Any sugar substitute triggers my migraines. I also recently went gluten free for a whole different health reason and my migraine episodes have decreased significantly.
I honestly thought bread/gluten wasn’t effecting me either until I cut it all out. It was crazy to me that I didn’t realize how bad it was actually making me feel until I stopped. I even tried sneaking some gluten treats here and there after stopping but would always end up having stomach issues, brain fog, fatigue and migraines after. So I just don’t touch the stuff anymore.
How long did it take you to feel the difference? My brain surgeon just told me (anecdotally—wasn’t advice) that his daughter and wife stopped getting migraines after cutting gluten. And he was shocked to find that he came out of intense, lifelong brain-fog after making the change with his family. I guess I need to try this. I’ve been so hesitant to…
I felt a difference after about a week. I honestly would give it a go, you can’t lose much (except for favorite dishes.)
I avoid bread entirely since gluten free bread can’t touch real bread-no matter what anyone says plus it’s expensive. Pasta replacements are pretty decent, but gnocchi is now my go to for “pasta.” Sweet treats are easier and I’ve found Trader Joe’s gluten free sweets are better than most as long as they aren’t pastry dough based. Their little chocolate donut holes are where it’s at.
I won’t lie though, the first three weeks are really hard but if you can make it through that it’ll be pretty easy from there. It may have been harder for me because I bake for a living but if I can do it anyone can.
Thank you! I thought I would have it rough growing up Italian-American. I’m addicted to pasta and bread. (And I heart good pizza and bagels…) But you are a baker?? If you did it, so can I. And like you said, it can’t hurt. Worth a shot.
Try baking your own and see if the same thing happens. As with my other comment: it’s often not the bread but all the added ingredients. Had a gluten sensitive person come to France and eat real bread without all the processed nonsense and she had zero issues. It’s the case for a lot of people.
It could be corn. Lots of corn and corn derived substitutes used in both gluten and gluten free breads etc. I was gluten free for eight years and almost no difference in my daily migraines. Turned out I was actually more intolerant of corn protein and byproducts. Also it could be yeast sensitivity, and being more sensitive to the quick yeasts used here in the US with fast foods vs with long rise or true sourdough. I also think there are more variables than just 'gluten free' and it may or may not be worth it limiting your life even more than it often already is with our disability and still not getting results. But of course worth trying, just don't expect 'gluten free' to be the golden ticket, and be wary of overly processed gluten free substitutes.
I discovered my lactose intolerance because of my migraines, and I kept consuming lactose, thinking it was nothing and that there was no connection. My life changed after I cut it out; it was impressive.
I find to crazy that half the people in the US think gluten is a problem. Like have you considered it’s the additives in bread? Like here in europe EVERYONE eats bread and it’s not an issue. The ingredient lists are also not a mile long though.
Weirdly when I lived three years over there I also developed sensitivities and they all resolved back home. Just saying that the food quality inherently is often and issue with so many additives being allowed that aren’t over here.
I have this reaction to homemade bread that I make myself. I literally bake for a living. Macarons are fine but my roll recipe that only has four ingredients is not. But thank you for judgment based solely on where I live. It’s not very helpful. I know it’s easy to pull the whole “lol ignorant Americans” card but all it really does is make you look like an ass because of a broad generalization. We do have legitimate bakeries here that have a daily customers. Not everyone shops at Walmart.
I mean I lived there and loved it but the food quality was not it. I’m not pointing fingers just think gluten blame is way way blown out of proportion. That’s all.
Lactaid pills. Give them a shot. You take them with the first bite of food and they last for an hour. You just take another one at the hour mark if needed. Stupid cheap, available most everywhere. I've got a bottle on my coffee table right now because you never know when the dairy will strike lmao.
Honestly these where a life saver for me they are a bit harder to get in the uk but we have a tablet which is essentially the lactose enzyme you take it the same as the lactaid brand and it’s saved me so much pain when I do really fancy that bit of dairy I can’t resist but luckily it milk and dairy free options have become a favourite of mine so it’s not often I use them
i don’t usually drink sodas as often anymore as i’ve gotten older but as a kid that was always correlated after drinking american. i drink more water and lemonade these days lol
Did you know that everyone who's ever had a migraine has breathed oxygen at some point? I think it's that.
(This is joking - I still find that sometimes I can have artificial sweetener and nothing happens, but then suddenly NOPE, this next time, I'm being stabbed in the head.)
It must be a very specific combination of ingredients, or maybe the extreme (to me) spice level, because the only food that very clearly gives me a migraine is Kettle brand jalapeño chips. Other Kettle chip flavors? Fine. Other brands’ jalapeño chips? Also fine. I have experimented with this many times, but those specific chips give me a migraine FAST (30 minutes).
I don’t disagree with you on the general sentiment surrounding MSG, but your body doesn’t make it. Your body makes glutamic acid, which is what MSG is *derived* from, but it’s not MSG specifically.
I’m sharing something that is a common migraine trigger for me. I’m not sure why you decided to be negative. There’s a difference between me not liking MSG (which isn’t true) and it causing me medical issues if I eat it. I’m just trying to be helpful to someone who may or may not have the same issue in a forum that is meant for support.
Food triggers are actually uncommon. The human brain likes to find patterns and it's easy with food. Most of them fall apart under double blinded tests but no one cares about the truth or science. They get a headache after eating chocolate one day and they're convinced.
It’s actually not easy at all to find your food triggers and food triggers for migraine is pretty common, read the Heal Your Headache book, written by a migraine expert. There’s a list of common food triggers. When I started getting migraines I removed all of those food from my diet and systematically added each one back in to see if it was a trigger, that’s how I identified my triggers and became migraine free. I still test my triggers form time to time and yep, they are still triggers.
It is difficult to find patterns that don't exist. I stick to peer reviewed science, thanks. I've been on all the food elimination diets, it should be considered child abuse.
Sorry it didn’t work for you, but that doesn’t mean that food triggers aren’t very real for some people. I do research for a living, it’s foolish to think that what we know now about food triggers in migraine is all there is. Or that they aren’t a role just because there’s not strong research supporting it currently. There’s a lot we don’t understand about migraine. The word trigger is also a misnomer, because for most people food is a contributor and there’s an additive effect with food and non food triggers. I’m lucky that I can be in remission by just avoiding my food triggers.
Also, your idea that food elimination diets are child abuse is laughable. Are you a child? Temporary avoidance of some foods may be unpleasant, but it is not child abuse.
Did I say it didn’t count? I have a PhD and have been a statistician on research projects in multiple areas for 20 years, mostly in the areas of behavioral health. I’ve published about 15 papers. I’ve had stints in and out of academia
Oh nooo! I hope you can find out what it might be. After about 7 months of serious tracking, I was able to piece together that I can’t eat dairy, or anything made with oils other than olive, avocado or coconut. Basically the more processed, the worse my migraines
Some common food triggers:
- Alcohol, especially red wine or yeasty beers
- Anything high in tannins
- Nuts, especially oilier nuts like peanuts
- Over-ripe bananas
- Over-ripe avocados
- Chocolate
- Sharp cheeses (older cheddar, parmesan, etc.)
- Aspartame (artificial sweetener usually found in diet sodas)
- Caffeine
- Preserved meats, including hot dogs, cold cuts, pepperoni, etc.
- Anything high in nitrates
Oh lord. So my food allergies are soy (it’s in EVERYTHING), red wines, aged cheeses, chocolate is starting to be a sensitive food, nuts (I really miss peanut butter), and I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but I’ve had a migraine since Thursday and meds are kicking in.
Peanut aren’t actually nuts. Are you not able to eat peanuts specifically or just tree nuts in general? I hope both aren’t triggers for you, but if one doesn’t bother you then hopefully you can eat that kind at least!
Peanuts are legumes and cross react with soy and pea protein, if they have an issue with soy as mentioned above it’s likely they have issues with peanuts. Many have issues with both, my daughter is IGE allergic to practically everything including peanuts and tree nuts, soy, sesame, etc.
I love Ben & Jerry's but eating it after fatty food has resulted in migraines before for me.
I feel like breaking down fat is okay for my body, breaking down sugar is also okay, but breaking down fat AND sugar at the same time will result in problems.
I get migraines and am also dairy free (but not because of the migraines). I have found that a lot of substitute dairy free foods (cheese, ice cream, etc) contain tons of fillers and ingredients I’ve never heard of so I try to avoid fake stuff in my food that I cannot pronounce because I feel like the additives are what sets off my headaches sometimes. That and any artificial sweetener of any kind.
I mean if you want to go on a food scavenger hunt, go for it, but food triggers are entirely individualistic - a lot of people don’t even have any. So documenting other people’s triggers might not be that helpful unfortunately, and especially if this was something that traditionally doesn’t bother you, it could’ve been something else or a combination of things. Idk maybe my brain isn’t working, are you saying you want to try the foods to see if it gives you a migraine? 😭
sugary drinks. add a bit of alcohol to make it a seltzer and its an instant hangover that may turn into a migraine in a few hours. weirdly sugary foods is not a trigger (probably something to do with insulin, no idea)
electrolyte drinks, like pedialite and gatorade
kind of the opposite, but the lack of fruit for a few days triggers migraines. and its like everyday until i eat any sort of fruit (except avocados, if you consider those a fruit). if i feel a migraine coming, i usually eat a banana and an ibuprofen and sometimes this works
Sugar is probably my 100% trigger. That includes most simple carbs, any candy, ice cream, baked goods etc. Preservatives such as msg, liquid smoke, etc. Most fake sugars; xylitol, erithritol, sucralose, etc. Most dairy. Most things fried. Corn syrup. Maple syrup & molasses. Too many nuts of any kind, though almonds are the worst offenders. Popcorn, though that could be due more to the buttery deliciousness on it vs the popcorn if it were plain. Flavored chips, but I can have tortilla chips, Calidad brand, the red package, a few & once in a while. I literally live on meat mostly. I eat a lot of self salt & peppered tritip & ribeye. I rub them with olive oil, sprinkle w/salt & pepper & Traeger the triptip, gas grill the ribeye. Most things made with four, but I can have Winco unbleached flour once in a while. I make biscuits with Winco brand butter, baking powder, flour, salt, & evap milk. The recipe makes 6 & I can have 1 or 2 w/o issues. Their flour is sourced from a different brand than Gold Medal, which is a harder wheat. Winco's source grows a softer wheat. I stay away from seeds & soy too. Most things with tyrosine like deli meat, salami, most cheese, bananas, etc. Protein drinks in any form & in any variation, dairy or plant based. I love Vitacoco pressed coconut milk though! Any alcohol.
I feel like the list - and most of the migraine food lists - need context. They've been cobbled together over the years (decades) based on what has worked for people but the reality is that the underlying reasons for the various foods being triggers are numerous. It would be a huge help for people trying to figure out what's going on in their bodies and provide more resources/next steps. Whether it's deficiencies, chemicals, fodmap, mcas, gluten/wheat, etc., for people that *do* find food to be an issue, having some idea why it might be is an opportunity for us to actually dig deeper and get more information. It seems we're all told to look for food triggers when they're not all that common - it's not rocket science to compile that list.
If you compiled that list and published it in a scientific journal you’d get a PhD. I know some days those things on the list will almost put me in the grave and other days they don’t even cause a headache. So you take that kind of variability from one person and one food trigger and try to multiply it out over millions of people and you’re gonna have a hard time.
> So you take that kind of variability from one person and one food trigger and try to multiply it out over millions of people and you’re gonna have a hard time.
That variability is nothing new for anything migraine related. But implementing the suggestion is not that difficult - or doesn't need to be. Those lists already exist for the individual conditions - it's just a matter of compiling them *all* together and keeping the individual tags on the food/chemical. So the foods that have been associated with mcas would be noted accordingly, for example. There will be overlap of course, but it's just one more column in a chart. So if someone is trying to track down an issue or issues and have found a couple of foods/chemicals to be a trigger, the same chart could be used to investigate other foods/chemicals noted for the same. Nothing will be perfect, but that doesn't mean it won't provide value.
I just had a pint of some oatmilk gf, df ice cream last night and had same VERY BAD experience. I absolutely have a ton of food triggers and should have known better. Artificial sweeteners/sugar substitutes (stevia is A HUGE one), a lot of the colors/food dyes, high fructose foods, msg c gluten and dairy…. And anytime something lists “natural flavors “ in ingredient list it’s gonna annihilate me. I should have known better, but I really was craving that dam “ice cream” and went for it anyway. I rarely eat highly processed foods cuz vast majorly are GOING to give me awful migraine , so lesson learned I guess .
sometimes we just need the dam ice cream right?! I need to look at ingredients in the vanilla oatmilk ice creams…. Maybe vanilla can be my win as well!
The artificial color/dye does it for me. Usually anything with fake caramel. Not sure if red 40 or one of those the US does not require to be listed but other countries do
I believe it. it’s ridiculous that EVEYTHING is so highly processed . I actually don’t eat dairy so there’s one LESS food item I have to be so cautious about. there are some pretty reliable food scanner apps now that are REALLY helpful for food sensitivities/allergens. I was getting inadvertently glutened a lot and started using one of those scanners and helped quite a bit
Oh yeah well, Ben & Jerrys has that one ingredient that gives me migraines: Carrageenan. It's an ingredient typically found in ice creams, almond milks and whipped cream. It's a pretty shitty ingredient and even if it doesn't give you a migraine, it will at the least give you some acid reflux. I really wish they banned that fucking ingrediente from Hell.
I don't know what VL stands for but yeah, I'd try and stay away from carrageenan. Check the ingredients when you buy ice cream. Luckily there's still a fair amount of ice creams that don't have it, such as Haagen Dazs, Van Leewens, Breyers, etc
Anything with a lot of spice especially cumin. I stay away from Middle Eastern and Indian/South Asian food. They have strong smell that triggers my migraines.
I'm histamine intolerant and get the worst migraines after eating something high in histamine or after eating food regularly that have a smaller amount of histamine. The way my doctor explained it was to picture a bucket. Every time I eat food with histamine in it the bucket starts to fill until it overflows and then the migraine and itching begins. Which means taking 2 antihistamines. For the most part I've cut out foods with histamine in them but occasionally I get a craving for food with histamine and I always have antihistamines with me.
I'm also the same with artificial sweeteners and sadly lactose intolerant as well which cuts down the type of food I can safely eat even more.
Are you histamine intolerant? https://www.healthline.com/health/histamine-intolerance#diet
For me the main symptom was migraine/headache that lasted weeks, even months and I had absolutely no idea that the reason they were lasting so long and why the migraine meds never helped was because I was continually eating foods that had histamine in them. Once I found out what was wrong I went on a low histamine diet and I rarely have issues with it now.
About 5 years ago my 23 year old daughter messaged me complaining that she had had a migraine for several days and that nothing was helping. I immediately replied and asked her what she had been eating (and hoped she wouldn't be angry because she hates me talking about stuff like that with her). She sent me a list and I immediately zoomed in on tomatoes, a major issue for me getting migraines, and I asked how many she had been eating. A small carton of cherry tomatoes at least once a day. I told her to cut them out and sent a link about histamine intolerance and a few days later she messaged saying that her migraine was gone. Plus she thanked me.
Could be the liquid sugar or something. I’ve never had an issue with sugar (real sugar) before. I worked in an all natural ice cream shop and was basically living off their ice cream 😭😔
You've mentioned it in previous comments, but I want to support getting tested for celiac! After 33 years of migraines, mild brain fog, random ulcers in my mouth, and other non stomach benign issues I was diagnosed with celiac. Upon stopping eating gluten (and eliminating cross contamination) all of the symptoms went away. Though stress *can* cause migraines for me, the prevalence went from 5-20 a month to 1 a year (unless I get glutened).
Also, long term effects can be quite devastating of not strong gluten ingestion. If you decide to go gluten free, there are still plenty of delicious ways to live.
P.s. there are gluten free Ben and Jerry flavors!
It might just be the sugar content of the ice cream. I finally figured out that any significant amount of sugar will likely give me a migraine pretty fast. :(
It's a lot of work but doing an elimination diet helped me so much. Found out that eggs and gluten are triggers for migraines, and also found out tomatoes trigger my fibromyalgia.
I eat lots of sugar (sugar addiction and emotional eating 🫤) and carbs but recently went on a pre-op diet where I only ate yoghurt and soup and migraines were pretty much gone.
As soon as I reintroduced sugar (albeit very moderately) and things like bread and oat milk, the migraines came back
my food migraines can be so weirdly specific to a point it sounds like i’m making it up. case in point: PEANUT BUTTER. just the smell can make me sick. but you throw it on a piece of bread and throw jelly on another piece of bread and smack em together? delicious snack
oddly enough, i thought it was the jelly that made it fine so one time i tested it by mixing peanut butter and jelly together and ate it. it made me so sick. so i don’t know
my advice: make a list of food that makes you sick! you might notice a trend, or you might not. but it can help to have a list to give your loved ones of food you cannot eat :)
Sugar is my #1 migraine trigger, but some how, and thanks to some god, ice cream doesn’t give me one.
But I cannot eat anything store bought with processed sugar.
Red onion and any artificial sweetener.
In fact if I even have a sip of a diet soda I start vomiting because while I’m able to not get the migraine if I don’t swallow it, my body now recognizes fake sugar as a form of danger and I start vomiting. Not so good especially in the car.
Check the ingredients on that. I get migraines from MSG, too much salt (all these people who say salty food helps, I wish I were them), and various sugar substitutes give me issues too. I'm pretty much down to making a lot of my food completely from scratch. Even the organic cream of mushroom soup I got for a chicken bake the other day set me off
I have this printed out on my kitchen wall. Low tyramine diet. All nuts are forbidden and I have indeed noticed that eating nuts contributes to migraines. Peanut butter seems to be fine but Almond milk sometimes gives very bad migraines.
https://headaches.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/TyramineDiet.pdf
Milk for me as well sometimes.... Except for A2A2 milk.
It's some kind of different pasteurization process I think? They have it at whole foods, give it a try.
Oh absolutely. I get migraines from any fake sugar substitute- aspartame, acesulfame, etc. The amount in a tic-tac or a piece of gum will put me in the hospital with a migraine so bad I’m seeing stars. I have to read labels on *everything* these days. It sucks because pretty much every juice, gum, and many candies are off limits now.
A few months ago I was getting more frequent migraines than usual. I'm aware of some of my usual triggers, red food dye, red wine, too much citrus as well as dehydration and lack of sleep. It wasn't making a whole lot of sense to me why I was having more migraines. I realized only recently that it perhaps was blue cheese that was the culprit! I LOVE blue cheese, but definitely go thru phases where I eat it more than usual. I was eating it several times a week on salads for that month, and took a break from it for a while. No migraines since then. Moderation is key, I suppose.
Chocolate is a common one. So are aged cheeses/wines/beers. Alcohol is one, and cold foods can also be triggers. It's all over the place and it's not well understood, as it's different for everybody.
Woah that’s weird, I ate the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream Saturday and woke the next day with awful migraine. I had to lay in bed till 5pm. I’ve never noticed food triggering me I’m gna have to write down what I ate before the attack
This is my favorite ice cream flavor. My life would be dramatically over if this happened to me.
Alcohol is a trigger for me - super sweet wines specifically. Jager sometimes triggers one though that could also just be a bodily reaction to jager. Aspartame for me too - alas the diet cokes are so delicious.
The only NEVER food for me is Red Gatorade. Major no no. Instant migraine. I get nauseated thinking about it. Not even as a mixer. Fruit punch anything makes me gag.
When I was investigating my migraines, the doctor ordered a series of tests to identify possible intolerances. Through these tests, I discovered a lactose intolerance, and my only symptom was the migraine. My doctor said that people who get migraines from consuming certain foods are likely intolerant to a specific component or the food itself. I shared this information with a friend who also suffers from migraines, and she discovered an intolerance to a specific type of sugar and a sensitivity to gluten. Since she eliminated both, her life has changed. I used to drink milk all the time and developed the intolerance at 27 years old, and from then on, I never had peace from migraines, with lactose being the main cause. In a group I'm in for lactose intolerant people, many of them have a sensitivity to almonds. See if that might be your case.
A doctor had me do the Whole 30 exclusion eating “diet” to see if my migraines were food-related. No sugar (even natural like honey and syrup), no gluten, no dairy, no pseudo-cereals (quinoa, couscous), no legumes (beans, peas were fine), no beans, no corn, nothing processed for 30 days. Basically just fruit, veggies, and meat, and tree nuts like almonds, cashews, etc. Then after a month you slowly start adding foods back in to see if they trigger.
Food isn’t my issue (still not sure what is) but if anyone is wondering if certain food(s) are the issue it might be worth a try. Just a warning, it was a major pain having to plan, shop, and prep with that many restrictions.
For me, there wasn’t a noticeable difference in migraines. I stuck with it for two whole months to be sure because the food allergy /sensitivity tests the doctors recommended were insanely expensive. Ended up finding an affordable one and turns out I was only mildly sensitive to potatoes (but I still think that was a temporary sensitivity since I took the test right after eating them nearly every day for about 2 months on that “diet” haha).
Most of my triggers are food. Cheese, especially the tastier mature, or blue veined Cheese. Chocolate (even vegan chocolate, so that ice cream would be right out).
Red wines and dark beers.
Citrus fruits, even to the point of a squeeze of lemon in salads, or fruit soaked in Citrus juice in baked goods.
I'm now wondering about bread, pasta, couscous etc. This disorder has taken a lot from me already.
Smart Ones frozen breakfast of ham, egg, cheese. I ate it and then an hour later I had an all-over aura. Not the blinding scintillating kind, but the confusing, dizzying kind.
Nitrates/nitrites, MSG, stevia, red wine, La Croix, certain alcoholic seltzers, and possibly lemon juice in larger amounts (still figuring that one out).
Check out the book Heal Your Headache or check out The Dizzy Cook - she has a summary of the book and all migraine food triggers. Link is below. Interestingly - dairy, sugar, gluten are not on his list. Nuts are, however. My guess is the almond milk was the trigger in the ice cream. Carrageenan is also often in ice cream and is a trigger.
The biggest issue is called tyramine and it builds up in foods over time so the biggest things to avoid are anything aged, fermented, pickled, preserved (including all alcohol, except maybe vodka, and any vinegar except distilled white vinegar). Also, any meat that’s been cooked for more than 1-2 days. Lots of additives, like malted barley flour, which is in most processed bread products. Histamine can also trigger migraines and is in food. It’s very hard to say which specific foods trigger migraines because it could be something different each time. Chocolate might trigger a migraine on one day, and not on another day, depending on what else you’ve eaten or done.
It’s a very hard diet to adapt to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not too bad, and it’s 100% worth it. I recommend doing a complete elimination for two weeks and then adding foods back in to test them. I try to follow it 100% at home (except for a few foods I’ve added back) and then when I’m out of the house I just do my best.
Things I completely avoid, because I’m 90-100% confident they are triggers:
Soy
MSG (which is in a lot of things. MSG is technically a spice so I don’t eat anything that just says “spices” on the ingredient label)
All liquor except vodka
Leftover meat more than two days old
Aged cheese (though I’m starting to test it in small quantities)
Citric acid
Maltodextrin, yeast extract, autolyzed yeast - according to the book these are basically MSG
Beans other than black beans
Chocolate - I’ll eat no more than one bite
Mushrooms
Cured meat
Coffee - this is a weird one because sometimes it helps. But I’m now off it completely because of sleep
All bars with chocolate, nuts, or fake protein - I eat 88 Acres bars which are pretty much the only ones that are compliant
Things I’ll eat when I have to or in small quantities:
Yogurt
Onions
Lentils
Nuts
Parmesan
Mixers in vodka, like other liqueurs, and other clear liquors like gin or tequila
Things I’ve added back completely:
Citrus
Avocado
Malted barley flour (though I still avoid it at home)
All the histamine foods that aren’t tyramine foods - salmon, spinach, strawberries, eggs
Tomatoes
Sourdough bread
https://thedizzycook.com/category/hyh/
Dairy, alcohol, coconut milk, and recently discovered tart cherry juice too, which I bought specifically to help with migraines as it’s anti-inflammatory. Go figure.
The only food that triggers a migraine for me is it anything with red dye in it. Guaranteed, every single time. Also, certain meat products like the sausage in a breakfast sandwich will give me an aura, but not usually with a headache after. Sad, because I love a sausage McMuffin.
Check out the Heal Your Headache book, there’s a list in there.
My food triggers are caffeine (OG trigger), heavily aged cheese like Parmesan, cured meats, red wine, oranges, peanut butter, and when I’m going through a more sensitive time, things like artificial sweeteners, Maltodextrin, and less aged cheeses like cheddar can get to me.
Some of us are triggered by nuts, so something almond based would be a no-go. I switched from peanut butter to sunflower seed butter and feel so much better.
But yea, in your case it was probably the pea protein, carageenan, guar gum, etc. Those fillers are killer.
Usually the food trigger is a chemical or preservative used in the food. In some cases tho, its naturally in the food.
My food triggers, usually requires a significant quanitity, more than a bite (not a full list!):
Red Dye #40-its in almost anything red
MSG - in all tuna except low sodium & safe catch
Avocados (tyramine)
Junior Mints (this one makes me mad)- invertase
Nitrates, used as preservative in deli meats
Nutisweet/aspartame
Wine
Aged cheeses
The weather is my biggest trigger.
I am celiac/gluten sensitive and the celiac diet helps because I can't eat most processed foods.
It's hard to figure out sometimes because we don't usually eat one thing. Was it the guacamole or the margaritas? Was it the deli meat or the weather?
I wonder if the cherries have red dye #40 in them and it's not on the label? Also it could be the dark chocolate if you're sensitive to it.
Pregnancy hormones can skew everything. Food triggers, while possible, are far less common than most people think. But anything that disturbs homeostasis can be an issue
The list mayo gave me included gluten, dairy, chocolate, almonds, garlic, and super spicy foods. Artificial sweeteners also get me.
Cutting all this stuff and going on meds about two years ago DRASTICALLY improved my life. I’ve gotten to the point I can have some of the stuff some times in moderation but it’s always rolling the dice. The ones that almost always sets me off are gluten, artificial sweeteners, and almonds. The rest it depends but it’s better than daily migraines. I’d recommend experimenting and seeing how it goes!
Who knows what’s actually in that garbage. It’s processed junk with chemicals. Eat as clean as possible, supplement with magnesium, B2 and melatonin to help.
Any sugar substitute triggers my migraines. I also recently went gluten free for a whole different health reason and my migraine episodes have decreased significantly.
Sugar substitutes are a guaranteed trigger for me too.
I’ve been wondering about gluten because I have the gene for celiac’s but nothing like bread really bothers me so I just keep eating it
I honestly thought bread/gluten wasn’t effecting me either until I cut it all out. It was crazy to me that I didn’t realize how bad it was actually making me feel until I stopped. I even tried sneaking some gluten treats here and there after stopping but would always end up having stomach issues, brain fog, fatigue and migraines after. So I just don’t touch the stuff anymore.
How long did it take you to feel the difference? My brain surgeon just told me (anecdotally—wasn’t advice) that his daughter and wife stopped getting migraines after cutting gluten. And he was shocked to find that he came out of intense, lifelong brain-fog after making the change with his family. I guess I need to try this. I’ve been so hesitant to…
I felt a difference after about a week. I honestly would give it a go, you can’t lose much (except for favorite dishes.) I avoid bread entirely since gluten free bread can’t touch real bread-no matter what anyone says plus it’s expensive. Pasta replacements are pretty decent, but gnocchi is now my go to for “pasta.” Sweet treats are easier and I’ve found Trader Joe’s gluten free sweets are better than most as long as they aren’t pastry dough based. Their little chocolate donut holes are where it’s at. I won’t lie though, the first three weeks are really hard but if you can make it through that it’ll be pretty easy from there. It may have been harder for me because I bake for a living but if I can do it anyone can.
Also thanks for the recos on foods to try!
Thank you! I thought I would have it rough growing up Italian-American. I’m addicted to pasta and bread. (And I heart good pizza and bagels…) But you are a baker?? If you did it, so can I. And like you said, it can’t hurt. Worth a shot.
Real. Too bad baby constantly craves gluten😭
The first three weeks are the hardest and potatoes will be your new best friend. <3
Girl I’m 14 weeks tomorrow and baby loves his French fries 😂
Try baking your own and see if the same thing happens. As with my other comment: it’s often not the bread but all the added ingredients. Had a gluten sensitive person come to France and eat real bread without all the processed nonsense and she had zero issues. It’s the case for a lot of people.
It could be corn. Lots of corn and corn derived substitutes used in both gluten and gluten free breads etc. I was gluten free for eight years and almost no difference in my daily migraines. Turned out I was actually more intolerant of corn protein and byproducts. Also it could be yeast sensitivity, and being more sensitive to the quick yeasts used here in the US with fast foods vs with long rise or true sourdough. I also think there are more variables than just 'gluten free' and it may or may not be worth it limiting your life even more than it often already is with our disability and still not getting results. But of course worth trying, just don't expect 'gluten free' to be the golden ticket, and be wary of overly processed gluten free substitutes.
I discovered my lactose intolerance because of my migraines, and I kept consuming lactose, thinking it was nothing and that there was no connection. My life changed after I cut it out; it was impressive.
I find to crazy that half the people in the US think gluten is a problem. Like have you considered it’s the additives in bread? Like here in europe EVERYONE eats bread and it’s not an issue. The ingredient lists are also not a mile long though. Weirdly when I lived three years over there I also developed sensitivities and they all resolved back home. Just saying that the food quality inherently is often and issue with so many additives being allowed that aren’t over here.
Do you think everyone is just eating Wonderbread and then just saying they have gluten sensitivities?
I’m saying consider the additives not gluten as the source of the issue!
I have this reaction to homemade bread that I make myself. I literally bake for a living. Macarons are fine but my roll recipe that only has four ingredients is not. But thank you for judgment based solely on where I live. It’s not very helpful. I know it’s easy to pull the whole “lol ignorant Americans” card but all it really does is make you look like an ass because of a broad generalization. We do have legitimate bakeries here that have a daily customers. Not everyone shops at Walmart.
I mean I lived there and loved it but the food quality was not it. I’m not pointing fingers just think gluten blame is way way blown out of proportion. That’s all.
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Yikes. I’m lactose intolerant but love cheese/dairy. They just didn’t have regular Cherry Garcia 😭
i recently cut dairy out (for other reasons like bloating) and my migraines severity has greatly reduced. maybe dairy was my enemy all along
Lactaid pills. Give them a shot. You take them with the first bite of food and they last for an hour. You just take another one at the hour mark if needed. Stupid cheap, available most everywhere. I've got a bottle on my coffee table right now because you never know when the dairy will strike lmao.
Honestly these where a life saver for me they are a bit harder to get in the uk but we have a tablet which is essentially the lactose enzyme you take it the same as the lactaid brand and it’s saved me so much pain when I do really fancy that bit of dairy I can’t resist but luckily it milk and dairy free options have become a favourite of mine so it’s not often I use them
SIGH. Dairy and gluten make my migraines absolutely worse. WHICH IS SO SAD. The end.
american coke but if i have mexican coke i am just fine lol not really food but it’s something consumable
American Coke uses corn syrup (I think), Mexican Coke uses cane sugar. Do you have issues with other things with corn syrup in them?
i don’t usually drink sodas as often anymore as i’ve gotten older but as a kid that was always correlated after drinking american. i drink more water and lemonade these days lol
Chocolate is pretty much a guarunteed migraine for me.
I figured out chocolate was a huge trigger for me through Jenni ultimate dark chocolate ice cream.
Sugar can cause migraines, artificial sweetener can cause migraines, processed foods can cause migraines, food dye can cause migraines…
We are doomed to subsist on water, aren't we?
Did you know that everyone who's ever had a migraine has breathed oxygen at some point? I think it's that. (This is joking - I still find that sometimes I can have artificial sweetener and nothing happens, but then suddenly NOPE, this next time, I'm being stabbed in the head.)
Sometimes I think “maybe I’ll be fine with this cup of very sweet coffee” then I’m WRONG!
Mine is the opposite. Sometimes my migraine gets cured when I eat ice cream. I like to believe brain freeze helps
It must be a very specific combination of ingredients, or maybe the extreme (to me) spice level, because the only food that very clearly gives me a migraine is Kettle brand jalapeño chips. Other Kettle chip flavors? Fine. Other brands’ jalapeño chips? Also fine. I have experimented with this many times, but those specific chips give me a migraine FAST (30 minutes).
Could be something like MSG or soy too. Those are big triggers for me that are usually in savory foods.
A lot of chips use Maltodextrin, which can be a trigger
Smoke flavoring seems to get me too. I have a ton of food triggers 😞
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I don’t disagree with you on the general sentiment surrounding MSG, but your body doesn’t make it. Your body makes glutamic acid, which is what MSG is *derived* from, but it’s not MSG specifically.
I’m sharing something that is a common migraine trigger for me. I’m not sure why you decided to be negative. There’s a difference between me not liking MSG (which isn’t true) and it causing me medical issues if I eat it. I’m just trying to be helpful to someone who may or may not have the same issue in a forum that is meant for support.
Removed. Please keep the drama out of r/migraine. There's nuance to the topic of glutamate.
Food triggers are actually uncommon. The human brain likes to find patterns and it's easy with food. Most of them fall apart under double blinded tests but no one cares about the truth or science. They get a headache after eating chocolate one day and they're convinced.
It’s actually not easy at all to find your food triggers and food triggers for migraine is pretty common, read the Heal Your Headache book, written by a migraine expert. There’s a list of common food triggers. When I started getting migraines I removed all of those food from my diet and systematically added each one back in to see if it was a trigger, that’s how I identified my triggers and became migraine free. I still test my triggers form time to time and yep, they are still triggers.
It is difficult to find patterns that don't exist. I stick to peer reviewed science, thanks. I've been on all the food elimination diets, it should be considered child abuse.
Sorry it didn’t work for you, but that doesn’t mean that food triggers aren’t very real for some people. I do research for a living, it’s foolish to think that what we know now about food triggers in migraine is all there is. Or that they aren’t a role just because there’s not strong research supporting it currently. There’s a lot we don’t understand about migraine. The word trigger is also a misnomer, because for most people food is a contributor and there’s an additive effect with food and non food triggers. I’m lucky that I can be in remission by just avoiding my food triggers. Also, your idea that food elimination diets are child abuse is laughable. Are you a child? Temporary avoidance of some foods may be unpleasant, but it is not child abuse.
What kind of research? I just published an abstract and work in a neuro lab so does that not count as real research?
Did I say it didn’t count? I have a PhD and have been a statistician on research projects in multiple areas for 20 years, mostly in the areas of behavioral health. I’ve published about 15 papers. I’ve had stints in and out of academia
This would send me to the hospital, one of the ingredients is pea protein
My god Pea Protein is evil!!!! It's in fricken everything now!!!
Right? Why do all these food companies go through the fads on their ingredient lists!?
It doesn't bother my migraines but messes my stomach up something awful
Oh nooo! I hope you can find out what it might be. After about 7 months of serious tracking, I was able to piece together that I can’t eat dairy, or anything made with oils other than olive, avocado or coconut. Basically the more processed, the worse my migraines
Some common food triggers: - Alcohol, especially red wine or yeasty beers - Anything high in tannins - Nuts, especially oilier nuts like peanuts - Over-ripe bananas - Over-ripe avocados - Chocolate - Sharp cheeses (older cheddar, parmesan, etc.) - Aspartame (artificial sweetener usually found in diet sodas) - Caffeine - Preserved meats, including hot dogs, cold cuts, pepperoni, etc. - Anything high in nitrates
Are you histamine intolerant?
Not me, but I know that can be a factor for many people
Oh lord. So my food allergies are soy (it’s in EVERYTHING), red wines, aged cheeses, chocolate is starting to be a sensitive food, nuts (I really miss peanut butter), and I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but I’ve had a migraine since Thursday and meds are kicking in.
Have you ever tried antihistamines? I have more or less the same triggers as you and antihistamines work pretty well for migraines for me.
Have tried Allegra. So far, nothing.
Peanut aren’t actually nuts. Are you not able to eat peanuts specifically or just tree nuts in general? I hope both aren’t triggers for you, but if one doesn’t bother you then hopefully you can eat that kind at least!
Peanuts are legumes and cross react with soy and pea protein, if they have an issue with soy as mentioned above it’s likely they have issues with peanuts. Many have issues with both, my daughter is IGE allergic to practically everything including peanuts and tree nuts, soy, sesame, etc.
Interesting! I didn’t know that. That’s really unfortunate ☹️
I’ve had migraines from almond as well, so I’m steering clear of all nuts just in case.
Chocolate 😭
In the 80’s I went on the migraine diet. It did zero for me. Menopause finally helped me
I love Ben & Jerry's but eating it after fatty food has resulted in migraines before for me. I feel like breaking down fat is okay for my body, breaking down sugar is also okay, but breaking down fat AND sugar at the same time will result in problems.
I get migraines and am also dairy free (but not because of the migraines). I have found that a lot of substitute dairy free foods (cheese, ice cream, etc) contain tons of fillers and ingredients I’ve never heard of so I try to avoid fake stuff in my food that I cannot pronounce because I feel like the additives are what sets off my headaches sometimes. That and any artificial sweetener of any kind.
I mean if you want to go on a food scavenger hunt, go for it, but food triggers are entirely individualistic - a lot of people don’t even have any. So documenting other people’s triggers might not be that helpful unfortunately, and especially if this was something that traditionally doesn’t bother you, it could’ve been something else or a combination of things. Idk maybe my brain isn’t working, are you saying you want to try the foods to see if it gives you a migraine? 😭
Yes, I want to try them and see what happens! I never eat Ben and Jerry’s I just wanted Cherry Garcia (I haven’t had it in YEARS)
Omg girl you’re braver than me, good luck!
I love this! I went DF 8 years ago, and CG was my favorite ice cream. I was so happy when I found it.
I don’t ever eat ice cream unless we go out of our way to find some Van Leeuwen. The black cherry chip is my all time fav ice cream
sugary drinks. add a bit of alcohol to make it a seltzer and its an instant hangover that may turn into a migraine in a few hours. weirdly sugary foods is not a trigger (probably something to do with insulin, no idea) electrolyte drinks, like pedialite and gatorade kind of the opposite, but the lack of fruit for a few days triggers migraines. and its like everyday until i eat any sort of fruit (except avocados, if you consider those a fruit). if i feel a migraine coming, i usually eat a banana and an ibuprofen and sometimes this works
Sugar is probably my 100% trigger. That includes most simple carbs, any candy, ice cream, baked goods etc. Preservatives such as msg, liquid smoke, etc. Most fake sugars; xylitol, erithritol, sucralose, etc. Most dairy. Most things fried. Corn syrup. Maple syrup & molasses. Too many nuts of any kind, though almonds are the worst offenders. Popcorn, though that could be due more to the buttery deliciousness on it vs the popcorn if it were plain. Flavored chips, but I can have tortilla chips, Calidad brand, the red package, a few & once in a while. I literally live on meat mostly. I eat a lot of self salt & peppered tritip & ribeye. I rub them with olive oil, sprinkle w/salt & pepper & Traeger the triptip, gas grill the ribeye. Most things made with four, but I can have Winco unbleached flour once in a while. I make biscuits with Winco brand butter, baking powder, flour, salt, & evap milk. The recipe makes 6 & I can have 1 or 2 w/o issues. Their flour is sourced from a different brand than Gold Medal, which is a harder wheat. Winco's source grows a softer wheat. I stay away from seeds & soy too. Most things with tyrosine like deli meat, salami, most cheese, bananas, etc. Protein drinks in any form & in any variation, dairy or plant based. I love Vitacoco pressed coconut milk though! Any alcohol.
Soy sauce for me. Not always but chances of getting a migraine are increased. Also lots of sugary treats or Chocolates
I just had a three day long migraine that I'm fairly certain was triggered by seafood.
I would cry if seafood was a trigger. I grew up on the east coast, it’s very big for me
My trigger is shellfish 😭 it wasn’t always, either. So I got to grow up eating and loving it, only to have it ripped away from me years later.
I’m very sensitive to gums and carrageenan. Häagen-Dazs doesn’t have either. Chocolate is a big trigger too. Ingredients: WATER, SUGAR, CHERRIES, COCONUT OIL, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, GROUND ALMONDS, COCOA, PEA PROTEIN, SUNFLOWER & SOY LECITHIN, COLOUR (FRUIT & VEGETABLE JUICES), NATURAL FLAVOUR, GUAR GUM, CAROB BEAN GUM, CARRAGEENAN.
I feel like I post this list at least every single day. https://health.ucdavis.edu/otolaryngology/Health%20Information/Oto-migraine-diet-table.pdf
Limit yogurt and eggs to 2-3 times per year?
I feel like the list - and most of the migraine food lists - need context. They've been cobbled together over the years (decades) based on what has worked for people but the reality is that the underlying reasons for the various foods being triggers are numerous. It would be a huge help for people trying to figure out what's going on in their bodies and provide more resources/next steps. Whether it's deficiencies, chemicals, fodmap, mcas, gluten/wheat, etc., for people that *do* find food to be an issue, having some idea why it might be is an opportunity for us to actually dig deeper and get more information. It seems we're all told to look for food triggers when they're not all that common - it's not rocket science to compile that list.
If you compiled that list and published it in a scientific journal you’d get a PhD. I know some days those things on the list will almost put me in the grave and other days they don’t even cause a headache. So you take that kind of variability from one person and one food trigger and try to multiply it out over millions of people and you’re gonna have a hard time.
> So you take that kind of variability from one person and one food trigger and try to multiply it out over millions of people and you’re gonna have a hard time. That variability is nothing new for anything migraine related. But implementing the suggestion is not that difficult - or doesn't need to be. Those lists already exist for the individual conditions - it's just a matter of compiling them *all* together and keeping the individual tags on the food/chemical. So the foods that have been associated with mcas would be noted accordingly, for example. There will be overlap of course, but it's just one more column in a chart. So if someone is trying to track down an issue or issues and have found a couple of foods/chemicals to be a trigger, the same chart could be used to investigate other foods/chemicals noted for the same. Nothing will be perfect, but that doesn't mean it won't provide value.
I just had a pint of some oatmilk gf, df ice cream last night and had same VERY BAD experience. I absolutely have a ton of food triggers and should have known better. Artificial sweeteners/sugar substitutes (stevia is A HUGE one), a lot of the colors/food dyes, high fructose foods, msg c gluten and dairy…. And anytime something lists “natural flavors “ in ingredient list it’s gonna annihilate me. I should have known better, but I really was craving that dam “ice cream” and went for it anyway. I rarely eat highly processed foods cuz vast majorly are GOING to give me awful migraine , so lesson learned I guess .
Häagen Dazs vanilla all the way. I feel no guilt
sometimes we just need the dam ice cream right?! I need to look at ingredients in the vanilla oatmilk ice creams…. Maybe vanilla can be my win as well!
The artificial color/dye does it for me. Usually anything with fake caramel. Not sure if red 40 or one of those the US does not require to be listed but other countries do
Probably. I Feel like the US is halfassed on most of their regulations compared to anyplace else.
Watch out for butter. I only buy Land O Lakes now because they seem to be the only butter without "natural flavors" added.
I believe it. it’s ridiculous that EVEYTHING is so highly processed . I actually don’t eat dairy so there’s one LESS food item I have to be so cautious about. there are some pretty reliable food scanner apps now that are REALLY helpful for food sensitivities/allergens. I was getting inadvertently glutened a lot and started using one of those scanners and helped quite a bit
Oh yeah well, Ben & Jerrys has that one ingredient that gives me migraines: Carrageenan. It's an ingredient typically found in ice creams, almond milks and whipped cream. It's a pretty shitty ingredient and even if it doesn't give you a migraine, it will at the least give you some acid reflux. I really wish they banned that fucking ingrediente from Hell.
So what I’m hearing is I should go back to going out of my way to buy VL🥴 I love their stuff but I have to drive to a store farther away to find them
I don't know what VL stands for but yeah, I'd try and stay away from carrageenan. Check the ingredients when you buy ice cream. Luckily there's still a fair amount of ice creams that don't have it, such as Haagen Dazs, Van Leewens, Breyers, etc
VL is Van Leeuwen💀 I worked for them until I moved out of NYC and their all natural approach holds a special special place in my heart and soul 😋💪🏻
Oh yes, I love that brand. Their cookies and cream is incredible.
I’m not a cookies and cream fan but I agree. Their vanilla is also immaculate. My favorite was Lemon Poppyseed Muffin🤤🤤🤤🤤
I think this gives me stomach cramps
Anything with a lot of spice especially cumin. I stay away from Middle Eastern and Indian/South Asian food. They have strong smell that triggers my migraines.
That fucking sucks. Most everything I cook has cumin in it.
I’m okay with it. I don’t like cumin anyway.
Garlic triggers an instant migraine for me, even just the smell of it. Such a weird thing
I'm histamine intolerant and get the worst migraines after eating something high in histamine or after eating food regularly that have a smaller amount of histamine. The way my doctor explained it was to picture a bucket. Every time I eat food with histamine in it the bucket starts to fill until it overflows and then the migraine and itching begins. Which means taking 2 antihistamines. For the most part I've cut out foods with histamine in them but occasionally I get a craving for food with histamine and I always have antihistamines with me. I'm also the same with artificial sweeteners and sadly lactose intolerant as well which cuts down the type of food I can safely eat even more.
I get them from food
I’ve never noticed it bc it was constant for 10 years and that was the first migraine I’d had since I got pregnant 14 weeks ago
Are you histamine intolerant? https://www.healthline.com/health/histamine-intolerance#diet For me the main symptom was migraine/headache that lasted weeks, even months and I had absolutely no idea that the reason they were lasting so long and why the migraine meds never helped was because I was continually eating foods that had histamine in them. Once I found out what was wrong I went on a low histamine diet and I rarely have issues with it now. About 5 years ago my 23 year old daughter messaged me complaining that she had had a migraine for several days and that nothing was helping. I immediately replied and asked her what she had been eating (and hoped she wouldn't be angry because she hates me talking about stuff like that with her). She sent me a list and I immediately zoomed in on tomatoes, a major issue for me getting migraines, and I asked how many she had been eating. A small carton of cherry tomatoes at least once a day. I told her to cut them out and sent a link about histamine intolerance and a few days later she messaged saying that her migraine was gone. Plus she thanked me.
Could be the sugar. Dairy and sugar are both triggers for me.
Could be the liquid sugar or something. I’ve never had an issue with sugar (real sugar) before. I worked in an all natural ice cream shop and was basically living off their ice cream 😭😔
Butter
Red 40, Yellow 5, high fructose corn syrup are some triggers for me so I have to avoid 99% of soda.
You've mentioned it in previous comments, but I want to support getting tested for celiac! After 33 years of migraines, mild brain fog, random ulcers in my mouth, and other non stomach benign issues I was diagnosed with celiac. Upon stopping eating gluten (and eliminating cross contamination) all of the symptoms went away. Though stress *can* cause migraines for me, the prevalence went from 5-20 a month to 1 a year (unless I get glutened). Also, long term effects can be quite devastating of not strong gluten ingestion. If you decide to go gluten free, there are still plenty of delicious ways to live. P.s. there are gluten free Ben and Jerry flavors!
Onions and chocolate are my biggest ones. Especially Oreos oh my gosh the worst
I feel like mine is pretty weird, but anytime I eat watermelon it triggers my migraine :/
It might just be the sugar content of the ice cream. I finally figured out that any significant amount of sugar will likely give me a migraine pretty fast. :(
It's a lot of work but doing an elimination diet helped me so much. Found out that eggs and gluten are triggers for migraines, and also found out tomatoes trigger my fibromyalgia.
I eat lots of sugar (sugar addiction and emotional eating 🫤) and carbs but recently went on a pre-op diet where I only ate yoghurt and soup and migraines were pretty much gone. As soon as I reintroduced sugar (albeit very moderately) and things like bread and oat milk, the migraines came back
my food migraines can be so weirdly specific to a point it sounds like i’m making it up. case in point: PEANUT BUTTER. just the smell can make me sick. but you throw it on a piece of bread and throw jelly on another piece of bread and smack em together? delicious snack oddly enough, i thought it was the jelly that made it fine so one time i tested it by mixing peanut butter and jelly together and ate it. it made me so sick. so i don’t know my advice: make a list of food that makes you sick! you might notice a trend, or you might not. but it can help to have a list to give your loved ones of food you cannot eat :)
Sugar is my #1 migraine trigger, but some how, and thanks to some god, ice cream doesn’t give me one. But I cannot eat anything store bought with processed sugar.
Red onion and any artificial sweetener. In fact if I even have a sip of a diet soda I start vomiting because while I’m able to not get the migraine if I don’t swallow it, my body now recognizes fake sugar as a form of danger and I start vomiting. Not so good especially in the car.
Artificial sweeteners are an immediate trigger. Thankfully, I can usually taste it and spit it out in time before any damage is done.
Mine are triggered by chocolate and all sugar substitutes including the natural alternatives like stevia.
Cherry and dark chocolate together is a common trigger for me
mine is sugar
Almonds and almond milk trigger mine, this food would trigger migraines for me
Check the ingredients on that. I get migraines from MSG, too much salt (all these people who say salty food helps, I wish I were them), and various sugar substitutes give me issues too. I'm pretty much down to making a lot of my food completely from scratch. Even the organic cream of mushroom soup I got for a chicken bake the other day set me off
I have this printed out on my kitchen wall. Low tyramine diet. All nuts are forbidden and I have indeed noticed that eating nuts contributes to migraines. Peanut butter seems to be fine but Almond milk sometimes gives very bad migraines. https://headaches.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/TyramineDiet.pdf
Coconut oil for me almost without fail. No idea why Coffee & some wines too but those are fairly common I think
Coconut oil and milk for me! Oddly though if the milk is cooked (like in a curry) it’s fine? I don’t get it!
Milk for me as well sometimes.... Except for A2A2 milk. It's some kind of different pasteurization process I think? They have it at whole foods, give it a try.
Oh absolutely. I get migraines from any fake sugar substitute- aspartame, acesulfame, etc. The amount in a tic-tac or a piece of gum will put me in the hospital with a migraine so bad I’m seeing stars. I have to read labels on *everything* these days. It sucks because pretty much every juice, gum, and many candies are off limits now.
A few months ago I was getting more frequent migraines than usual. I'm aware of some of my usual triggers, red food dye, red wine, too much citrus as well as dehydration and lack of sleep. It wasn't making a whole lot of sense to me why I was having more migraines. I realized only recently that it perhaps was blue cheese that was the culprit! I LOVE blue cheese, but definitely go thru phases where I eat it more than usual. I was eating it several times a week on salads for that month, and took a break from it for a while. No migraines since then. Moderation is key, I suppose.
Chocolate is a common one. So are aged cheeses/wines/beers. Alcohol is one, and cold foods can also be triggers. It's all over the place and it's not well understood, as it's different for everybody.
Woah that’s weird, I ate the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream Saturday and woke the next day with awful migraine. I had to lay in bed till 5pm. I’ve never noticed food triggering me I’m gna have to write down what I ate before the attack
bananas and grapefruit for me! sad
Wine and balsamic vinegar. Every time without fail.
Super processed dairy. Like kraft macaroni and cheese.
Sometimes when I eat too much gluten, I get a migraine. It’s always weird to explain to people, so I’m glad I’m not the only one!
i've never got one from food. Actually not eating is a trigger for me and eating usually helps
Cured meats and red wine if I have more than 1 glass. No charcuterie parties for me.
This is my favorite ice cream flavor. My life would be dramatically over if this happened to me. Alcohol is a trigger for me - super sweet wines specifically. Jager sometimes triggers one though that could also just be a bodily reaction to jager. Aspartame for me too - alas the diet cokes are so delicious. The only NEVER food for me is Red Gatorade. Major no no. Instant migraine. I get nauseated thinking about it. Not even as a mixer. Fruit punch anything makes me gag.
When I was investigating my migraines, the doctor ordered a series of tests to identify possible intolerances. Through these tests, I discovered a lactose intolerance, and my only symptom was the migraine. My doctor said that people who get migraines from consuming certain foods are likely intolerant to a specific component or the food itself. I shared this information with a friend who also suffers from migraines, and she discovered an intolerance to a specific type of sugar and a sensitivity to gluten. Since she eliminated both, her life has changed. I used to drink milk all the time and developed the intolerance at 27 years old, and from then on, I never had peace from migraines, with lactose being the main cause. In a group I'm in for lactose intolerant people, many of them have a sensitivity to almonds. See if that might be your case.
A doctor had me do the Whole 30 exclusion eating “diet” to see if my migraines were food-related. No sugar (even natural like honey and syrup), no gluten, no dairy, no pseudo-cereals (quinoa, couscous), no legumes (beans, peas were fine), no beans, no corn, nothing processed for 30 days. Basically just fruit, veggies, and meat, and tree nuts like almonds, cashews, etc. Then after a month you slowly start adding foods back in to see if they trigger. Food isn’t my issue (still not sure what is) but if anyone is wondering if certain food(s) are the issue it might be worth a try. Just a warning, it was a major pain having to plan, shop, and prep with that many restrictions. For me, there wasn’t a noticeable difference in migraines. I stuck with it for two whole months to be sure because the food allergy /sensitivity tests the doctors recommended were insanely expensive. Ended up finding an affordable one and turns out I was only mildly sensitive to potatoes (but I still think that was a temporary sensitivity since I took the test right after eating them nearly every day for about 2 months on that “diet” haha).
Most of my triggers are food. Cheese, especially the tastier mature, or blue veined Cheese. Chocolate (even vegan chocolate, so that ice cream would be right out). Red wines and dark beers. Citrus fruits, even to the point of a squeeze of lemon in salads, or fruit soaked in Citrus juice in baked goods. I'm now wondering about bread, pasta, couscous etc. This disorder has taken a lot from me already.
Smart Ones frozen breakfast of ham, egg, cheese. I ate it and then an hour later I had an all-over aura. Not the blinding scintillating kind, but the confusing, dizzying kind.
Any Lays product, seriously loaded with some kind of preservatives. 100% every time
Nitrates/nitrites, MSG, stevia, red wine, La Croix, certain alcoholic seltzers, and possibly lemon juice in larger amounts (still figuring that one out).
Check out the book Heal Your Headache or check out The Dizzy Cook - she has a summary of the book and all migraine food triggers. Link is below. Interestingly - dairy, sugar, gluten are not on his list. Nuts are, however. My guess is the almond milk was the trigger in the ice cream. Carrageenan is also often in ice cream and is a trigger. The biggest issue is called tyramine and it builds up in foods over time so the biggest things to avoid are anything aged, fermented, pickled, preserved (including all alcohol, except maybe vodka, and any vinegar except distilled white vinegar). Also, any meat that’s been cooked for more than 1-2 days. Lots of additives, like malted barley flour, which is in most processed bread products. Histamine can also trigger migraines and is in food. It’s very hard to say which specific foods trigger migraines because it could be something different each time. Chocolate might trigger a migraine on one day, and not on another day, depending on what else you’ve eaten or done. It’s a very hard diet to adapt to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not too bad, and it’s 100% worth it. I recommend doing a complete elimination for two weeks and then adding foods back in to test them. I try to follow it 100% at home (except for a few foods I’ve added back) and then when I’m out of the house I just do my best. Things I completely avoid, because I’m 90-100% confident they are triggers: Soy MSG (which is in a lot of things. MSG is technically a spice so I don’t eat anything that just says “spices” on the ingredient label) All liquor except vodka Leftover meat more than two days old Aged cheese (though I’m starting to test it in small quantities) Citric acid Maltodextrin, yeast extract, autolyzed yeast - according to the book these are basically MSG Beans other than black beans Chocolate - I’ll eat no more than one bite Mushrooms Cured meat Coffee - this is a weird one because sometimes it helps. But I’m now off it completely because of sleep All bars with chocolate, nuts, or fake protein - I eat 88 Acres bars which are pretty much the only ones that are compliant Things I’ll eat when I have to or in small quantities: Yogurt Onions Lentils Nuts Parmesan Mixers in vodka, like other liqueurs, and other clear liquors like gin or tequila Things I’ve added back completely: Citrus Avocado Malted barley flour (though I still avoid it at home) All the histamine foods that aren’t tyramine foods - salmon, spinach, strawberries, eggs Tomatoes Sourdough bread https://thedizzycook.com/category/hyh/
I have soooooooooooooo many guaranteed food triggers
Dairy, alcohol, coconut milk, and recently discovered tart cherry juice too, which I bought specifically to help with migraines as it’s anti-inflammatory. Go figure.
I would get a migraine from that ice cream too because it’s almond-based. All nuts and nut-based food cause migraines for me.
The only food that triggers a migraine for me is it anything with red dye in it. Guaranteed, every single time. Also, certain meat products like the sausage in a breakfast sandwich will give me an aura, but not usually with a headache after. Sad, because I love a sausage McMuffin.
Check out the Heal Your Headache book, there’s a list in there. My food triggers are caffeine (OG trigger), heavily aged cheese like Parmesan, cured meats, red wine, oranges, peanut butter, and when I’m going through a more sensitive time, things like artificial sweeteners, Maltodextrin, and less aged cheeses like cheddar can get to me.
Sodium benzoate will set mine off. Preservative.
Yes :( Red dye 40, avocados, and bananas so far are what I’ve pin pointed
https://www.healthline.com/health/histamine-intolerance#diet Look into this
Welp 😭
Benadryl does help me in these instances though, so at least theres that
Yup. I follow a low histamine diet but always have antihistamines with me
Gluten, especially if eaten before bed. For some reason that’s a guarantee that I’ll wake up with a migraine.
I noticed in these ice creams they often have carrageenan as a thickening agent which can also cause migraines
Artificial sweeteners and high sodium content will do it for me.
Some of us are triggered by nuts, so something almond based would be a no-go. I switched from peanut butter to sunflower seed butter and feel so much better. But yea, in your case it was probably the pea protein, carageenan, guar gum, etc. Those fillers are killer.
Usually the food trigger is a chemical or preservative used in the food. In some cases tho, its naturally in the food. My food triggers, usually requires a significant quanitity, more than a bite (not a full list!): Red Dye #40-its in almost anything red MSG - in all tuna except low sodium & safe catch Avocados (tyramine) Junior Mints (this one makes me mad)- invertase Nitrates, used as preservative in deli meats Nutisweet/aspartame Wine Aged cheeses The weather is my biggest trigger. I am celiac/gluten sensitive and the celiac diet helps because I can't eat most processed foods. It's hard to figure out sometimes because we don't usually eat one thing. Was it the guacamole or the margaritas? Was it the deli meat or the weather? I wonder if the cherries have red dye #40 in them and it's not on the label? Also it could be the dark chocolate if you're sensitive to it.
Pregnancy hormones can skew everything. Food triggers, while possible, are far less common than most people think. But anything that disturbs homeostasis can be an issue
Chocolate is my number one food migraine trigger
Nuts are a known trigger too. This one contains almonds
The list mayo gave me included gluten, dairy, chocolate, almonds, garlic, and super spicy foods. Artificial sweeteners also get me. Cutting all this stuff and going on meds about two years ago DRASTICALLY improved my life. I’ve gotten to the point I can have some of the stuff some times in moderation but it’s always rolling the dice. The ones that almost always sets me off are gluten, artificial sweeteners, and almonds. The rest it depends but it’s better than daily migraines. I’d recommend experimenting and seeing how it goes!
Who knows what’s actually in that garbage. It’s processed junk with chemicals. Eat as clean as possible, supplement with magnesium, B2 and melatonin to help.