I can hardly believe we are into September and fall is right around the corner. Time if flying by, isn’t it? About the only time it doesn’t feel that way is when you are in the throes of a migraine and then the time just drags and you wonder when it will ever end. So for the next couple of weeks we are going to deal with how we eat…..”you are what you eat!”
I love to give tips on ways you can improve your “migraine life.” However, a lot of what I write about is really about migraine prevention. I was never able to use migraine preventative medications and so for me, when I started on my health and wellness journey as a way to stop my migraines, I realized that basically what I was doing was finding ways to prevent my migraines from even occurring—and all without the need for medications. Awesome.
As you probably know by now, one of the most effective things that brought me the biggest relief was changing the way I eat. I know it comes as no surprise to you that many foods are known migraine triggers, and the effects vary widely from person-to-person. For example, for some, caffeine actually helps relieve their migraines, while for others, it is a migraine trigger.
Tyramine is another well-known food trigger. Tyramine can be found in protein-rich food when it is aged, fermented, or stored for a long period of time—so that includes foods such as aged cheeses, cultured milk products like yogurt and sour cream, deli meats, pork products (including bacon and ham), and fermented soy products like tofu, tempeh, and soy sauce. All of these foods should be on your radar as potential migraine triggers.
Also, foods that are fermented can be a potential migraine trigger, whether it contains tyramine or not. Some of these fermented foods that are known to trigger migraines include sauerkraut, pickles, and olives.
Then there’s alcoholic beverages! Red wine and high-malt beers are especially well-known as common migraine triggers.
Another food that affects some people is citrus fruits—oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, papayas, and passion fruits. Other fruits that can be a trigger include plums, raisins, figs, bananas, and avocados.
While some people may be greatly affected by these foods, other people may not be affected by them at all. Some people I have talked to have been very surprised that bananas can be a trigger because of the chemical make-up. I tend to stay away from bananas as I do not do well with them, but for other people, they are totally unaffected by them.
Situations like this are why migraine journaling can be so effective. What is a trigger for one person is not necessarily a trigger for others, so keeping a migraine journal can pin it down for you.
For many of us, chemically processed foods will trigger a migraine. These foods would especially include things such as artificial sweeteners, aspartame, and saccharin along with food coloring and preservatives. I learned a long time ago that processed foods really have an effect on me which is why I stopped eating all processed foods and went to a “clean eating” style diet.
Other foods known to trigger migraines include:
- Breads, raised coffee cakes, doughnuts, pizza
- Chocolate, cocoa, carob
- Caffeinated drinks including coffee, tea, colas
- Canned foods
- Bouillon cubes
- MSG
- Seasoned salt
- Meat tenderizer
- Nuts and seeds
- Pod beans (including lima beans, navy beans, peas, lentils, snow peas)
- Peanut butter
- Onions
- Eggs
The good news here is that no one seems to have all of these foods on their migraine trigger list. Some may be affected by citrus but not pod beans or bread products, while for others the opposite is true. The key is using your migraine journal to identify the specific foods that are triggers for you so that you can avoid adding them to your diet.
So by now you are probably wondering if there is anything you can eat that will actually help you avoid migraines? Stay tuned. We will go into this next week!
P.S. If you want to learn the migraine preventative measure I took, check out my “4 Weeks to Natural Relief” course. This will walk you through the same things I went through to bring me to where I am today (from having daily migraines to only a couple of migraines per month due to weather changes). My life has been dramatically changed for the better and I would love it if you would experience your own methods of prevention. So check out my self-paced program to really nail it down.