Dietary restriction is not considered a treatment for migraine. However, identifying any foods that have triggered symptoms and avoiding those foods may help some people thwart migraine attacks.
Certain chemicals that occur naturally in foods are the factors that cause sensitivity problem in some patients of migraine. Tyramine and other amines, including histamine and phenylethylamin are the chemicals that are most commonly triggered by migraines.
Migraines can also be triggered by foods that contain tannins, compounds that take place naturally in plants.
Some important information is given in the following for you to learn the diet guidelines of the migraine elimination diet, and find out how to systematically eliminate certain food groups to identify foods that may be triggering migraines.
According to a report by J Gordon Millichap, MD, published in the journal Pediatric Neurology, the list of additives, beverages, and foods thought to exacerbate or trigger migraine symptoms in some people are the following:
- Alcoholic drinks, particularly beer and red wine
- Monosodium glutamate (sometimes added as a flavor enhancer in Chinese restaurants)
The last on the above list is also found in stuffing, salad dressings, commercial soups, croutons, some chips, frozen dinners, soy sauce, and soup mix. Monosodium glutamate can be disguised on food labels as autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed proteins, or caseinate.
It was found in all of the published surveys that citrus fruit, alcohol, cheese, bananas, and chocolate are the most commonly reported food triggers. |
