Wiki Migraine

This eBook from Blue Heron Health News Back in the spring of 2008, Christian Goodman put together a group of like-minded people – natural researchers who want to help humanity gain optimum health with the help of cures that nature has provided. He gathered people who already know much about natural medicine and setup blueheronhealthnews.com. Today, Blue Heron Health News provides a variety of remedies for different kinds of illnesses. All of their remedies are natural and safe, so they can be used by anyone regardless of their health condition. Countless articles and eBooks are available on their website from Christian himself and other natural health enthusiasts, such as Julissa Clay , Shelly Manning , Jodi Knapp and Scott Davis. The Migraine And Headache Program™ By Christian Goodman This program has been designed to relieve the pain in your head due to any reason including migraines efficiently and effectively. The problem of migraine and headaches is really horrible as it compels you to sit in a quiet and dark room to get quick relief. In this program more

Managing migraines with an elimination diet.

An elimination diet can be a helpful way to treat migraines in some individuals because certain foods and food additives are known migraine attack triggers. The basis of an elimination diet is to systematically remove potential trigger foods from your diet and then add them back one at a time to see which ones might be triggering your migraines.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to treating migraines with an elimination diet:

1. Know Common Migraine Triggers
Before starting an elimination diet, it is important to know common migraine triggers. Some of the most common foods and foods that trigger migraines are:

Aged cheeses (cheddar, blue cheese, parmesan)

Caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks)

Processed meats (salami, pepperoni, hot dogs, bacon)

Chocolate

Citrus fruits

Nuts and seeds

Alcohol (especially red wine)

MSG (monosodium glutamate), a food additive

Artificial sweeteners (e.g., aspartame)

Fermented foods (pickles, soy sauce)

Food preservatives (sulfites in wine, dried fruit)

Gluten (in certain cases, although this is not as common)

2. Elimination Phase (4-6 Weeks)
The first phase of the elimination diet involves removing all suspected migraine-triggering foods from your diet for about 4 to 6 weeks. During this time, you’ll focus on eating a clean, whole-food-based diet. The goal is to give your body a chance to reset and reduce any inflammatory triggers.

Foods to include:

Fresh fruits (excluding citrus if it’s a known trigger)

Fresh vegetables (excluding nightshades if sensitive)

Whole grains (rice, oats, quinoa, barley)

Lean proteins (chicken, turkey, fish, tofu)

Healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds)

Herbal teas (such as ginger, peppermint, or chamomile)

Avoid:

Any food or beverage that can possibly be a trigger, as mentioned earlier.

Processed or packaged foods that tend to contain preservatives, artificial sweetener, or MSG.

3. Monitoring Your Symptoms
During your elimination phase, be sure to track your frequency and severity of migraines. Maintain a thorough food diary in which you note all food and drink that you take and note any migraine attacks. You can also note the severity and length of the migraine, which might uncover patterns. If the migraines stop or improve when you are in your elimination phase, this might suggest that food triggers are contributing greatly.

4. Reintroduction Phase (1 Food at a Time)
After the elimination phase is the reintroduction of foods individually, usually 3 to 5 days apart. This allows you to see how each food interacts with your body. If you develop a migraine when introducing a specific food, it is likely a trigger. Reintroduce only one food at a time to pinpoint it with certainty.

Example:

Day 1: Reintroduce dairy (milk or cheese) and watch for symptoms.

Day 3-5: If no migraine, reintroduce the next suspected trigger (e.g., chocolate).

Repeat this process for each food you removed.

5. Identify and Eliminate Triggers
When you have reintroduced all foods, you should gain a good understanding of what food causes your migraine. You may then eliminate those foods from your diet completely or limit how much of them you consume. A few people notice they have quite a few different triggers, some people may respond to only a couple of food items.

6. Eat a Balanced, Migraine-Friendly Diet
Once you’ve identified and eliminated triggers, focus on maintaining a well-balanced, anti-inflammatory diet. The following strategies can help:

Eat Regular Meals: Skipping meals can trigger migraines in some individuals, so it’s important to eat balanced meals and snacks throughout the day.

Stay Hydrated: Dehydration is a common migraine trigger. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Limit Caffeine: Caffeine is a trigger for some, so try to avoid it if this includes you, but where small amounts are accepted, it can indeed be employed to ease symptoms of a migraine.

Add Magnesium-Rich Foods: Magnesium is known to prevent migraines. Leafy green vegetables, seeds, nuts, and whole grains are rich sources of magnesium.

Add Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines are high in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids, which may reduce the number of migraines.

7. Long-Term Management
For most people, an elimination diet is only one aspect of an overall migraine management program. If you are able to successfully trigger and avoid foods, you can incorporate other methods to control your migraines long-term, such as:

Medication: Preemptive medication and analgesics can manage migraines.

Reduction of Stress: Since stress is one of the most common triggers for migraines, relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, or slow breathing might be beneficial.

Sleep Hygiene: Sleeping enough and maintaining a regular sleep schedule can reduce the frequency of migraines.
Seek Guidance from a Healthcare Professional: You should consult a healthcare professional, such as a doctor or dietitian, prior to starting an elimination diet. They can help you ensure that you’re implementing balanced changes in your diet and guide you through the process.

Nutritional Balance: Taking all these foods away can cause nutritional imbalances, so it’s important to maintain variety in your diet and, if needed, take supplements.

Be Patient: The process of elimination and food reintroduction may take some time, and the effects are not immediately observed. Consistency is the key.

Conclusion
Elimination diet can also prove to be a useful weapon in migraine treatment because it can help determine and eliminate certain food triggers. However, it must be handled methodically and professionally to avoid disrupting nutritional balance and permanent success. A significant number of individuals find great relief through the process, and when used along with other lifestyle changes, it proves to be a very potent tool in migraine attack treatment.
Vitamin deficiencies have also been linked with other neurological disorders, including migraines, and several studies have shown that reduced levels of some vitamins may increase the frequency and severity of migraine attacks. Migraines are polyfactorial and several factors influence them, and while vitamin deficiencies per se may not be the only causative factor, they may be part of the migraine burden. Below is a summary of the possible impact of various vitamin deficiencies on migraine frequency:

1. Vitamin D Deficiency
Vitamin D is crucial to brain function, and deficiency has also been associated with increased risk for chronic pain, such as migraines.

Mechanism: Vitamin D is implicated in regulation of inflammation, immune reaction, and neurotransmission, all of which are implicated in the initiation of migraines. Deficiency results in enhanced sensitivity of neurons and increased susceptibility to migraine provocation.

Research Findings: Research has indicated that people with lower concentrations of vitamin D are more likely to have frequent and severe migraines. Certain clinical trials have indicated that taking vitamin D as a supplement decreases the frequency and severity of migraines in people with deficiencies.

Conclusion: Maintaining sufficient levels of vitamin D could be a significant part of migraine treatment, especially in those who have established deficiencies.

2. Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) Deficiency
Riboflavin is a water-soluble vitamin B that is essential in energy production and function of the mitochondria. Riboflavin deficiency has been reported to influence migraines.

Mechanism: Riboflavin is utilized in ATP (adenosine triphosphate) synthesis within the mitochondria, essential for cellular energy. Migraines have been associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, and riboflavin supplementation has been reported to improve mitochondrial function, possibly reducing migraine frequency.

Research Results: Riboflavin has also been explored as a prophylactic drug to be used to cure migraines, and studies have found that it helps lower the number of attacks experienced by chronic migraine sufferers. Migraine sufferers can make frequency and severity of migraines greater through deficiency of riboflavin, although supplementation is occasionally more than the normal recommended daily allowance.

Conclusion: Riboflavin supplementation, especially in patients with low levels, has been shown to reduce the frequency of migraines and could prove a valuable addition to conventional migraine therapy.

3. Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) Deficiency
Vitamin B6 is involved in the synthesis of neurotransmitters, serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), both of which are important for pain control.

Mechanism: Impairment in the activity of neurotransmitters due to vitamin B6 deficiency may result in mood disorders and enhanced perception of pain, thereby contributing to the aggravation of migraine frequency.

Research Findings: In spite of limited evidence for direct relationships between vitamin B6 deficiency and the frequency of migraine, some studies indicate that supplementation with B6, when combined with other therapy, may alleviate overall symptoms of migraine.

Conclusion: Vitamin B6 deficiency may potentially aggravate the severity of migraine, and supplementation may help in improving migraine control, particularly for those who are B6 deficient.

4. Vitamin B12 Deficiency
Vitamin B12 is important in keeping nerves healthy, and its deficiency would lead to disturbances in the nerves such as nerve damage and heightened pain sensitivity, which would increase the frequency of migraine attacks.

Mechanism: Vitamin B12 maintains the nervous system and plays a role in nerve cell integrity. Deficiency of it can cause neurological dysfunction, including increased pain sensitivity, which may initiate or worsen migraine attacks.

Research Findings: Some research has shown that individuals with vitamin B12 deficiency can experience a higher frequency of migraines. Supplementation of B12 has been found to alleviate migraine symptoms to some extent, but more research is needed for a direct correlation between B12 deficiency and increased frequency of migraine.

Conclusion: Vitamin B12 deficiency may be one of the reasons for migraine frequency, particularly in the context of neurological symptoms. Supplementation with B12 may reduce the frequency of migraine attacks in some patients.

5. Vitamin C Deficiency
Vitamin C is an important antioxidant that reduces oxidative stress and inflammation. While its pathophysiological mechanism in migraine is unclear, vitamin C deficiency may be an etiologic factor in migraine frequency due to its effects on oxidative damage and inflammation.

Mechanism: Inflammation and oxidative stress have been linked to migraine pathophysiology. Since vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, it is possible that these processes can be reversed by vitamin C, hence reducing the frequency and severity of migraines.

Research Findings: There are a few studies that suggest higher levels of vitamin C reduce the severity of migraines, but more evidence needs to be obtained to establish a direct link between vitamin C deficiency and migraine frequency.

Conclusion: Adequate consumption of vitamin C may possibly prove beneficial in alleviating migraines, especially among those who are deficient in it or have oxidative stress.

6. Folate (Vitamin B9) Deficiency
Folate is involved in cellular functions and has to do with the regulation of neurotransmitters. Deficiency results in dysfunction in the nerves, including hypersensitivity to pain.

Mechanism: Folate plays a role in neurotransmitter synthesis, including serotonin, which regulates pain and mood. Deficiency of folate could interfere with the function of serotonin, thus leading to more or more severe migraine attacks.

Research Findings: A direct link between the deficiency of folate and migraines is still under investigation, but certain studies suggest that folate supplementation reduces the frequency and severity of migraines in individuals with low folate status.

Conclusion: Folate supplementation could potentially have a role to play in reducing migraine frequency, especially in individuals with deficiencies or related conditions such as elevated homocysteine levels.

Conclusion
Vitamin deficiencies such as vitamin D, B2 (riboflavin), B6 (pyridoxine), B12, and folate deficiency can cause migraines and also lead to their frequency and severity. Providing adequate intake of these vitamins, either through diet or supplementation, could be a useful aspect of a multimodal regimen for the prevention and treatment of migraine. However, it must always be remembered that migraines are multifactorial in origin, and the correction of vitamin deficiency is only one part of an overall regimen that may include drugs, lifestyle change, and other modalities.

Patients who experience frequent migraines and suspect a vitamin deficiency must consult with their doctor, who can recommend the right testing and course of treatment.

Blue Heron Health News

Back in the spring of 2008, Christian Goodman put together a group of like-minded people – natural researchers who want to help humanity gain optimum health with the help of cures that nature has provided. He gathered people who already know much about natural medicine and setup blueheronhealthnews.com.

Today, Blue Heron Health News provides a variety of remedies for different kinds of illnesses. All of their remedies are natural and safe, so they can be used by anyone regardless of their health condition. Countless articles and eBooks are available on their website from Christian himself and other natural health enthusiasts, such as Shelly Manning Jodi Knapp and Scott Davis.

About Christian Goodman

Christian Goodman is the CEO of Blue Heron Health News. He was born and raised in Iceland, and challenges have always been a part of the way he lived. Combining this passion for challenge and his obsession for natural health research, he has found a lot of solutions to different health problems that are rampant in modern society. He is also naturally into helping humanity, which drives him to educate the public on the benefits and effectiveness of his natural health methods.