As a neurologist, I’ve always been driven by an evidence-based approach to medicine, but as a woman, I’m deeply attuned to the realities of cyclical health. Lately, both in my clinical practice and within our Two Moons community, I’ve noticed a wave of confusion. With wellness content exploding around Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and histamine 'buckets,' many are left wondering if histamine is the hidden culprit behind their severe PMS. Let’s look at what the research actually says about how our reproductive hormones interact with histamine biology.

I am Dr. Nashat Latib, a functional medicine practitioner specializing in fertility. I spend my days working with women who have been told, in one way or another, that their labs “look normal” (so nothing must be wrong) and yet everything feels wrong. That gap is what pulled me into this work, and it is what keeps me in it. What I have noticed, in patient after patient, is that the menstrual cycle is one of the most underused diagnostic tools in women’s health.

A nurse practitioner with more than 25 years of clinical experience, Cynthia has become one of the leading voices in the perimenopause space through her podcast, writing, and widely viewed TEDx talk on intermittent fasting. But this conversation moves beyond wellness trends and into the mechanics of what actually changes in midlife: the decline in microbial diversity, the role of the estrobolome in estrogen metabolism, the relationship between cortisol and intestinal permeability, and why chronic inflammation so often sits underneath hormonal symptoms.

We’re Kerstin Recker and Helen Grimshaw, co-founders of Peli Health. One of us came through an emergency c-section with excruciating pelvic pain and no guidance on what came next. The other started noticing pelvic symptoms during perimenopause and had no idea they were connected to her hormones. Between us, we visited multiple doctors trying to get answers, and heard, more than once, that the solution was to “have a glass of wine and relax.”