Migraine Headache Relief: Discover your Migraine Triggers
Almost 28 million Americans are looking for migraine headache relief, about 13 percent of the U.S. population. Women experience migraine s more than men with the ratio of 3 to 1. According to the National Headache Foundation (NHF), common migraines sufferers are between ages twenty to forty five. Almost all healthcare practitioners agree that avoiding migraine triggers is the best way to achieve migraine headache pain relief. It is discovered by Sharon Herzfeld MD, that migraine food triggers are the most common cause of migraine pain. She named four main substances that cause migraine headache: tyramine, nitrates, MSG (monosodium glutamate) and caffeine.
Migraine Food Triggers: Key for Migraine Headache Relief
For you to attain natural migraine headache relief, it is best to identify these different migraine food triggers. Tyramine is a substance derived from the amino acid tyrosine. You can get tyrosine from eating aged cheese, beans, miso soup, red wine, grapes, grape juice, and soy sauce. Remember to avoid all cheese except ricotta, cottage cheese and cream cheese. The amount of tyramine in your food will depend on the processing, aging, fermentation, ripening or contamination. Spoiled, aged, over ripe and fermented foods are usually high in tyramine content. Also as a natural migraine relief you should limit the following food intake to 4 ounces a day: avocado, banana, raspberries, red plums, canned figs, citrus fruits or juices, and raisins.
Another substance to avoid is nitrates. They are normally present in many foods, but it is also added to some foods to retain freshness and pink color. Examples of foods with nitrates are smoked, aged, pickled, fermented, or marinated meats. For you to experience migraine pain relief it is best to avoid eating nitrates containing food like hotdogs, salami, bologna, pepperoni, bacon, liverwurst, luncheon meats, ham, herring, and smoked food.
MSG or monosodium glutamate is a food additive found in many processed foods. To avoid migraine attacks you have to refrain eating canned soup, barbecue sauce, potato chips, and spices. Also, caffeine should be avoided. For sure you are familiar with caffeine sources like coffee, tea, chocolate, colas and sodas. Other migraine food triggers to avoid are yeast and dairy products.
According to Dr. Herzfeld, if possible avoid these migraine food triggers for a month. And for the next month, try to re-introduce the food one by one in your diet. Now it is easy for you to identify those specific foods that are causing your migraine attacks.
Other Migraine Triggers:
Other common migraine triggers are environment (bright lights and smoke), emotions (stress and and anxiety), activity (irregular exercise and lack of sleep), hormones (menstrual cycle and oral contraceptives), and medications (overuse of OTC analgesics / pain relievers).
Now you know the trick in effectively achieving migraine headache relief – avoiding the triggers.
