Many doctors have discovered that certain foods can trigger migraine headaches and exacerbate migraine pain during the attack stage. These migraines are also known by the name food migraines due to their association with food. A migraine can often occur on the same day as the food was eaten. In some cases, however, it may take up to a few days. Patients can get confused about the cause of their headaches due to the possible delay in the onset of migraines.
Natural Treatments
Many migraine sufferers choose to take medication to manage their migraine pain. However, many patients are looking for holistic and natural ways to cope with their migraines. People suffering from food migraine may want to keep a food journal while on an elimination diet. This is a diet where food is gradually added back into the diet. This helps patients identify food triggers. It is very easy to keep a food journal.
A notebook and a pencil are all you need. At the top of each page, add the date. You can list all the meals you ate that day by writing the date below. Make sure you include the ingredients for each dish. If you have spaghetti for lunch, instead of writing “spaghetti”, add “noodles and tomato sauce, mushroom,” salt, oregano, and so on. It should be enclosed in parenthesis.
Do This!
Be sure to include the time that you ate each meal. This will allow you to track how long it took for a particular food to trigger your headache. Make a note at bottom of the page if you have migraines. Make sure to include the time and duration of the migraine. Once you have mastered the art of keeping a food journal, you can start your elimination diet.
You simply need to make a list with foods that have been associated with migraines. It is a long list so you will need to work in batches. Once you have divided them into groups, you can start. You can eliminate a whole batch of food from the diet.
Tracking
You can start tracking your migraines after two weeks, which is enough time for your body’s adjustment to the diet. Your data about migraines should be listed at bottom of your food diary, as mentioned earlier. After four weeks without eating this food, you can gradually add one item from the list to your diet. This will give you about two weeks to adjust. Keep track of whether your migraines have become worse since you reintroduced this food.
If they have, then this food could be a migraine trigger. If your headaches don’t change, it is unlikely that this food triggers migraines. You can stop eating it. You will notice a pattern in your migraines if you keep track of all the foods you eat. You will be able identify which foods cause headaches and which ones don’t. Although it will take some time to go through all the batches of food, once you have done so, you will have a complete list that you should avoid.
Elimination Diet
An elimination diet is not considered to be a treatment for food migraines. It should only be attempted with the approval of your doctor. Many doctors believe that eliminating certain foods will help and that this is something that most doctors will accept. It is important to tell them what you are doing and how it is going. There have been studies linking stress, hormones, genetics, and anxiety.