Overview
About Sage
Sage carries no histamine, no gluten, no nickel and no dairy, but it grades high in salicylates, which is typical for the strongly aromatic Mediterranean herbs.
Dose is the whole story here. Three leaves browned in butter is a very different exposure from a mug of sage tea or a sage capsule, and people who react usually got there through the concentrated forms rather than the seasoning.
Sensitivities
How Sage scores
Watch for
What trips people up
- High in salicylates. Sage is one of the potent aromatic herbs, and salicylate content tracks with that intensity of flavour
- Sage tea, sage extracts and sage supplements deliver far more of the plant than a few leaves in a roast, so they are the forms most likely to provoke a reaction
- Clean on histamine, tyramine, nickel and gluten, so if sage sets off symptoms, salicylate is the grade to look at first
- Moderate on FODMAPs, though culinary amounts are small enough that this rarely matters in practice
Diet fit
Where it fits
Swap ideas
More alternatives
FAQ
Common questions about Sage
Is sage high in salicylates?
Yes, sage grades high. Nearly all the intense culinary herbs sit in the high salicylate band, and sage is no exception. On a strict salicylate elimination the usual advice is to season with salt and low-salicylate aromatics instead, then reintroduce herbs one at a time once you have a baseline.
Is sage low FODMAP?
Sage is moderate on FODMAPs overall and clean on fructans, GOS, fructose and polyols individually. At normal cooking quantities, a few leaves or a pinch of dried sage, FODMAP load is not the reason sage would bother you. Salicylates are the more plausible explanation.
Is daily sage tea different from cooking with sage?
The gap is wider than most people expect. Three leaves browned in butter is a small amount of plant material, while a strong mug of sage tea every day is a concentrated extract of the same leaf, and sage capsules and sage oil are more concentrated again. That raises the salicylate dose, and the thujone that sage oil is known for comes with it. Culinary sage is rarely what people react to. Habitual tea, extracts and supplements are.
References
Read the background
Ratings reflect the Triggerbites ingredient database and may vary with portion size and preparation.