Version July 2025
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What is tyramine? —
This is a substance that is naturally found in the body. It is also found in some foods, especially foods that are aged or fermented.
Why do I need a low-tyramine diet? —
If you take certain medicines, getting too much tyramine in your diet can cause serious problems.
Your doctor will recommend a low-tyramine diet if you take a medicine called a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, or "MAOI." These are sometimes used to treat depression. If you take an MAOI and eat foods with a lot of tyramine, too much tyramine can build up in your body. This can cause your blood pressure to get too high, which is dangerous.
For some people with migraine, eating certain foods with tyramine seems to trigger headaches. It might help to eat a low-tyramine diet.
What can I eat and drink on a low-tyramine diet?
●Grains – Bread, cereals, pancakes, rice, and pasta.
●Fruits – Fresh, frozen, or canned fruits.
●Vegetables – Fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables.
●Dairy – Cottage cheese, cream cheese, mozzarella, processed cheese slices, and ricotta. Fresh milk and milk products such as ice cream, sour cream, and yogurt.
●Lean meats, poultry, seafood, and proteins – Fresh meat, fish, shellfish, and poultry, including ham and lunch meats. Eggs, nuts, nut butter, and dried beans and peas.
●Other foods and drinks – Soy milk and canned or bottled beer.
What foods and drinks should I avoid on a low-tyramine diet?
●Fruits to avoid – Banana peels and any fruit that is overripe.
●Vegetables to avoid – Broad beans such as fava beans. Fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, kimchi, or pickled beets. Any vegetable that is overripe.
●Dairy to avoid – Aged cheese such as blue, brie, camembert, cheddar, feta, gorgonzola, gouda, gruyere, provolone, Roquefort, Stilton, and Swiss. Fermented dairy products such as kefir or buttermilk.
●Lean meats, poultry, and seafood to avoid – Meat, poultry, or fish that is aged, dried, or cured, such as bacon, some hot dogs, corned beef, mortadella, pastrami, salami, sausage, and pickled herring. Smoked fish like lox. Any meat that is old or spoiled.
●Other foods and drinks to avoid – Draft beer, red wine, and sherry. Soy products such as tofu, miso, teriyaki, and soy sauce. Fish sauce, marmite, and brewer's yeast.
What else should I know?
●Do not eat foods that are past their expiration date. Fresh food is less likely to have high levels of tyramine. Your doctor might recommend avoiding eating leftovers.
●Your doctor might recommend limiting or avoiding caffeine if you take an MAOI.
●If you plan to stop taking an MAOI, talk to your doctor about how to do this safely. You need to stop taking the MAOI gradually, not all at once. You might need to keep following a low-tyramine diet for a few weeks even after stopping the medicine.
●It's important to know the signs of a high blood pressure emergency. This is when your blood pressure gets much higher than normal. Get medical help right away if you have:
•Blurry vision or other vision changes
•Headache
•Nausea or vomiting
•Confusion
•Passing out or seizures – Seizures are waves of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that can make people move or behave strangely.
•Weakness or numbness on 1 side of the body, or in 1 arm or leg
•Trouble talking or breathing
•Chest pain
•Pain in the upper back or between the shoulders
•Brown or bloody urine
•Pain in the lower back, or on 1 side of the body
●Call your doctor or nurse if you accidentally eat something you are supposed to avoid.
Patient education: Medicines for depression (The Basics)
Patient education: Migraine in adults (The Basics)
Patient education: Migraine in children (The Basics)
Patient education: High blood pressure emergencies (The Basics)
Patient education: Depression treatment options for adults (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Depression treatment options for children and adolescents (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Migraine in adults (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Headache in children (Beyond the Basics)
