Sunlight, temperature, and rainfall shape the living cactus.
We stay involved from growing through harvest and preparation of the capsules. This growing environment is part of the story behind each amino acid discussed here.
More Than One Amino Acid
Our capsules and powder bring together the naturally occurring compounds in cactus pads. They are whole botanical products, rather than isolated histidine supplements.
Explore the other Nopal articles to learn about its fiber, vitamins, minerals and other plant compounds. Each adds another piece to the story of this familiar cactus.
FROM CACTUS TO PRODUCT
Meet Our Nopal Cactus & Prickly Pear Family
Nopal cactus capsules, prickly pear drops, and Nopal cactus powder.
Explore Nopal Cactus →The research behind this articleSource References
- 01Nutrition referencePhysiology, Proteins.View source
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LaPelusa A, Kaushik R. “Physiology, Proteins.” StatPearls. National Center for Biotechnology Information. - 02Nutrition referenceNational Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements. National Academies Press.View source
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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements. National Academies Press. - 03Research referenceHistamine in the Nervous System.View source
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Haas HL, Sergeeva OA, Selbach O. “Histamine in the Nervous System.” Physiological Reviews. 2008;88(3):1183–1241. - 04Research referenceHistamine and Histamine Intolerance.View source
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Maintz L, Novak N. “Histamine and Histamine Intolerance.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2007;85(5):1185–1196. - 05Research referenceStereochemistry of Cooperative Effects in Haemoglobin.View source
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Perutz MF. “Stereochemistry of Cooperative Effects in Haemoglobin.” Nature. 1970;228:726–739. - 06Research referenceNelson DL, Cox MM. Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry. W.H. Freeman.View source
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Nelson DL, Cox MM. Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry. W.H. Freeman. - 07Nutrition referenceU.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central.View source
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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central. - 08Research referenceNopal Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a Source of Bioactive Compounds for Nutrition, Health and Disease.View source
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El-Mostafa K, El Kharrassi Y, Badreddine A, et al. “Nopal Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) as a Source of Bioactive Compounds for Nutrition, Health and Disease.” Molecules. 2014;19(9):14879–14901. - 09Research reviewCactus Stems (Opuntia spp.): A Review on Their Chemistry, Technology, and Uses.View source
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Stintzing FC, Carle R. “Cactus Stems (Opuntia spp.): A Review on Their Chemistry, Technology, and Uses.” Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. 2005;49(2):175–194. - 10USDA food composition referenceNopales, raw.View source
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U.S. Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central. “Nopales, raw.” FDC ID 168571. Histidine: 0.025 g per 100 g of raw edible food, equivalent to 25 mg. - 11Original research · human hemoglobin1.25 Å resolution crystal structure of human oxyhaemoglobin.View source
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Park SY, Yokoyama T, Shibayama N, Shiro Y, Tame JRH. 1.25 Å resolution crystal structures of human haemoglobin in the oxy, deoxy and carbonmonoxy forms. Journal of Molecular Biology. 2006;360:690–701. RCSB Protein Data Bank entry 2DN1.