Knowing What Foods Can Trigger A Migraine Can Prevent Them
There are currently three methods of dealing with migraine headaches, including avoidance, treating the symptoms or prevention. Avoidance is often the most effective means of preventing migraines and knowing what foods can trigger a migraine can help reduce the frequency of headaches by avoiding those foods. There have been lists compiled that show what foods can trigger a migraine but each list is slightly different and various theories have also expanded some of the lists.
In most cases, what foods can trigger a migraine is up to the individual migraine sufferer. What causes a migraine in one person may not have the same affect on another. Alcohol, caffeine and chocolate often take the fall in studies of what foods can trigger a migraine, but others are also considered suspect. While many suspected foods or those that contain histamine, tyramine and nitrates have been tested, little evidence supports them as being a trigger for a migraine.
Monosodium glutamate, often found in Chinese food has been associated with many of the symptoms of migraines. However, the dosages used in tests on what foods can trigger a migraine was 2.5 grams, considerably higher than typically used in food. Headache clinics have studied various foods with mixed reports, with many maintaining that many of the foods tested have the potential for triggering a migraine.
Determining Suspect Foods Through Avoidance
Some of the dietary changes needed to avoid what foods can trigger a migraine include the exclusion of aged dairy products, such as cheese as well as nitrates used in processed foods such as hot dogs and fish. Dark chocolate, alcohol, especially red wine, and caffeine are some of the most commonly accused foods for migraines.
One method used to determine what foods can trigger a migraine in an individual, is to completely eliminate them from their diet for about a month. At the end of the month, adding each food to the diet one at a time can help identify the guilty foods. Introducing large amounts of suspect food can bring on migraine symptoms quicker making identification of what foods can trigger a migraine faster and easier.
In additional to learning what foods can trigger a migraine, researchers have found that some of the beta blockers used to treat severe migraine headaches can also trigger an attack. But if the patient is able to determine what foods can trigger a migraine, avoiding that food can possibly eliminate recurring migraines.
