Have you ever wondered if that glass of red wine with dinner might have triggered the pounding headache you felt later that night? The answer might be yes.
"Several studies show a link between food and beverages and migraines," says Thomas Berk, MD, neurologist and headache specialist at NYU Langone Health and Assistant Professor of Neurology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Migraine affects over one billion people worldwide, and 39 million in the US alone. Learn more about the disease, including the most common foods that can trigger a migraine.
The difference between headaches and migraines is largely to do with the severity of the pain.
A headache can be uncomfortable and last for hours to days. Whereas a migraine is considered to be a neurological disease and the most debilitating type of headache, with more than 90% of sufferers incapable of working or doing normal activities during a migraine attack.
"A headache is any kind of pain in the head or face, and there are over 120 different kinds of headaches, which include migraines," says Berk.
A migraine generally includes severe throbbing pain, typically on one side of the head, and it can last from four to 72 hours. Additional symptoms may include sensitivity to light, sound, and smell, nausea, vomiting, and a visual disturbance known as an aura.
"There is no universal food or beverage that triggers migraines," says Berk. Everyone predisposed to migraines has different triggers, some of which may be food or drink-related. Whatever the trigger may be, all migraine triggers affect the brain in the same way by lowering the threshold to migraines.
Here's an example of what could happen. You drink a glass of wine, which is a migraine trigger for you. That drink leads to the creation of inflammatory neurotransmitters that are produced in the brain. Those neurotransmitters make the blood vessels around the brain dilate, and the nerve endings send signals back to the brain to feel symptoms such as pain, sensitivity to light, nausea, and more.
Based on Berk's research and discussions with patients, here is his list of the eight most common foods, drinks, and food-related triggers for migraine headaches:
"Migraine disease is complex and affected by many factors," says Simy Parikh, MD, program director of Thomas Jefferson University's Post-Graduate Certificate Program in Advanced Headache Diagnosis and Management and Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Thomas Jefferson University.
Here Parikh offers some steps you can take to potentially reduce migraine triggers:
Eat healthily and consistently. You may have noticed that the migraine trigger list was lacking a few major food groups "healthy" foods such as fruits, vegetables, and protein, in particular. A 2020 review showed that most "migraine-friendly" healthy eating plans, such as low-fat diets, provided a decrease in the frequency of migraine attacks.
In addition to eating healthy foods, it's important to keep a consistent eating schedule to avoid migraines.
"Low blood glucose can trigger headaches," says Parikh. To keep your blood sugar steady, eat at roughly the same time every day without an extended amount of time between meals, she says. Parikh also suggests to all of her patients to maintain a healthy diet and weight.
Track food triggers and eliminate them from your diet. Since multiple factors contribute to migraines, many sufferers keep a headache diary. This is where they can list the frequency, duration, and intensity of migraines, as well as possible triggers, including food and drink.
If a food, beverage, or additive is identified as a possible trigger, Parikh suggests avoiding it for a month to see what happens. It's important to eliminate only one potential exposure each month, otherwise, you won't be certain what is triggering an attack.
Tracking the impact of a dietary change can help distinguish actual food triggers from migraine-associated food cravings. It's also important to work with a doctor when making any diet changes, says Parikh.
Get your sleep. Sleep and migraine are closely linked. A 2020 review showed the two-way relationship between sleep disorders and migraines. In other words, poor sleep quality is a trigger for migraines, and migraine sufferers are also at an increased risk of sleep disorders. To reduce the risk of sleep as a trigger for migraines, Parikh recommends that her patients stick to a specific sleep schedule.
Reduce stress. Stress can also trigger migraines. In fact, in one study, four out of every five people with migraines reported stress as a trigger. Here are some ways to reduce stress:
Certain foods, drinks, and additives may trigger migraines, and tracking them in a headache diary with one elimination per month may be helpful. Getting good quality sleep, exercise, and reducing stress can also reduce migraine attacks.
Migraines can be brutally painful and life-altering. The causes of migraines are complex and not always known. However, research has shown that there are ways to potentially lessen the frequency, duration, and intensity of attacks.
Parikh emphasizes that it's important to support migraine sufferers and not blame them for trigger exposures that may provoke migraine attacks. "There are many factors that come together to cause migraines, and you can do everything 'right' and still get them," she says.
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