If you are among the millions of migraine sufferers, you know how painful, frightening and debilitating it can be. Approximately 39 million Americans suffer from migraines—a staggering statistic indeed! Migraine is a difficult condition to manage because the triggering and aggravating factors are multi-factorial and highly individual. The most important point to keep in mind is that once you know your triggers, you can prevent and manage migraine much more effectively.
This post doesn’t attempt to provide an exhaustive review of migraine symptoms, causes and remedies. Rather, it covers seven key points I have found incredibly important in supporting clients with migraines in my nutritional therapy practice.
Know your Triggers
There are some people who have specific triggers that always cause migraine upon exposure and who can avoid migraines completely by avoiding those triggers. For example, if every time you drink a cup of coffee or take a sip of red wine, you get a migraine and never get them otherwise, you can avoid your trigger food. Unfortunately, for most people, the situation is not so straightforward because there may be multiple triggers, and experiences may be inconsistent.
What if you get a migraine 8 times out of 10 when you drink coffee? What if you get a migraine when you consume some types of cheese but not others? For most people, a combination of factors can trigger migraine, whereas just one alone won’t. Imagine that each factor below adds a certain amount of water to your migraine “bucket” in a way that is unique to you.
- Emotional stress
- Lack of sleep
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Hormonal imbalances
- Allergies, sensitivities (food, environmental, chemical)
- Dehydration, electrolyte imbalances
- Structural/musculoskeletal (tension, misalignment, TMJ dysfunction, poor posture, injury, atlantoaxial instability, craniocervical instability, etc.)
- Stress on the detoxification pathways
- Sensory overload (noise, lights, some kinds of motion, some odors, etc.)
- Digestive, gut or immune stress
- Inflammation
- Mitochondrial health issues
- Histamine intolerance
- Mast cell activation
- Vascular issues – vasodilation, vasoconstriction, high or low blood pressure, intracranial hypertension
- An underlying health condition, whether diagnosed or not
- Poor antioxidant status
- Insufficient vitamin D levels
This isn’t a comprehensive list, and not all the items in the list apply to everyone equally. However, the more of your trigger factors are active at any given time, the more vulnerable you are to a flare-up!
A Few Examples
Imagine that you’re trying to finish up a big project for work. You’re stressed, overworked and spending extra hours sitting in front of your computer, slouching and squinting… Maybe you’re drinking more coffee than usual to keep working late into the night. Sometimes you keep working right through mealtime or snack on chips or chocolate instead of having a proper meal. That definitely does sound like a recipe for disaster if you’re prone to migraines!
Or imagine that every time your period approaches, you become a chocolate fiend. For some women, the combination of hormonal stress (which is by definition also stress on the liver, responsible for clearing hormones) and a trigger food (or more than one, in the case of chocolate plus sugar, or chocolate, sugar and gluten if you’re eating chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate croissants, etc.) can definitely fill up the bucket. Of course, the bucket fills up even faster if you’re sleeping poorly or in a state of stress, pain and inflammation due to cramps, breast tenderness and muscle tension at that time of the month!
Decrease Stress
The more effectively you manage stress, the easier it will be not to overfill your bucket. This is so important, not only with migraine but with any and every health concern you can imagine. Unfortunately, we can’t control all the areas in our life that cause stress. However, if you list all your sources of stress and highlight the ones you can eliminate or alleviate, you may be surprised at how much control you actually have!
Don’t forget to ask people around you for support. If you are chemically sensitive and work in close contact with a colleague who regularly uses perfume, don’t hesitate to mention your sensitivity. Most people are incredibly accommodating and considerate!
Eat Real Food
Additives such as preservatives, artificial flavors and colors and MSG are frequent migraine triggers. They add no nutritional value to what you eat and have no redeeming characteristics. On the other hand, fresh whole foods in their natural form are much more nourishing to your body. They are much less likely than processed foods to cause inflammation. Once you eliminate non-food ingredients from your diet, it’s a lot easier to identify your food triggers. If you are eating a healthy, nutrient-dense diet and still experiencing migraines, make sure you reach out for help!
Support gut health
Good gut health means good digestion, a stronger immune system and better nutrient absorption. A balanced gut microbiota means your body is less likely to be overloaded with histamine in excess of what your body can clear. Because histamine excess can trigger migraine, it’s definitely in your best interest to maintain a balance. Rebalancing gut health is an area where nutritional therapy can be incredibly effective.
Enhance Mineral Balance
Mineral balance can have a huge impact on migraines, Balanced minerals improve the function of muscle and vascular tissue. Additionally, it favors good hydration, proper detoxification and balanced blood pressure. Read more about mineral balance here.
Address Underlying Health Problems
Numerous health problems can aggravate or trigger migraines. These include hormonal imbalances, insomnia, fibromyalgia, POTS, hypothyroidism, connective tissue disorders, scoliosis, food and environmental sensitivities, occult tethered cord syndrome and more. The better your overall health, the less likely you are to have migraines.
Interestingly, some of my clients’ migraines were resolved just by correcting insufficient vitamin D levels and addressing poor antioxidant status. Sometimes people will need to address multiple interconnected layers for their migraines to resolve.
Identify Hidden Toxic Exposures
Toxic exposures can trigger or worsen migraines by creating inflammation, oxidative stress, compromised gut health, hormonal imbalances and nutritional deficiencies. Among common toxic exposures of concern for migraineurs are mercury, plastics, pesticides, herbicides, artificial fragrances, dryer sheets, dry-cleaning chemicals, car exhaust and flame retardants. Of course, once you identify them, you need to limit exposures without going crazy or spending a fortune!
Let’s work together!
Because migraines are such a complex and multi-faceted area of health, it’s a good idea to work with an experienced professional. When you reach out to me for migraine support, I take your full history, analyze your food journal and connect the dots for an objective and comprehensive picture of triggering factors. On this basis, I will help you build a practical and implementable tool kit that you can draw from for prevention, maintenance and relief.
Join my Mentoring group for Nutrition Practitioners!
And if you’re a holistic healthcare practitioner looking to provide excellent client-centered support to people with migraines, check out my case study group, where you can learn from me.