Migraine Food Triggers
The most common triggers for migraine headaches are foods and food additives. This belief is supported by an ever-increasing number of studies into migraine food triggers.
It is believed that food starts off the physiological reaction that causes migraine headaches in as much as 70% of cases.
If you suffer from migraine pain your life may become a lot easier by being aware of common migraine food triggers, and by knowing what foods you often eat that may set off that terrible pain.
Tips on Identifying Migraine Food Triggers
Don’t try to test out every possible food that you think may cause your migraines. This will take up a lot of your headache free time
Don’t simply cut out whole food groups such as dairy if you suspect they are migraine food triggers, and this can lead to an imbalance in your diet and cause further headaches.
Do look at the most obvious migraine food triggers first; we’ve mentioned a few of them below
Do keep a food and migraine diary to note down what you ate before your migraine struck
Common Migraine Food Triggers
Food that are rich in amino acid tyramines, such as aged cheeses and red wine are well known migraine food triggers, as are foods that contain a lot of nitrates such as hot dogs and deli foods.
Chocolate is thought to be among the main migraine food triggers due to its high concentration of phenyl ethylamine, and MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) is an additive that also often gets blamed.
Other Possible Migraine Food Triggers
Chocolate – anchovies – dairy products – caffeine in all products, not just coffee
Peanuts and peanut butter – red wines, beer, champagne, vermouth
Nuts – chicken livers – pickled herrings – avocados
Some beans including broad, Italian, lentil, soy, peas
Canned soups and packet soup mixes – ripe banana
MSG, common name for monosodium glutamate
Soy products as well as the bean itself – dried meats – yeast – sauerkraut
Preservative benzoic acid and its associated compounds
Sodium nitrate, which is used to preserve hot dogs, bacon and cured meats
Cheeses which have been aged, i.e. cheddar – sourdough breads
Eliminating Migraine Food Triggers
If you suspect a certain food is triggering your migraines, try going without it for a couple of months and then reintroduce it gradually into your diet.
If you experience no change in your migraine routine, you can probably assume that your trigger is not food-related. If, on the other hand, you find that your migraine situation improves over the course of this reduced diet, and then you get a migraine within 12 hours of reintroducing the food, you can be sure it is food related.
Migraine food triggers are different for every migraine sufferer, but taking time to identify yours can save you from that life disrupting pain.
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