Write-up by Joy Healey
One of the typical food triggers identified by the 1979 Lancet study on food intolerance and migraine, was cane sugar(1).
The correlation in between migraines and cane sugar or refined sugar consumption has been exhaustively covered in several migraine forums, and sugar remains on the best ten most wanted list for migraine triggers. 1 German biochemist claims to have cured himself, and others, of migraine just by avoiding cane sugar(two).
Sugar sensitivity is not usually strictly an allergy – however, usually the connection among migraine and sugar is in fact that the sufferer’s blood sugar is either too high or too low. Diabetics report severe migraines in circumstances of a “dump” of sugar into the system, supporting the fact that migraines can be triggered by sugar, even if it is not due to a ‘sensitivity’ as the term is commonly utilized. Hypoglycemic patients report even more instances(3).
One Italian study compared insulin sensitivity in 30 patients with migraine with 15 healthy comparison subjects. Right after drinking a high-sugar beverage, participants were monitored to detect adjustments in previously steady blood sugar levels. The levels in the migraine patients stayed higher than those of the manage group for 3 hours right after the test other indicators showed that insulin sensitivity was impaired in the migraine group.
An interesting point to be produced relates cane sugar sensitivity to reports of migraines caused by MSG. The flavor enhancer and meat tenderizer, widely discovered in numerous foods, but most typically linked with “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, has long been thought to be a culprit in the migraine trigger household. Many customers are unaware that MSG is usually made from cane sugar, which makes the assumption of it being a migraine trigger really believable(five).
If sugar can be deleted from the diet program for a period of two to 4 weeks, then reintroduced in a controlled test, then it may possibly be feasible to pinpoint if it is causing a difficulty. Recording levels of blood sugar and plotting them against migraine attacks could be an intriguing exercise. Like any food sensitivity, cravings for the trigger usually occur, and rebound migraine is also a possibility.
Investigation by Grace Alexander
References:
(1) Food, Allergies and Migraine. Grant ECG, Lancet, May five, 1979966-969. 37344
(2) Low R. Migraine. New York: Henry Holt. 1987
(3) Byer, JA and Dexter, JD, Hypoglycemic migraine, Mo. Med., 72, 194, 1974
(four) Supply: Cephalalgia, August 2005.
(5) Is MSG Causing Your Headaches? C. Young, LifeScript, Pub. June 23, 2008
