The Relationship between Migraines and Food

Many different additives and chemicals found in foods are common culprits amongst migraine sufferers. For many migraine sufferers, the most common dietary culprits are amines, additives and chemicals. . Many headache sufferers also experience digestive issues, irritable bowels and skin irritations or rashes. Monosodium glutamate (MSG), aspartame, high sodium and nitrites are some of the more prominent triggers to avoid if you experience any of the symptoms as mentioned above. MSG is not only found in restaurants but is a common additive to many sauces, canned veggies and soups sitting on the shelf in your pantry right now. Aspartame in diet soda is another common trigger. Nitrites are commonly found in processed meats like bacon and deli items. 

By tracking your diet, you can now start to identify possible triggers by using these five easy steps: 

1. Track for seven consecutive days:

• Headaches - Time of day, where you are when the headache occurs, how severe based on a scale of 0-10 

• All food - Be specific and be sure to include all sides and condiments. 

• All fluids - even include water. People should aim to drink at least ½ your body weight in ounces daily. 

2. Read food labels carefully - It is not always possible to avoid all processed and packaged food. Focus on the ingredient list. Ingredients are listed in order of highest to lowest quantity. 

3. Eliminate all foods high in amines, MSG, aspartame and nitrites for four to six weeks. While understandably not an easy task, you'll find that the benefit of less intense and infrequent headaches will be worth your while. By focusing on the ingredient list, you'll be able to identify which foods to avoid quickly. 

4. Reintroduce one food at a time - start with fruits and vegetables. Then wait three to four days between reintroducing more foods. By taking several days, in-between introductions will make it easier to identify the culprit. Alternatively, if you are symptom-free for three to four days, it's safe to say you can tolerate that food. If you begin experiencing symptoms again within that time, it's best to avoid those foods in the future.

5. Consider common food allergens and intolerances. If you don't experience less headaches over the four- to six-week testing, consider four to six weeks of eliminating more common food intolerances and allergies, such as peanuts, gluten, dairy, eggs, soy and corn. 

We hope that these five steps have helped guide you to less frequent headaches and an improved quality of life! Dr. Vollrath is a wealth of knowledge and is always happy to answer any further questions you may have about this topic. Book a consultation at Core Chiropractic Center today.