CAN DIETARY DEFICIENCY TRIGGER MIGRAINE

Migraine is a disabling primary headache disorder often associated with triggers. Diet-related triggers are a common cause of migraine and certain diets have been reported to decrease the frequency of migraine attacks if dietary triggers or patterns are adjusted.Clinical manifestations of migraine are influenced by dietary behaviors and dietary elements. Several dietary triggers for migraines have been identified, leading to the definition of strategies such as elimination diets, ketogenic diets, and comprehensive diets, mainly to help prevent migraines.

FACTORS AFFECTING

• Dietary factors
• Age
• Sex
• Genetics
• Environmental factors

Understanding the Several factors that influence the net outcome, including underlying mechanisms of migraine pathogenesis and how dietary factors can interfere with those mechanisms has encouraged investigators to consider diet as a disease-modifying agent, which may also interfere with the gut-brain axis or the epigenetics of migraine. Diet, as an important element of lifestyle, is a modifiable aspect that needs further attention.

Food triggers for migraine

• Alcohol, specifically red wine.
• Aspartame sweetener.
• Beans and other tyramine-containing foods.
• Caffeine (often found in foods, beverages, and medicines).
• Cheeses and yogurt.

Migraine attacks are often due to multiple factors. There are many non-dietary trigger factors for migraine. When you are already stressed, not sleeping well, and not exercising, eating a food trigger may make it more likely to have a migraine attack. In this case, it is the combination of all of these different things that contribute to the migraine and not just the one food.

 WHAT WE CAN DO 

Not all of these foods will trigger a migraine attack in every person with migraine. Your personal food triggers can be difficult to figure out.  Here are some suggestions:

• Keep a food diary along with your headache diary, to help identify what you ate before migraine attacks.
• Some foods can trigger a headache right away, while with other foods the headache can be delayed up to 24 hours.
• If you think a specific food is triggering migraine attacks, you may try to avoid that food for a month. Monitor your symptoms to see if they improve.
• Be careful about trying extremely strict diets. There is a risk of avoiding foods that are not necessarily migraine triggers and you may be missing out on many important nutrients.
• Aim for half of your grains to be whole grains. Whole grains have more fiber and vitamins.
• Try to change things like white bread, white rice, and pasta in your diet to whole grains.
• Aim for increasing fruit and vegetable intake. Half your plate should be fruits and vegetables, every time! Eat a variety of vegetables.
• Aim to eat healthy fats, not low-fat.
• Try to increase seafood consumption to two to three times per week to get your omega-3 fats.
• Limit sodium to less than 2300 mg/day. most salts came from processed foods (heat-and-eat frozen meals, canned soups, and ready-to-TV-eat snacks like chips and crackers).
• Do not skip meals, especially if this triggers migraines.

Consider eating 5 small meals per day.

• Eat a carbohydrate with a protein or a good fat to stay full longer.
• Do not eat or drink anything that you KNOW triggers your migraine.
• Some common food “triggers” are alcohol, aged cheeses, caffeine, and chocolate.
• Drink water throughout the day instead of sugary drinks like soda or juice

Dietary zinc linked to reduced migraine riskPeople with higher zinc intake have a nearly one-third lower risk of migraine than those having little zinc in their dietSources of dietary zinc

• Nuts, legumes, poultry, shellfish, whole grains etc
• Other vitamins and nutrients implicated in reduced migraine risk

Vitamin D, CALCIUM, FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN B1

OUTLOOK

Healthy Eating for a Healthy HeadEat a healthy and balanced dietElimination and slow introduction is the best strategy to really identify triggers