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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Thirteen percent of adults suffer from migraines, with women outnumbering men 3 to 1. Although 99% of women and 93% of men will have headaches during their lifetime, migraine headaches are different. They are unrelenting, lasting anywhere from 4 to 72 hours, and they interfere with your normal activity. Experts feel 80% to 90% of migraines have a genetic base, which simply means someone else in your family suffered as well.
To separate migraines from regular headaches there are a number of symptoms that must be present. Some people have a halo or flashing lights that appears in the eyes just before the onset of pain. This is actually good because it gives the person time to take medication or activate some behavior change which can stop the migraine from starting or reduce the pain. Other symptoms are: pain for several hours or days; pain that affects only one side of the head which is moderate to severe and may be pulsating; nausea; vomiting; sensitivity to light or sound; and no evidence of disease that might be causing the migraine. If the person has at least five or more such headache episodes, with some or all of these symptoms, the diagnosis is migraine.
Experts believe that it takes migraine pain anywhere from 1 to 4 hours to travel deep into the brain. This means if a migraine can be caught as it starts, there will be better results treating the pain. We still don’t know if migraines are a progressive condition that will get worse over time. Some episodic sufferers do progress to daily headaches, though most aren’t of migraine intensity. And, for women after menopause, 70% to 80% have a lessening of the problem and for some, migraines disappear altogether.
Medications are frequently used to treat migraines and for many they are effective but for others the medication becomes less effective over time. Because of this experts are looking at lifestyle factors to see if they can affect the incidence and severity of migraines. Regular sleep habits, eating well and exercise seems to be very helpful for some. We do know that obesity, smoking and alcohol use can aggravate the condition, so a healthy lifestyle approach coupled with relaxation techniques and acupuncture may be a first step in treatment.
A number of foods have been suggested as migraine triggers – aspartame, caffeine, chocolate, yogurt and buttermilk, beans, MSG, nuts and nut butters, nitrates and nitrites used to processed deli meats and hotdogs, aged cheese, meat extracts, fermented soy foods, yellow dye #6, and sulfates found in red wine, alcohol and dried fruits. Though none of these foods have conclusively been connected to migraines, most experts will tell you that the condition has a great deal of individuality. What causes a migraine for one person, may not for another.
Each migraine sufferer needs to be his or her own detective. Though we cannot give specific dietary recommendations we can offer general guidelines which in many cases ease symptoms and reduces the incidence of migraines.
Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day. Dehydration is a trigger for some.
Eat whole grain and high fiber foods to help stabilize blood sugar. Both
low blood sugar and having diabetes can increase the risk for
migraines.
Choose lean protein foods at every meal.
Have several small meals throughout the day and do not go without eating
for long periods during the day.
Lose weight if you are overweight.
Keep a migraine journal to identify individual triggers. For every migraine: note the date and time the pain began; your stress level; food and drinks consumed; weather, where you were when the migraine started, amount and quality of sleep the night before, did you exercise (for some migraines can be exercise induced, for others exercise helps to prevent migraines); for women timing of your menstrual cycle; and the length and severity of the migraine. Keeping a journal is probably the smartest thing you can do. It will give your health care provider a clear picture of events before and during your migraine. Patterns may emerge that will make your treatment far more effective.
You should know – Does a gluten-free diet work for migraines?
Though it is the most commonly prescribed diet, its major effect appears to come from the fact that people now eat and drink regularly and pay more attention to what they eat. If a person with celiac disease also suffers from migraines, a gluten-free diet does appear to reduce symptoms.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales in excess of 8.5 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Calorie Counter, 5th Ed., 2010
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
The Diabetes Carbohydrate and Calorie Counter, 3rd Ed., 2007
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to The Nutrition Experts
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