If you suffer from migraines, it’s important to know what to avoid and how to prevent them
The best way to identify foods that may be triggering your migraine is to keep a daily food journal. A journal allows you to look back and identify specific foods that may be contributing. Not all triggers affect everybody, but here’s a list of commonly reported triggers:
- Chocolate and cocoa (Chocolate: milk, ice cream, pudding, cookies, cake, or pie). •
- Alcoholic beverages (especially red wine, beer, and sherry)
- Caffeine
- Nuts & nut butters
- Pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds.
- Fruits such as: Figs, raisins, papayas, avocados (especially if overripe), red plums, overripe bananas
- Beans such as: broad, fava, garbanzo, Italian, lima, navy, pinto, pole & string beans.
- Other vegetables such as: snow peas and onions (except for flavoring).
- Raw garlic
- Anything fermented, pickled or marinated (sauerkraut, olives, pickles).
- Freshly baked yeast bread or coffee cake, doughnuts, sourdough bread.
- Cultured dairy products (buttermilk, sour cream).
- Cheese: blue, brick (natural), Gouda, Gruyere, mozzarella, Parmesan, provolone, romano, Roquefort, cheddar, Swiss (emmentaler), Stilton, Brie types and Camembert types.
- Aged, canned, cured or processed meat, including ham or game, pickled herring, salted dried fish, sardines, anchovies, chicken livers, sausage, bologna, pepperoni, salami, summer sausage, hot dogs, pâté, caviar, mincemeat pie.
- Other high sodium products: Meat tenderizer, soy sauce, monosodium glutamate (MSG), seasoned salt, (Accent), canned soup, soup or bouillon cubes,
- Nutrasweet
- Excessive Vitamin A (over 25,000 I.U. daily).