Re: The Migraine Diet
Judith Warner at the NYT recently wrote a column about her experience attempting to regulate her migraines though her diet.
I get the occasional migraine, and let me tell you - do they suck. In June I got one so bad that I vomited every time someone spoke to me. If I’m asleep when I get the sparkly crosshatches in my left eye that warn one is coming, I can be knocked out for most of the day. So I was looking forward to reading Warner’s article in the hopes that her diet modifications would be less draconian than the ones my doctor suggested.
They weren’t:
I stopped drinking caffeine and alcohol and stopped eating chocolate, cheese, M.S.G., nuts, vinegar, citrus fruits, bananas, raspberries, avocados, onions, fresh bagels and donuts, pizza, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, aspartame and all aged, cured, fermented, marinated, smoked, tenderized or nitrate-preserved meats.
So, pretty much everything I love to eat - except for chocolate; that’s the one I could actually do without (and aspartame).
I remember asking my doctor if I could just carry Excedrin in my bag instead of ridiciously restricting my diet for something that usually happens once a month or less. We agreed that this was a better solution.
Seriously, how insane is this list? Can you imagine trying to cut out all of these items? I reckon I’d have scurvy (citrus), a yeast infection (yoghurt) and horrible cramps (bananas) within a month.
Also, since my dream is to die in a pool of guacamole - it’s just not going to work out.
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October 28th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
I thought it was a pile of puppies you wanted to die in…
October 28th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Oh, look. I’m easy.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:15 am
No kidding
October 29th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Is this really where you want to go with this, Mrs. Tour Guide?
October 29th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I think the point is that migraines may stem from any one of those foods. Try eliminating one at a time to see if it makes a difference. My friend Cassidy believes her migraines are linked to MSG and since cutting that out of her diet has not suffered from them as often. I think it may be a form of allergic reaction.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
I agree about the allergic reaction thing. Since the one in June I’ve cut out red goon from my diet. I still get migraines but none like that one.
I haven’t had any luck finding common themes in what I ate/drank the night before migraines. And I get them so rarely that taking out all nuts until I get a migraine again, and so on seems too hard. Also because I like avocados lots and am willing to suffer for them.