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Dietary Triggers and Daily Migraines

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Dietary Triggers and Daily Migraines Empty Dietary Triggers and Daily Migraines

Post  Cookie Monster Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:19 pm

Hey everyone,

I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions re: how to go about discovering dietary triggers given that I have almost daily migraines. I tried an elimination diet before and was able to stick to it exactly (I'm a perfectionist so I go about everything in a very systematic, detailed way).

The problem wasn't sticking to the diet but rather trying to determine if a particular food was a trigger. From what I understand, food can trigger a migraine up to 48 hours later so if I'm getting migraines most days, then how do I determine which food was the problem?

I was recently thinking of starting with a very very basic diet and then adding foods back in gradually, to see if it makes any difference. I'm just not sure what a safe diet would consist of? I want to keep up with exercise when I can so I need to make sure that I'm getting enough calories and that the diet is balanced.

BTW, I have a really healthy diet - almost 100% organic and largely whole food-based. When I do cook with sauces, I only use organic ones and I rarely make any recipes that call for canned or processed foods. Does anyone have any further suggestions?


Cookie Monster

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Post  ZomigMan Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:00 pm

Well, you can do a strict elimination diet with a food intake diary like I did under the care of a naturopath. The diet and diary helped me find my allergy to beef, which was making me very very sick basically all the time. I started by eating only food that I knew did not cause me any problems, and that was plain rice to start with. I got better, and so I added plain pasta. I was OK with that, so I added oatmeal, and then carrots, and more and more foods. After two weeks I added chicken and then fish. I was OK with them, and then I added beef, and WHAM! I was sick again.

Another option is to just keep a food diary. Write down everything that you eat and drink (I mean everything, including water) and write down how you feel after that. Do it for a month. Then go over the food you ate and how you felt for the following two days, and you will likely see patterns emerge. I used this to figure out what was causing my asthma to flare up. Bananas and ice cream were the culprits. However, my response was within an hour of eating them. With migraines the triggers may be long delayed, as you noted.

Another option is to try a low tyramine diet. There are several online with lists of what foods to avoid and what foods are 'safe'. Tyramine is one of the most common food triggers for migraines. Go for the biggest bang to start with? There may be something that you are eating that you do not suspect... as was the case of my beef allergy. Very few people are allergic to beef and no doctors suspected that as a source of my problem, including my naturopath.

I do hope that one of these options helps...
ZomigMan
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Post  Jul Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:22 am

I agree with Zomigman, tyramine is a major migraine trigger for many people.

I did a LOT of research before I started my elimination diet, researching all foods that contain tyramine and realised its in foods that you eat everyday and would never think of them being a trigger.

Basically I did it that hard way and probably not the best way but I was desperate lol...

I literally lived on rice krispies, milk and mineral water for a few weeks gradually adding foods back in one at a time and soon realised that tyramine was indeed a trigger for me. Also any artificial sweetener is a nono for me.

I learned my major food triggers were cured meats, alcohol in any form even in desserts, most nut, chocolate, coffee, aged cheeses, all these foods are high in tyramines.

Since then I've also noticed that if I eat a lot of dairy in one go I can get a migraine.

Hope this helps Smile

Jul

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Post  Cookie Monster Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:54 pm

Just wanted to thank you both for the suggestions. I'm still researching this so I'll let you know how it goes once I get started. Maybe I'm procrastinating just a tiny bit? Razz

Cookie Monster

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Post  rileyoday Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:17 pm

Your diet sounds very good, for not having a food trigger. I do believe people have triggers .
Could you eat one or two foods for five days ? example oatmeal and dry toast. If you have 4 Migraine while eating these simple foods then you could say food is not a trigger. ?? Your not eating any of the most common triggers. Good luck to you. I had daily M or H/A for almost three years, then suddenly got a little better on 5-htp then got alot better on clonidine 3 x day. I hope you get relief soon.

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Post  TechSpec Sun Feb 03, 2013 2:54 pm

Hi My Lovely,

A study on chronic migraines in children showed that 93% of patients could stop their frequent severe migraines on an elimination diet (see first reference). In the study, the patients ate only 4 foods (ex: rice, lamb, apples, and brassica) for a week. If that helped reduce their migraines, they added foods back once a week until their diet was nutritious and socially acceptable. It might be worth a try. There is growing evidence that migraines are an allergic disease.

I learned a while ago that my diet was by far the best way to manage my migraines. I tried an elimination diet. I cut out 7 common allergens from my diet (Milk, Egg, Wheat, Tomato, Beef, Corn, Soy) and got much better. I now eat mainly rice, vegetables, and fish and have almost no migraines and the aura is manageable.


Best,
Steven

References:

Egger, J., et al. "Is migraine food allergy?: a double-blind controlled trial of oligoantigenic diet treatment." The Lancet (1983): 865-869.

Mansfield, Lyndon E., et al. "Food allergy and adult migraine: double-blind and mediator confirmation of an allergic etiology." Annals of allergy (1985): 126.

Monro, Jean, Claudio Carini, and Jonathan Brostoff. "Migraine is a food-allergic disease." The Lancet (1984): 719-721.

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