On the other hand, medication, yoga or meditation have a limited effect on the symptoms.
- Migraine pain lasts between 4 and 72 hours.
- They are said to be chronic when a person suffers from them for more than fifteen days a month.
It’s a headache, often localized on one side of the skull, punctuated by throbbing: migraine. The pain may vary in intensity but is recurrent. According to Health Insurance, eleven million people are affected in France. Everyone can find solutions to reduce the frequency or intensity of seizures, but no medicine can prevent their appearance in the long term. In BMJ Case Reportsresearchers explain that the consumption of vegetables could reduce the intensity of symptoms.
Twelve years of chronic migraines, without any effective treatment
“While drugs can help prevent and treat disease, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that diet can also provide an effective alternative without any of the side effects associated with some treatments.”, say the authors of this study. They say a drug is effective when it halves the frequency and duration of seizures, or if it improves symptoms. To test the hypotheses, they recommended a new diet to a patient who had suffered from chronic migraines for more than twelve years. Previously, he had tried several types of medication, had stopped consuming certain products considered to be triggers (nuts, caffeine, chocolate, dried fruits, etc.), he had also tried yoga and mediation: nothing reduced the severity and frequency of his migraines.
What is the LIFE diet?
In this study, the patient adopted the LIFE diet, to “Low Inflammatory Foods Everyday“, or little inflammatory food each day: it includes at least 140 g of green vegetables, such as spinach, kale or watercress. These must be eaten raw or cooked, or in the form of a smoothie. Whole grains, starchy vegetables, oil and animal protein were limited.The researchers felt that this diet could be beneficial because inflammation and oxidative stress are risk factors for migraine.
Beneficial effects in two months
After two months with these new eating habits, the patient reported having had only one migraine per month, with decreased intensity and duration. He even stopped taking all his migraine medication. Even when he tried certain risky foods, such as egg whites, salmon or iced tea, which caused headache attacks, these were much less painful and much shorter than before. After three months, the migraines disappeared, and for more than seven years they have not reappeared. According to the authors, this diet also had positive effects on other patients who followed it for three months. All noticed a decrease in the frequency of their migraine. “This report suggests that a whole, plant-based diet may offer a safe, effective, and lifelong treatment to reverse chronic migraine.”they conclude.
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