Migraine Diet

A person's diet is usually the main trigger factor in getting migraines. Because this category is so broad, I chose four food areas to discuss, then I will touch on the Migraine Diet. The four foods are: caffeine, gluten, nitrates, and additives.

Caffeine is a double edged sword, sometimes it helps, sometimes it hurts. Personally, I have decreased my caffeine intake from four cups of coffee a day to 1-2 cups. I still eat chocolate, and when I have a bad migraine that the medicine can't help, I'll have an energy drink. I have noticed the first rush of coffee in the morning helps mute any lingering migraine pain. Some people cannot tolerate any kind of caffeine however, so even chocolate is out of the picture for them. If you identify with the last part of the paragraph, there are some caffeine free teas if you need something hot to get you going in the morning. However, I have found that a cold drink of water wakes me up just as well as a hot cup of coffee.

Gluten, the thing in bread that makes it soft, the ingredient that holds bread together, the thing that makes it taste good. Unfortunately a gluten intolerance can cause migraines, and many people with migraines are already on a gluten free diet due to other illnesses. I was worried about this so I asked my PCP to test me for known food allergies. According to the tests I am normal. I still tried a gluten free diet. I am not happy with a lot of the gluten free products on the market. Most of them were either tasteless, or they tasted disgusting. They were also expensive! There was one brand that tasted good, and was relatively inexpensive. It is Live G Free. Their bread was soft, and reminded me of real bread. They have rice crackers that taste like crackers, not rice paste. They have pasta products, and granola. The best part is that I found them at the discount grocery I go to. Amazement!

Nitrates, the food I love. Nitrates are present in anything smoked, bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs, lunch meat, smoked turkey or chicken, you name it. Even the so called "natural smoked" products have nitrates in them. So if any nitrates are a trigger for you, the "natural" ones will be too. My grandmother is an awesome cook, however, this past year I was off any nitrate containing food. Picture Easter dinner, that big ham coming out of the oven, the left overs turned into homemade ham salad in a few days... Anyways, it's difficult being the only person in your family to have to cut out bacon and other nitrates. Yeah, it's healthier, but ordering at a restaurant is a pain in the neck, and I used to make the best "Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf". I was even perfecting a "Candied Bacon Meatloaf". It is kind of hard to perfect a recipe when you cannot taste the finished product.

There are many things we eat now, that didn't even exist generations ago. Things like artificial sweeteners, MSG (mono sodium glutamate), and other food additives that is used in food to make it taste better. MSG and the other additives are all chemicals. When you eat products that have additives, you are filling your body with chemicals. These chemicals have a side effect of causing migraines in certain people, including myself. Luckily our society has begun recognizing the danger these additives pose to people's health, and have put pressure on food makers to remove the chemicals and replace them with a natural alternative.

The "Migraine Diet", as I have stated before, this is the most depressing, convoluted, and expensive part of being a migraineur. The fact you have to be on a total elimination diet for over a year before you start seeing a difference, is daunting to say the least. However, if you are in a position to afford it, do it. I would if I could afford it. It may be daunting, but there are resources out there that can help you figure out what to eliminate. The Heal Your Headache book by David Buchholz, M.D. Is an excellent source. It explains migraines and what we can do about them in a way anyone can understand. It also contains personal success stories which I found uplifting. The stories also reaffirmed the message in the book, that this diet works. Even though the world of possible food triggers is enormous, there are ways to break it down, but for some migraineurs, you won't find your triggers until they are all eliminated, and slowly reintroduced to your life.

"Be nice to yourself, it's hard to be happy when someone's mean to you all the time." - Below the Radar.