As anybody with a migraine will inform you, the situation might be life-altering. However discovering a therapy plan that works might be just as monumental. And for one man who handled migraine assaults for over a decade, the important thing was adopting a plant-based food plan wealthy in sure vitamins.
The person’s story, printed immediately in BMJ Case Reports, is a dramatic one. At 60, the affected person had beforehand skilled migraine headaches for greater than 12 years. And, within the months earlier than his session with the research authors, his migraine assaults turned power. By then, he had tried some typical remedies for his migraines, together with drugs (resembling zolmitriptan and topiramate) in addition to extra conventional dietary modifications geared toward eradicating potential migraine triggers (like chocolate, cheese and caffeine).
After consulting with the research authors, the affected person adopted the low inflammatory foods everyday food plan. The LIFE food plan entails ingesting a every day 32-ounce smoothie (made out of banana, darkish leafy greens, frozen berries and soy milk) in addition to including extra nutrient-dense plant-based meals all through the day. Meals like these are thought to assist reduce — or at the very least not contribute to — power irritation within the physique. The LIFE food plan additionally requires limiting consumption of dairy, purple meat, entire grains, starchy greens, and oils.
Inside just a few months of adopting the LIFE food plan, the affected person’s outcomes had been important. When he first began, the affected person reported having experiencing six to eight “debilitating” headache assaults each month. Every assault lasted as much as 72 hours, which added as much as between 18 and 24 headache days every month. Inside two months, the affected person reported solely experiencing one headache day per thirty days. And after three months, he now not skilled migraine assaults — an impact that is lasted for greater than seven years to this point, based on the research.
If you’re experiencing migraine attacks, experts say dietary changes like this could help.
“I believe this (case report) is an amazing begin,” research writer Dr. David Dunaief, an integrative drugs specialist primarily based in New York, informed TODAY. “That is form of revolutionary to have the power to say, ‘Not solely does it work, but it surely works within the worst-case situations. And it really works in a brief time period.'”
The change in migraine frequency this affected person skilled is, certainly, “slightly spectacular,” particularly contemplating how lengthy the impact has lasted, Dr. Charles Flippen, professor of neurology on the David Geffen Faculty of Drugs at UCLA, informed TODAY.
However as a result of it is a case research with just one affected person, it is troublesome to know whether or not or not others would see the identical outcomes. “It is a very dramatic case in a pattern of only one particular person,” Daybreak Buse, scientific professor within the division of neurology at Albert Einstein Faculty of Drugs of Yeshiva College, informed TODAY in an e-mail. “Whereas it’s helpful to be taught from this particular person’s expertise, a big pattern is critical to attract conclusions about the advantages of food plan change on migraine or power migraine.”
And this specific particular person, who additionally has HIV and is on every day antiviral medicine, is “not a median affected person,” Flippen stated. Whereas present process this dietary change, the affected person realized that they’re delicate to some meals triggers — egg whites, salmon, iced tea — they hadn’t been conscious of beforehand, which may even have contributed to their outcomes.
However, Buse stated, there have been some current research suggesting that main dietary modifications can scale back migraine signs. As an example, in a randomized managed trial printed within the The BMJ in July, contributors with migraine who switched to a food plan excessive in omega-3 fatty acids and low in omega-6 fat noticed a reduction in their headache frequency and severity.
Dunaief stated it is the LIFE food plan’s potential ability to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress within the physique that is doubtless accountable for its success in decreasing migraine assaults. (Within the case research, nevertheless, the authors measured irritation by monitoring the extent of C-reactive protein within the affected person’s blood, which was already low, Dunaief defined. So on this particular occasion, irritation wasn’t prone to be a perpetrator.)
Although we do not know the precise mechanism for migraine, the idea of an inflammatory course of as a part of the underlying physiology of power ache has been round for many years, Flippen defined. “So the concept you might have a food plan that reduces the manufacturing of pro-inflammatory substances would match properly with our present understanding of migraine … It isn’t purely magic that it labored.”
Nonetheless, this affected person’s instance is especially putting and extra dramatic than what’s been seen in different research to this point, Buse stated. “Having a bigger research will assist reply the query of really how sustainable the advantages of this kind of intervention are,” Flippen stated. “However I believe the dramatic consequence does point out that it deserves additional investigation.”
Should you try something like the LIFE diet to manage migraine attacks?
Life-style modifications, together with prioritizing vitamin (and determining and avoiding triggers), common train and high quality sleep, are sometimes a crucial part of managing migraine illness, Flippen stated. And for many individuals, altering these components is preferable to taking drugs. So it is comprehensible {that a} affected person would possibly need to attempt one thing just like the LIFE food plan.
Including extra nutrient-rich entire meals like darkish leafy greens to your meals is mostly a good suggestion with few potential downsides, based on each Flippen and Dunaief. Nevertheless it’s additionally a good suggestion to speak together with your well being care supplier earlier than embarking on a serious dietary change like this — particularly for those who’re on migraine medicine proper now or you might have sure different well being situations.
One motive for that’s to have the ability to precisely monitor your progress when it comes to each nutrient ranges and the way regularly you could use medicine, Dunaief stated.
But additionally there are just a few particular cases wherein a food plan like this could possibly be somewhat riskier. Individuals who take sure blood thinning drugs needs to be cautious, Flippen stated, as a result of this kind of food plan could intervene with the way in which the medication work. And people who have inflammatory bowel illness could discover it troublesome to digest so many high-fiber vegatables and fruits, he added. Dunaief additionally stated he takes particular care with individuals who have coronary heart or ldl cholesterol points and makes certain these are below management earlier than implementing this food plan. When you’re concerned about attempting this out, discuss to your physician to see if it would make sense for you.
