What is a Migraine Diet?

If you suffer from migraine headaches or have family members who do, you know the pain and anxiety they can cause. Many people who suffer from migraines become completely incapacitated from them. There are few things that are actually migraine treatments that relieve the pain and discomfort of a migraine after is has begun, so it might be a good idea to try and prevent them before they even start by using a migraine diet.

A migraine diet consists of avoiding all foods that have been known to cause migraines in the past. There is a list of foods that you should completely avoid when you first go on a migraine diet. These foods are called trigger foods. They include chocolate, dairy products or any food containing dairy products, eggs or anything containing eggs, citrus fruits, meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey and fish), wheat (breads and pastas), nuts or peanuts, tomatoes, onions, corn, apples and bananas. Other things that might be in your diet that can be triggers for migraines are aspartame, MSG, excessive caffeine, alcohol and nitrates. After you have eliminated these foods and substances from your diet or your family members diet and have noticed a change in the frequency and severity of migraines, you can try to gradually reintroduce these foods into your diet. When the migraines return you will know which food is the likely cause of the problem.

Foods that are usually not causes of migraines include brown rice, cooked green vegetables like broccoli, squash, spinach and collard greens, cooked orange vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes, yellow vegetables like squash, and condiments like salt, etc.. Foods that are rich in magnesium, calcium, complex carbohydrates and fiber can be good migraine treatments. Eat as many of the foods in this group as possible and completely avoid foods that can trigger migraines. If after a couple of weeks on this diet you do not notice any benefits, then you will need to do the elimination diet to get the best of the migraine treatments. This is a bit involved, but it will help you determine the major triggers for your migraine problems. Start by eliminating one food that you commonly eat. If after a couple of weeks you get no results, move on to the next one. You will eventually notice that without certain foods your migraines are reduced or even eliminated. Your migraine diet, after you determine what your food triggers are should never include these foods. Migraine treatments are not easy to find, but eliminating trigger foods and increasing the safe foods is one way to help reduce the problem. By using the migraine diet, you will find that you will get enough relief from the problem that you will not have to worry about taking extra medication to help with the condition. Migraine treatments that include medications can cause other problems that you do not need. You may find that by changing your diet a bit, that other conditions you suffer from also disappear.

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