“This is the season in which many people overindulge in things that can trigger attacks of migraine,” said Dr. Dodick. “It’s important to think through food and beverage choices, to help reduce the risk of having a migraine attack.”
Dr. Dodick and the Foundation offer the following tips, which can also be found on http://www.americanmigrainefoundation.org/resources-and-links/spotlight-on-tis-the-season/, along with a wealth of other consumer-friendly tips on reducing migraine risk while enjoying the holidays: • Skipping or missing meals is a much more common trigger of migraine than any particular food, so be sure to eat regularly during the day. That’s three meals … don’t skip breakfast!
• Avoid eating within a few hours of bedtime or drinking caffeinated beverages after early afternoon. • Identify potential dietary triggers. Start keeping a migraine diary now, and see if you can identify particular foods that are followed by a migraine attack at least half of the time you eat them. Avoid those foods, especially during the holidays when stress and other holiday factors may make you more susceptible to attacks. • Red wine is a common migraine trigger for some people, so opt for white wine or another beverage instead, unless you discover that these others are also migraine triggers for you. And because alcohol and dehydration can trigger migraines, be sure to drink in moderation. Alternating a glass of water with an alcoholic beverage will help. • Practice healthy eating habits: In addition to not skipping meals, limit your intake of processed foods, sodium, sugar, and caffeinated and carbonated drinks.
“Knowing your food triggers and planning in advance can increase your enjoyment of holiday activities with fewer migraine attacks,” said Dr. Dodick. “If you don’t know whether you have food triggers, we suggest trying to eliminate specific dietary foods and beverages, such as red wine, processed meats, nuts, chocolate, aged cheese, monosodium glutamate, and gluten-containing foods, to see if they are causing migraine attacks. If these attacks decrease, introducing these items back one at a time can identify the culprit(s), should they exist. Not everyone with migraine has food triggers, but for those with these triggers, avoiding them can often mean fewer migraine attacks.”
For more information on migraine food triggers and how to identify them, see Migraine Management – Migraine Food Triggers.
The American Migraine Foundation recently redesigned its site (www.americanmigrainefoundation.org) to include a range of resources, including a new monthly “Spotlight,” where migraine sufferers and the public can turn for more detailed information about living with and managing many aspects of migraine. “Spotlight” will change topics approximately once a month. The current Spotlight is “’Tis the Season for Holiday Headaches,” a feature packed with information on how people with migraine can help reduce the likelihood that activities during the winter holidays will trigger more frequent migraine attacks. In addition to the subject discussed above, the site includes articles on “Seasonal Triggers of Migraines,” “Migraine and Sleep During the Holidays,” “Tips for Managing Stress During the Holidays,” and “’Tis the Season for Major Migraines” (an article covering a range of potential holiday-related migraine triggers), as well as useful links.
ABOUT MIGRAINE
Some 36 million Americans live with migraine, more than have asthma and diabetes combined. An estimated three to seven million Americans live with chronic migraine, a highly disabling neurological disorder. Migraine can be extremely disabling and costly, accounting for more than $20 billion in direct (e.g. doctor visits, medications) and indirect (e.g. missed work, lost productivity) expenses each year in the United States. ABOUT THE AMERICAN MIGRAINE FOUNDATION
The American Migraine Foundation is a non-profit foundation supported by the American Headache Society and generous donors dedicated to the advancement of migraine research. Its mission is to support innovative research that will lead to improvement in the lives of those who suffer from migraine and other disabling headaches. www.americanmigrainefoundation.org is the companion website to the American Headache Society (www.americanheadachesociety.org), the professional services organization for the world’s foremost clinicians and researchers working in migraine.
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