10 Foods That Trigger Migraines

Certain foods can trigger migraine attacks in people with migraine. Common migraine trigger foods include chocolate, caffeine, and red wine.

Many things can trigger a migraine attack, including what we eat and drink.

According to the Migraine Research Foundation, foods that trigger migraine may only do so when combined with other triggers. But this combination — and any trigger in general — is highly individualized, making research difficult.

There’s no such thing as a universal migraine trigger. But there are some common triggers that can cause or contribute to migraine episodes in some people.

Too much caffeine and experiencing caffeine withdrawal can cause migraine or headaches.

But according to the American Migraine Foundation, caffeine can actually help stop oncoming migraine attacks. It can also offer headache relief with occasional use.

Foods and drinks with caffeine include:

• coffee
• tea
• chocolate

Many processed foods contain artificial sweeteners. These are sugar alternatives that are added to foods and drinks to add sweetness.

But these sweeteners can cause migraine. Aspartame in particular is thought to trigger migraine episodes.

Alcohol is one of the more common products thought to trigger migraine. According to one study, over 35% of the participants with migraine reported that alcohol was one of their common triggers.

Red wine in particular was reported as a trigger in over 77% of the participants who reported alcohol as a trigger.

Alcohol can cause dehydration, which is a significant contributor in developing headaches.

According to the American Migraine Foundation, chocolate is thought to be the second most common trigger for migraine attacks after alcohol. They say it affects an estimated 22 percent of people who experience migraine.

Chocolate contains both caffeine and beta-phenylethylamine, which may trigger headaches in some people.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a sodium salt of glutamic acid, which naturally exists in our bodies.

MSG is found in certain foods, and present in many foods as a food additive. It’s considered safe to eat, but some researchers link it to migraine attacks.

The American Migraine Foundation notes that it may trigger severe migraine episodes in 10 to 15 percent of those with migraine. Other preservatives may also be a trigger in some people.

Cured meats — including deli meats, ham, hot dogs, and sausages — all contain preservatives called nitrates, which preserve color and flavor. These foods can release nitric oxide into the blood, which is thought to dilate blood vessels in the brain.

There’s some evidence that nitric oxide can cause or contribute to migraine.

Aged cheeses contain a substance called tyramine. It forms when a food’s aging causes the breakdown of proteins.

The longer the cheese has aged, the higher the tyramine content will be.

Tyramine is another chemical that has been said to trigger headaches and migraine. Common cheeses that are high in tyramine include:

• feta
• blue cheese
• Parmesan

Like aged cheeses, pickled and fermented foods can contain high amounts of tyramine. These foods include:

• pickles
• kimchi
• kombucha (which can also have alcoholic content)
• pickled okra
• pickled jalapeños

Eating frozen foods and drinks like ice cream or slushies can trigger severe, stabbing pains in the head.

You’re most likely to experience headaches that become migraine attacks if you’re eating cold food quickly, after exercising, or when overheated.

Salty foods — especially salty processed foods that may contain harmful preservatives — may trigger migraine in some people.

Consuming high levels of sodium can increase blood pressure, causing headaches or migraine attacks.

Treatment for migraine can involve a combination of prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications and alternative remedies.

For occasional headache or migraine pain, you can take OTC medications like Excedrin Migraine to relieve pain. Your doctor may also prescribe triptan medications to relieve pain.

If you experience regular migraine episodes, your doctor will likely prescribe preventive medications. These may include beta-blockers, which can lower blood pressure and reduce migraine attacks.

Antidepressants are also sometimes prescribed to prevent migraine symptoms, even in those without depression.

There’s evidence that some alternative remedies can help treat migraine. These include:

• massage therapy, which could lower the frequency of migraine attacks
• biofeedback, which teaches you how to check physical responses of stress, like muscle tension
• vitamin B2 (riboflavin), which can help prevent migraine episodes
• magnesium supplements

Migraine episodes can be painful and interrupt your life. Fortunately, there are some lifestyle changes you can make and habits to adopt that can help you prevent them.

These include:

• eating regularly and never skipping meals
• limiting your caffeine intake
• getting plenty of sleep
• reducing the stress in your life by trying yoga, mindfulness, or meditation
• limiting the amount of time you’re looking at bright lights, or are in direct sunlight, which can both cause sensory migraine
• taking frequent “screen breaks” from television, the computer, and other screens
• trying an elimination diet to help you identify any food allergies or intolerances that may be headache triggers

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Tips for Avoiding Migraine Triggers

In this Article

With migraines, one of the best things you can do is learn your personal triggers that bring on the pain. Red wine, caffeine withdrawal, stress, and skipped meals are among the common culprits.

The first step is to track your migraine symptoms in a diary. Note what you were doing before and when your headache came on. What were you eating? How much sleep did you get the night before? Did anything stressful or important happen that day? These are key clues.

Learn Your Migraine Triggers

When you look at your diary, you might find that these things tend to lead to a migraine:

• Stress
• Menstrual periods
• Changes in your normal sleep pattern
• Extreme fatigue
• Certain foods and drinks
• Too much caffeineor withdrawal from it
• Alcohol
• Skipping meals or fasting
• Changes in the weather
• Exercise
• Smoking
• Bright, flickering lights
• Certain smells

7 Steps to Avoid Migraine Triggers

1. Watch what you eat and drink. If you get a headache, write down the foods and drinks you had before it started. If you see a pattern over time, stay away from that item.
2. Eat regularly. Don’t skip meals.
3. Curb the caffeine. Daily caffeine can raise the risk for migraines in some people. If you’re one of them, slowly cut down on caffeine. (That’s because suddenly missing your morning coffee can actually trigger a migraine headache.)
4. Be careful with exercise. Everyone needs regular physical activity. It’s a key part of being healthy. But it can trigger headaches for some people. If you’re one of them, you can still work out. Ask your doctor what would help.
5. Get regular shut-eye. If your sleephabits get thrown off, or if you’re very tired, that can make a migraine more likely.
6. Downsize your stress. There are many ways to do it. You could exercise, meditate, pray, spend time with people you love, and do things you enjoy. If you can change some of the things that make you tense, set up a plan for that. Counseling and stress management classes are great to try, too. You can also look into biofeedback, where you learn how to influence certain things (like your heart rate and breathing) to calm down stress.
7. Keep up your energy. Eat on a regular schedule, and don’t let yourself get dehydrated.

Migraine Trigger Foods

These things are migraine triggers for some people:

• Foods that have tyramine in them, such as aged cheeses (like blue cheese or Parmesan), smoked fish, and Chianti wine
• Alcohol, especially red wine
• Caffeine, which is in coffee, tea, colas, and other sodas
• Foods made with nitrates, such as pepperoni, hot dogs, and lunch meats
• Dried fruits
• Potato chips
• Pizza, peanuts, and chicken livers
• Bread and other baked goods with yeast, such as sourdough bread, bagels, doughnuts, and coffee cake
• Chocolate
• Cultured dairy products (like yogurt and kefir)
• Fruits or juices such as citrus fruits, dried fruits, bananas, raspberries, red plums, papayas, passion fruit, figs, dates, and avocados
• Nuts and nut butters
• Olives
• Soy products (miso, tempeh, soy sauce)
• Tomatoes
• Vegetables like onions, pea pods, some beans, corn, and sauerkraut
• Vinegar

How Do Triggers Work?

An easy way to think of a trigger is that it’s like a light switch: When it’s flipped on, a process starts in your brain that can end in pain and other migraine symptoms.

But it’s not as simple as cause and effect. Something that triggers a migraine one day may not have the same effect on another. You’re probably more likely to get a migraine if more than one of your triggers is present.

Types of Stress Triggers

Triggers vary from person to person but are often related to stress, whether it’s:

• Physical, such as dehydration, sleep loss, or hormone changes
• Emotional, like anxiety
• Environmental, such as changes in the weather

© 2023 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

SOURCES:

Cleveland Clinic: “Migraines,” “Migraine Headache Diary,” “Migraines: Specific Foods,” “Migraines: Exercise,” “Migraines: Stress.”

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: “NINDS Migraine Information Page.”

Office of Women’s Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: “Migraine Fact Sheet.”

Sutter Health: “Common Migraine Headache Triggers.”

National Migraine Centre: “Migraine triggers?”

10 HEADACHE PRODUCTS! • EVO Medical Center

About what we eat and how it can provoke a headache.

Migraine and its analogues (headaches) are the scourge of the planet. Doctors believe that at least 1 billion people on Earth suffer from a “sick head”, and the disease can be found in every fourth house.

Headache can sometimes be caused by the most unexpected causes and triggers. And, perhaps, the most difficult thing is to identify those external circumstances that led to the fact that you stayed at home, stuck to the bed, swallowing pills, you feel bad and even sick.

Headache develops against a background of a number of diseases (acute and chronic), it is influenced by the environment, stress and much more. Contrary to popular belief, there are no universal migraine triggers, but there are some that are more common. Food is also a headache trigger. According to the Migraine Research Foundation, a migraine research foundation, food triggers, combined with other migraine triggers, are among the most significant.

There is no strong scientific evidence linking migraines to specific foods. However, eating certain foods has been found to exacerbate other causes of headaches, and “common food triggers for migraine” have also been identified. “We can say that about 10% of the population is sensitive to food triggers that can cause migraines. However, it is very difficult to identify the food that provokes it, ”said Belinda Savage-Edvards, neurologist, rehabilitation specialist, specialist in migraine, in her report at the annual meeting of the American Society of Neurology (American Academy of Neurology).

Since each person is different, it is impossible to give absolute and clear recommendations on which foods to avoid. What negatively affects one patient will not necessarily have a similar effect on another. However, there are some foods and ingredients that are relatively common in causing headaches and migraines. Patients should experiment on themselves to some extent, eating certain foods, identifying and evaluating their effect on headache within 24 hours, and also taking into account the factors accompanying the headache episode (menstrual cycle, hormonal surges, lack of sleep, stress, fasting, etc. ) . Nutritionists do not recommend abruptly removing all “harmful” foods, it is worth doing it gradually, over 2 months. It is extremely wrong for migraine sufferers to be inconsistent, arranging an “explosive mixture” in which various suspected and even proven triggers accelerate the attack “on the head.” Anyway, The best diet for migraine prevention is fresh and unprocessed food that is not loaded with supposed migraine chemical triggers.

HARMFUL:

Pay attention to the following products, which can determine the so-called “migraine threshold” for susceptible people: A number of studies have been carried out, including with the participation of children and adolescents, according to the results of which the headache stopped in 92% of people in focus groups after caffeine withdrawal or gradual reduction of caffeinated beverages. At the same time, according to the results of a study by the Department of Neurology of Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Eulji University Hospital (South Korea), the effect was often more pronounced than drug treatment of headache.

Artificial sweeteners. Asparkam, one of the most common sweeteners in many processed foods + diabetic products, is a migraine trigger.

Pickled and fermented products – olives, sauerkraut, kombucha, etc. The use of these products can lead to migraine due to the high content of tyramine, which has a stimulating effect on the nervous system, increase or decrease blood circulation. Histamine, a mediator involved in allergic and inflammatory reactions, is also often found in fermented foods. And if its own enzymes do not work well enough to process it, then it can be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and enter the bloodstream. In turn, this can lead to the development of symptoms of histamine intolerance, including headache.

Frozen products – ice cream, smoothies, ice milk. Eating them quickly or drinking them after exercise/when overheated can trigger a severe stabbing headache. Many people are familiar with the state when, after eating delicious ice cream, they suddenly have a sharp headache, pain usually occurs in the forehead or both temples for a short period. Headache from cold even has an unofficial name – “brain freeze”. Why is this happening? Harvard Medical School experts believe that the reason is that the cold substance comes into contact with the back of the throat, which causes the narrowing of small blood vessels, and then their rapid expansion. Pain receptors near blood vessels sense discomfort and send a message to the trigeminal nerve, which redirects it to the brain. The trigeminal nerve is also responsible for pain in the face and head. And this is what “confuses” the brain, creating a headache from the cold. Cold stimulation causes headaches in 30-40% of people who do not have chronic headaches, and in almost everyone who has frequent migraines. The best way to prevent this headache is to eat/drink cold food/drinks slowly.

Salty food – increases blood pressure, causes headaches and migraines. Salty processed foods that additionally contain the preservatives mentioned above are especially dangerous. At the same time, there are also paradoxical studies that an increased amount of salt in the diet is associated with fewer attacks of severe headaches and migraines. In particular, a survey of 8,819 American adults conducted between 1999 and 2004 by the Medical Research Institutes in Pasadena team found that people with the highest levels of salt in their diets reported the fewest major headaches and migraines. High sodium levels generally make neurons more excitable, so the idea that they somehow inhibit or prevent migraine activity is puzzling. The theory makes sense, says Svetlana Blitshteyn (University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, USA), who specializes in disorders of the autonomic nervous system. Many of her patients suffer from migraines, and it has been observed that if they start consuming more salt to treat another condition, their migraine symptoms often improve. However, this proof is only episodic and has not yet been published.

USEFUL:

Reduce the risk of headaches or migraines after eating:

• a balanced healthy diet rich in vegetables, fresh and whole grains, and protein;
• avoidance of processed foods in the diet;
• compliance with the diet;
• rejection of products whose composition is not indicated on the label;
• and 6 simple tips in the style of “everyday tricks” that will help you get rid of a headache in the morning, read on the EVO website.

Retrieved : Migraine Research Foundation / A migraine trigger is anything that brings on a migraine attack.

Healio / How to determine which foods trigger migraine

PubMed / Increased nitric oxide stress is associated with migraine.

PMC / Caffeine discontinuation improves acute migraine treatment: a prospective clinic-based study

National Headache Foundation / Low-Tyramine Diet for Migraine

Migraine Explorer / Foods that Trigger Migraine

American Migraine Foundation / Diet and Headache Control

MayoClinic / Migraine

900 02 Harvard Medical School / What causes ice cream headache?

BMJ / Effects of dietary sodium and the DASH diet on the occurrence of headaches: results from randomized multicentre DASH-Sodium clinical trial

NewScientist / Does eating more salt prevent migraines and severe headaches?

How to eat with a migraine

There is a lot of controversy among experts about the need for diet in people suffering from migraine attacks. Many doctors and patients believe that certain foods (chocolate, red wine, cheese) can be a trigger for an attack. Recent experimental data are not so unambiguous in this respect. Doctors give the following recommendations for building a diet for migraines.

1. Avoid fluctuations in blood sugar – eat small and often.

Why can a craving for a carbohydrate-rich food be a precursor to an attack? Researchers attribute this rush to increased energy consumption in the brain of migraine sufferers. According to current knowledge, the nervous system of patients processes information very quickly. The decisive factor is not so much the amount that a person eats, but the frequency and regularity of eating. A constant blood sugar level without significant fluctuations throughout the day can clearly prevent migraine attacks or reduce their incidence. Instead of chocolate, regular balanced meals with complex carbohydrates from whole grains, potatoes, fruits and vegetables are better for a quick increase in sugar levels.

Don’t skip meals, don’t leave home without breakfast! If you remember this and take it into account, the risk of frequent attacks is already significantly reduced. Rigid diets and low carbohydrate diets should be avoided. If the brain receives too little nutrients, or mostly fats and proteins, the risk of insufficient energy supply increases again. Brain cells only burn carbohydrates, they cannot normally get energy from fat or protein.

2. Be careful about provocative products.

Recently, attitudes towards foods that are considered migraine triggers have changed. But the “expectation effect” remains in many patients. It is better for impressionable patients to refuse products that were considered dangerous for patients. These foods contain tyramine and tryptophan, which constrict blood vessels and increase blood pressure. There is a lot of tyramine in chocolate, in cheeses (parmesan, brie), in nuts, in legumes. Tryptophan is present in avocados and milk. But we must understand that such products must be eaten in very large quantities in order to manifest their effect.

3. Avoid dyes and preservatives.

Nitrates, glutamates, aspartame are harmful to all people. They adversely affect the human body. Therefore, canned foods, smoked meats, marinades should be avoided.

4. Avoid food allergens.

Serious allergic reactions can be triggered by histamine. Its active formation is promoted by such products as alcohol (especially red wine and beer), cheese, smoked meats, citrus fruits, oranges. The list of allergens is much more diverse, as it is individual. If a person is prone to allergies, they should know their trigger foods. How can similar products be identified? You need to start with the limited use of those species that do not cause an attack. Then one new product per week is gradually added. In this case, the results are recorded in a special headache diary. After identifying food triggers for migraine, foods that cause attacks are excluded from the diet. Doctors believe that the elimination of allergens in 50% of cases reduces the frequency and severity of attacks.

5. Drink coffee to prevent an attack.

Discussions about coffee do not stop. However, he has recently been rehabilitated. Moreover, if you drink it at the beginning of an attack, then you can, if not prevent, then alleviate a headache. The main thing is not to get carried away and drink to patients with hypertension in large quantities.

6. Eat healthy foods.

The diet should contain enough sea fish, vegetables, berries, fruits, vegetable oil. Sour-milk products, high-quality cottage cheese, rabbit meat are welcome. The beneficial effect of ginger, which prevents the development of an attack, has been proven. It is advised to use it both fresh and dry, drink its decoction in the form of tea, add to salads.

7. Eat foods rich in magnesium and B vitamins

The diet should contain foods rich in vitamins and useful trace elements. I especially want to highlight foods containing magnesium. Vitamins of group “B” help to reduce the level of histamine, they are rich in jacket potatoes, buckwheat, yeast, asparagus. Useful are pumpkin, dates (in small quantities, as they are very high in calories), celery, which contain folic acid.

8. Pay attention to cooking.

Avoid fried foods! Stew, boil and bake foods. Nutritionists consider steam cooking to be an ideal option. Strong broths, meat and chicken soups should not be in the diet. It is better to cook the first dishes in a not strong vegetable broth.

9. Drink plenty of fluids.

There are heated discussions about the amount of water that should be drunk during the day. More and more arguments for common sense and the ability to listen to your body. The liquid should be consumed adequately to the state, since a large volume of liquid is a serious burden for the heart and kidneys. You can’t limit yourself, but you shouldn’t go too far and force yourself to drink, trying to consume 3 liters of water a day.