Headache Help: Foods For Relief and Foods That Trigger | Dr. Neal Barnard | Exam Room LIVE Q&A

I haven't had a single migraine since I went plant based over a year ago. I used to get 1 to 3 per month and they were debilitating. If this was the only benefit I got from the diet change, it would be worth it, but of course I got so much more. Losing the migraines was an even bigger benefit than the weight loss, not even kidding.

I get barometric pressure headaches. I can always tell when a storm is coming, two days out.

The severity of my headaches reduced significantly after going WFPB, now i have constant tension headaches that border migraines

As a very long-term migraine sufferer, I've found quitting caffeine to be the single most beneficial thing I have done. It's important to quit slowly and steadily over a period of 2-4 weeks to avoid a withdrawal migraine but in the long run it is so worth it. That includes caffeine from all sources: tea, coffee, green/white/matcha tea, chocolate, painkillers, etc. Dairy is also a trigger for me but it is a very obvious trigger. Caffeine is a more insidious trigger that builds up in the background and renders me sensitive to other triggers, e.g. barometric pressure, sourdough bread, the smell of paint and varnish, and so on. Without caffeine in my system, I am less sensitive to other triggers (except dairy, to which I am always sensitive). Decaffeinated drinks are OK for me (some people might be sensitive to those, too, and I can be occasionally) but there are other, non-caffeinated, beverages that are enjoyable, e.g. Teeccino herbal coffee, rooibos tea with soya milk, etc.

7:34 elimination foods checklist (w/ my own additions) citrus fruit wheat nuts tomatoes onions corn apples bananas chocolate I'm adding in: high tyramine foods - peanuts - soy - nutritional yeast

Ever since I removed dairy from my diet I don't get headaches anymore. Love blueberries! I always have frozen ones in my freezer.

Amazing interview and I purchased my ticket! I’m so excited for this event!❤

I'm looking forward to the new book... I've pre ordered it... getting it sent to New Zealand... Your Body in Balance SO helped me with menopause i love the interviews and research Chuck... thanks SO MUCH. I'm always learning new things... I love it when people focus on what you can do to help yourself... I'm active and healthy and aging positively due tothedietchanges... I was already vegan however going low fat , highfibre, and increasing soy stopped the hot flashes in such a short amoun of time... just days saw a reduction and weeks had them gone... so excited about new book...

Ages ago, my workplace had someone selling donuts and pastries. I loved my daily maple bar, but knew it was unhealthy and making me gain weight. I quit eating them and I felt kind of sick and foggy for awhile. I think, when we change our eating drastically, it can make us feel kind of bad for awhile. Maybe it’s like breaking an addiction to drugs. You feel crappy until you’re body adjusts.

I used to eat a Happy Meal to cure a headache. The combination of fat sugar salt and caffeine. Now I’ve cut out sugar and my headaches are much better.

I get headaches from whatever apples grown in Washington state are coated with to sell in big box stores. Ate a plastic 5 pound bag of Michigan Smaller Gold Delicious Apples two at a time and no problem. Gala apples from my mom's retirement home and the headaches after several days of eating apples.

Great information, thank you

I noticed a headache coming and going if i ate apples and bannanas as a teen. Was strange feeling how the banana headache felt different than the apples. In my twenties switching back and forth with organic produce, cost allowing. Discovered it only happens with non organic apples and bannanas. Later in life i was a produce clerk for a while, where i learned that bananas are put in a sealed fridge room. Then to trigger the ripening process that was denied to them when they were picked green by harvesters. The room is pumped full of a chemical gas triggering the ripening process. Which is done to reduce shipping cost and extended shelf life. In nature the tree would send a naturally made signal to the fruit to ripen. Now a days i always buy certain produce organic. Some produce you can feel a headache forming after consumption of a whole pint or several pieces but some even with the taste alone being enough to clue you in.

QUESTION: I usually get a 2-5 day long headache the week or days before my period (but not while I'm menstruating) what could be the cause of this type of headache and what can help prevent them? Thanks 😊

I feel so lucky that I rarely have headaches, not even light ones. If I have a lot of alcohol (only on special occasions) and don’t sleep enough, then my head feels heavy the day after, but it’s not a pain - I just need a lot of rest and water. Last time I had a headache was in 2020 when I had my first Covid - then everything hurt, even my teeth and toes. Otherwise, no pain at all - I don’t even have painkillers at home. I’m almost 47 and I’ve been vegan for 14 years, mostly whole foods. I consume everyday for breakfast coffee with no sugar, hummus, organic tofu, avocado, mix of seeds and nutricional yeast on brown or rye bread, then for dinner is usually tofu and a variety of veggies + chickpeas or lentils ou quinoa. And for dessert usually 85% to 100% dark chocolate melted and mixed with banana and berries. I do eat a vegan cake / croissant / vegan UPF once or twice a week as a treat. I don’t drink soda at all - I’ve always hated the taste of it. I’m also active, I walk a lot and I practice capoeira. A healthy plant based diet also eliminated all the period cramps and discomfort, which was a life change for me ❤

My headaches were from caffeine. As a vegan, headaches are history.

Thank you

salt cured some of my headaches, but what really cured all of them is vitamin D. But taking too much triggers headaches, so I switched to the unripe green stage fruit of the camphor tree, along with its leaves. The seeds do nothing. Camphor might be carnicogenic, but I'd take that risk on if it saves me months of headaches. The thing is that most foods we eat have camphor, like lavender, so it's not a big deal.

high tyramine foods are known to trigger headaches. I believe that includes the bananas, chocolate, peanuts, but also soy, nutritional yeast, etc.

Keep it plant based 🎉💜🤩