Prevention of a migraine headache
Food avoidance tips to help prevent your next migraine
As a migraine sufferer, you know pain, you know migraine pain, and I’m pretty sure you’d try anything to prevent the pain from happening again, right?
Taking steps to change what we eat, control our anxiety level and our environment are the first steps to help prevent the frequency of migraines.
Migraine prevention is a full-time job that requires a conscious and focused effort to protect yourself from recurring migraines. Migraines are a formidable foe, they seem to strike no matter what you do, but they shouldn’t deter you, some people may not be able to stop them completely, but you can certainly take steps to reduce their frequency and severity.
Remember that well-meaning family and friends don’t always understand what you’re going through when you experience migraine pain, so you need to take care of yourself. You should be aware of migraine food triggers and do your best to avoid them.
Take care of the food you eat
These foods are enemies of migraine sufferers. Print this list and post it in your kitchen as a constant reminder.
1 – Foods rich in tyramine (Amino Acid) are migraine triggers. Tyramine is found naturally in many foods and forms as foods age or ferment. It doesn’t negatively affect everyone, but because it creates a rush of blood, because it causes nerves in the brain to dilate, it can trigger a migraine attack.
These are the foods with tyramine to avoid:
• Aged Cheeses – Cheddar, Swiss, Blue, Brie, Gouda, Gruyere, Parmesan, etc. (Safe cheeses include American cheese, cream cheese, and ricotta)
• Cured, processed or smoked meats: hot dogs, sausages, salami, pepperoni, bacon, ham, deli meats, jerky, pickled herring and smoked fish.
• Other cured or processed foods: sauerkraut, pickles, green olives, capers, and occasionally sun-dried tomatoes
• Broad beans: broad beans, soybeans, peas, tofu, pickled beans, etc. (This includes products made from beans such as hummus, bean pastes, soy sauce, and miso)
• Yeast
• Beer, Ale, Wine (especially Red Wine)
• Bananas, oranges and any overripe fruit
• Eggs, spinach and tomatoes
• Coffee and possibly all caffeinated products. (Interestingly, some find small doses of caffeine beneficial, but when reducing your caffeine intake, do so cautiously to avoid withdrawal or rebound headaches.)
2 – Nitrates have a big impact. Used as a food preservative and as an ingredient in medications, nitrates are common migraine triggers.
These are the nitrate foods you should avoid:
• Processed meats: again hot dogs, sausages, salami, pepperoni, bacon, ham, and deli meats
• Beets, spinach, celery, broccoli, and cauliflower
3 – Other foods to avoid –
• Nuts and nut products
• Additives like MSG
• Table salt and high-sodium foods: potato chips, popcorn, salted peanuts
• Chocolate
I would suggest keeping a diary of the foods you eat when a migraine strikes so you can identify the actual food triggers. All of the items on this list are known migraine triggers, but each person reacts differently.
I personally found that crab gave me an instant migraine, but I couldn’t find anyone else experiencing the same and even my doctor was surprised. So find your triggers and best of luck in preventing your migraines!
