Migraine Trigger Foods
Posted by Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.

The most important role food plays in migraines is as a trigger. Not all the foods on this list will cause migraines in all sufferers, and some people have no food sensitivities. In order to determine what your particular triggers are, I recommend keeping a migraine diary. If you discover that one of the foods listed here is a trigger for you, then you know that you should avoid that particular food if you want to minimize migraine frequency.

Common Food triggers include:

Tyramine or Phenylethylamine: Chocolate, aged or fermented cheese, soy foods, all nuts and most seeds, citrus fruits, vinegar (red and balsamic), along with other foods containing tyramine or phenylethylamine.

Alcohol. Beer, red wine, sherry, and vermouth contain large amounts of tyramine, which can cause migraines. In addition, all alcohol can cause dehydration, which also can trigger headaches.

Avoid eating leftovers. Because tyramine content increases over time, especially if food is improperly stored, avoid eating leftovers.

Tannins: Tea, red skinned apples and pears, apple juice and cider, and red wine, which contain tannins.

Deli meats and other food containing Nitrites. These include pepperoni, bacon, hot dogs, sausages (including chicken, turkey and soy sausages/bacon/hotdogs that list nitrites in their ingredients), bologna, pastrami, jerky (beef and turkey), corned beef, and all other beef/poultry/pork/wild game/fish that have been cured, smoked, pickled, canned, or preserved with nitrites.

Wine and other foods containing Sulfites. This preservative is commonly found in wine (more so in red), most dried fruits are typically preserved with sulfites (including prunes, figs, apricots, etc.), canned vegetables, and many processed foods.

Additives. Check labels carefully and avoid foods that contain monosodium glutamate (MSG), hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP), kombu extract, any products claiming to have “natural flavor” or “natural flavorings.”

Aspartame. Can trigger migraines in some people. Be cautious of foods and beverages made with this artificial sweetener (also known as Nutrasweet and Equal).

Caffeine. People with sensitivity to caffeine can develop migraines after drinking black tea, green tea, coffee, cola soft drinks, or other caffeinated soft drinks. But caffeine can also be used to stop a migraine that is just beginning—that’s why many over-the-counter migraine medications contain caffeine. Test your personal response to caffeine. If it gives you headaches, avoid it. Otherwise, try drinking one cup of coffee or 2 cups of strong black tea at the start of your next migraine to see if it helps. In 2005, German researchers reported that when people took a combination of 250 milligrams of aspirin, 200 milligrams of acetaminophen, and 50 milligrams of caffeine (an average 8-ounce mug of coffee has 100 milligrams caffeine) at the start of their migraines, they had better and faster pain relief than people who did not take the caffeine.

Certain computer/video games can trigger a migraine too. I was playing a game (I don't play games because I can easily spend way too much time on them and being that I was on holidays, I thought I'd give it a go). Talk about pain!!!!

Thanks, Candy!

I try not to buy anything with MSG or with nitates/nitrites. I use to drink diet sodas
now and then years ago that had aspartame and found it was a trigger. Don't use aspartame any more knowing how bad it is for you anyway. I haven't found chocolate or cheese to bother me, but I will have to watch on some of the others you mentioned. Since I have been taking feverfew & butterbur, I have not been having Migraines near as often. My biggest trigger right now is not getting enough sleep. But, I can't seem to be able to remedy it at the moment. So, I just pray and ask the Lord to give me strength and protect me from getting the migraines.

Ann

Migraines May Boost Memory
April 23, 2007 08:40:48 PM PST
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter


MONDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) -- There may be a silver lining to the dark cloud of migraines: improved memory.

U.S. researchers have found that women with a history of migraines had less cognitive decline as they aged than women who didn't have the debilitating headaches.

"This was a complete surprise," noted study author Amanda Kalaydjian, a research fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health. "We found that people with migraines, specifically people with migraines with aura -- which is even more counterintuitive -- didn't even decline over time at all."

Kalaydjian's team published its finding in the April 24 issue of Neurology. Her research was conducted while a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

Other experts were similarly surprised by the finding.

"It's very surprising to me that this risk factor would appear to be protective," said Dr. Richard Lipton, director of the Montefiore Headache Center. "But this is the best longitudinal data we have on migraine, so I am left feeling cautiously optimistic."

Migraines are a particularly severe form of headache. They often occur on one side of the head and can involve visual disturbances ("aura"), sensitivity to light, nausea and vomiting. Migraines can last hours or days.

The headaches' causes remain elusive, although dietary and food factors, such as red wine, may play a role for some people. Researchers in Philadelphia are even looking into whether a common heart defect may play a role in migraine for some individuals.

Thus far, the evidence on migraines and cognitive functioning had been mixed. Some studies found no association and some found that people with migraines ("migraineurs") actually performed less well in tasks involving attention, verbal ability and memory.

"Some [previous studies] showed deficiencies in people with migraines and some didn't, but there were a lot of problems with past studies because they were very small or clinic-based," Kalaydjian said. "It's hard to generalize."

There have been virtually no studies that looked at people over time, she added.

This study involved 1,448 women, 204 of who suffered migraines. All women underwent a series of cognitive tests beginning in 1993 and again about 12 years later.

All of the affected women also had a long history of migraines. "Our thinking was . . . maybe, over time, migraines might result in these subtle insults to the brain," Kalaydjian explained. Scientists have hypothesized that migraine attacks might have a cumulative effect of damage to the brain.

The study didn't show that, however. Migraineurs did perform worse on cognitive tests (such as word recall) at the beginning of the study, but over the course of the entire study their performance actually declined 17 percent less overall than women without migraine.

Women over 50 who had migraines showed the least amount of cognitive decline, the researchers noted.

It's unclear why such a discrepancy would exist but Kalaydjian says certain medication and lifestyle characteristics of migraine sufferers might be worth exploring.

"People with migraines tend to stay away from alcohol, so we might have people that drink less and sleep more, because lack of sleep results in more headaches," she said. "They might take more vitamins and supplements because they're more health-conscious."

There's also some research suggesting that non-aspirin NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) pain relievers might help boost cognition. "People with migraines tend to self-medicate," Kalaydjian said.

The first next step, however, is to try to replicate the findings.

"One study isn't enough but it lays the groundwork for future studies," Kalaydjian said. "It brings up the point that maybe this is something that should be looked into, maybe there's a beneficial side effect of having this pain."