Which Foods Cause Migraines?

Anyone who suffers from migraines will understand the importance of finding how we can avoid them or reduce the severity. They aren’t just bad headaches – they are completely debilitating. Previous research has suggested they can be caused by hormonal changes and environmental factors, but could food be another one of the triggers?

Hard to stomach

Researchers have found evidence to suggest migraine sufferers have a slightly different stomach make up to people who are less susceptible. Using oral and faecal samples from healthy participants, scientists were able to get an insight into people’s stomach content. They detected higher levels of a certain bacteria in samples from participants who suffered from migraines.

This bacteria, they reported, is linked to the process of breaking down nitrates. Nitrates are found in a number of foods like wine, processed meat, some vegetables and even chocolate. They’re an essential part of the diet, helping with cardiovascular health, testosterone production and keeping lots of things running smoothly. but if your body deals with them differently – as appears to be the case here – it can cause some problems.

How does this affect the brain?

With evidence of these bacteria at higher levels than normal, it might be that the nitrates are being broken down more and consequently parts of the brain are dilating, causing migraines. What should you do? For now, the best idea is to avoid these foods. Antonio Gonzalez, who led the study plans to test the theory with a controlled diet to examine the effect of changing nitrate levels on migraine sufferers.

It isn’t the first time nitrates have been linked to migraines. There is a commonly held view that chocolate causes migraines. However, research has actually found that the lead up to a migraine increases the cravings for sweet food like chocolate. So you are subconsciously led to chocolate just before a migraine. With these new findings, it could be that this is also making the upcoming migraine more severe.

Expanding our understanding

The more we know about nitrates, the more we can do to stop problems developing. It seems the essential thing is how our body deals with them. Scientists have previously found that abnormal metabolisation of nitrates can lead to nitrosamines forming within the body, which can be linked to some cancers, as discussed in ‘The Importance of the Analysis of Nitrosamines by a Thermal Energy Analyser (TEA) and Their Link to Cancer’.

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