Headache Community

Note: some of the following links (such as the one to a low-tyramine diet) have rather blindingly white backgrounds, which is somewhat ironic since it's the website of the National Headache Foundation. If such things bother you, you may want to visit the site on a day when you aren't suffering from a number of triggers.

I'm finally trying this whole low-tyramine diet thing my neurologist recommended to help prevent migraines (the effects of tyramine on migraines have been debated/studied with various results). For those who are interested, tyramine is a byproduct of the amino-acid tyrosine produced when certain foods are aged. Things include: aged cheese, deli meats, fermented soy products, etc.

In addition, some people blame foods with tannins (including many legumes, a category that includes peanuts) on the list.

I'm generally trying to follow the broad outlines my neurologist gave me. However, there are so many websites out there about how this and that food cause migraines. I don't want to jump on a nut-free bandwagon without checking things scientifically first. It's also worthwhile to note that not every food is a trigger for everyone.

I've also noticed that many of the foods on the maybe-don't-eat-this list contain protein, and are in fact my go-to sources of protein (e.g. hummus, beans/legumes, peanut butter, deli meat, aged cheese, etc.). I guess I'm going to be eating fresh meat for awhile, which is not exactly my favorite thing to do. (I was a vegetarian for many years, and I still prefer many vegetarian things.)

How have other folks handled food-related migraine triggers? What about types of protein?