Suffer from Migraine?
Any migraine sufferer will tell you there is a big difference between having a bit of a headache and suffering from migraine. A headache is usually a one off occurrence stemming from a specific cause such as being tired, ill or hitting your head against a brick wall. A migraine may well only occur once in a lifetime but for the majority it is a chronic condition that can flare up once a month or three times a week and range from mild head pain to totally disabling agony.
Migraines are believed to stem from the excessive contraction of an artery in the brain that produces over-dilation and blood flow to the area of the brain supplied by that artery. This results in intense pressure and malfunctioning to that part of the brain and other symptoms depending on which artery and part of the brain is affected. So if severe head pain isn’t enough, sufferers can also experience nausea, pain to light or noise, sight problems, personality changes, numbness and muscle paralysis.
What causes this over-dilation is varied and in some cases, unknown. Factors include stress, hormonal changes, sudden shock, smoking, high alcohol or caffeine intake and diet. What we can safely say is it is never one thing or the same trigger every time. For many sufferers, there are so many triggers that normal daily living becomes seriously affected.
It is well recognized that certain foods are well known migraine inducers. Cheese, chocolate and red wine are the main culprits and also unfortunately, feature highly in a typical western diet. Food additives, artificial sweetners, tea, coffee, fizzy drinks, dairy, wheat, seafood and onions are also high on the culprit list making the job of compiling a safe diet so stressful you could end up bringing on a migraine anyway. There is also a danger of eliminating so many foods that your diet becomes scarily unhealthy and doesn’t help the problem at all. One thing we do know about migraine is that the more you look after your health through a nutritious diet, regular eating patterns, managing stress, taking relaxation breaks and positive stimulation, the easier it will be to control your condition and restore quality of life. So when it comes to diet, where do you start?
There are multiple reasons why food can influence this condition. Firstly it can be the chemical make up of the food. Those high in amines such as histamine make up the list of usual suspects. Foods that influence blood sugar can also trigger the condition. Highly stimulating foods that are high in fat, sugar or refined carbohydrates and irregular eating patterns can throw blood sugar levels all over the place. Chemicals added to food in processing or refining are also known irritants. With many, a simple elimination experiment can determine which of these foods do and don’t cause problems.
Secondly, there is no getting away from the fact that virtually everything in the body is made and run on the nutrients we get from food. If your diet is poor then the chances are, so will your bodily health. If you suffer from a chronic condition, making sure your diet is rich and well balanced in vital nutrients is doubly important as your body needs that little bit of extra help. Symptoms can improve just by changing your diet to a healthier one, rich in basic pure foods such as fish and vegetables and low in heavily processed and refined foods.
Finally, triggering the immune system can also trigger dilation of the arteries. One of the instigators of dilation is from the immune response working to combat the treat of illness or injury. Normally a rapid and pronounced immune response is only triggered in this way but for those suffering from allergies, the immune response inappropriately activates when certain foods are eaten. Those suffering from allergies are well aware of this as the reaction is instantaneous and usually pretty severe but those suffering from a delayed allergy better known as a food intolerance, symptoms are usually delayed, sometimes by hours or even days and this can make it very difficult to isolate the dietary culprit or even associate food as the problem.
In the first two examples, by elimination or dietary improvement, symptoms can improve and be managed but if food intolerance is an influencing factor, controlling or understanding why migraine attacks occur is limited and this can add to the distress and frustration of the condition. If you have tried all the normal self help advice, exhausted all the medical angles and you are still suffering from migraine, then food intolerance could be the missing piece of the jigsaw you have been desperately searching for. There are two ways of determining if you are suffering from a food intolerance; through dietart elimination or by taking a clinically validated test.
As the symptoms of food intolerance are usually delayed, deciding where to start eliminating can be very tricky as any food you are eating could be potentially responsible. You will need to cut out one food or food group such as cereals or dairy, one at a time for two weeks. If you get good results, then you are on the right track, if you have no change then you need to target another food. The trouble with this method is it is very laborious, takes forever, involves a lot of planning and organization and you could end up with a very unhealthy diet.
Taking a test is by far the easiest, quickest and most accurate way of pinpointing food intolerances but as testing is not available on the NHS, finding an appropriate test can be confusing and expensive. My advice is to always select a test that has scientific provenance, has been clinically validated and provides you with support, information and after care. Good tests are definitely not the cheapest but worth it if they can help you restore quality back into your life.
