Promoting healthy eating can help preventing migraine: a real-life preliminary study

Excerpt

Diet has been often implied in migraine pathophysiology. Many patients report certain foods or fasting as trigger factors; besides, inflammatory mediator release from adipose tissue can explain why obese migraine patients are at higher risk for headache chronicization. An increased interest is also widespread in general population on the potential therapeutic effects of specific dietary styles for different diseases. Unfortunately, these common believes are not always supported by scientific data. On the other hand, recent studies showed that the ketogenic diet produces significant results on migraine frequency explained by the possible role of ketones as neurotransmitter regulator [1]. Nevertheless, this diet forces the patients to reduce carbohydrates to a very low daily intake, strongly limiting food variety consumptions including vegetables (e.g., carrots, beans). Despite its efficacy, patients may have a scarce compliance to this strict alimentary regimen especially for longer periods. Besides, since it produces a significant weight loss, it may not be advisable for skinny patients. …