One of the widespread food triggers identified by the 1979 Lancet study on food intolerance and migraine, was cane sugar(1).
The correlation between migraines and cane sugar or refined sugar consumption has been exhaustively covered in many 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(2).
Sugar sensitivity is not always strictly an allergy – nonetheless, frequently the connection among migraine and sugar is actually that the sufferer’s blood sugar is either too high or too low. Diabetics report severe migraines in instances 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 frequently utilized. Hypoglycemic patients report even a lot more instances(three).
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1 Italian study compared insulin sensitivity in 30 patients with migraine with 15 healthy comparison subjects. Soon 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 greater than those of the control group for three hours soon after the test other indicators showed that insulin sensitivity was impaired in the migraine group.
An intriguing point to be made relates cane sugar sensitivity to reports of migraines triggered by MSG. The flavor enhancer and meat tenderizer, widely found in several foods, but most frequently associated with “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, has lengthy been believed to be a culprit in the migraine trigger loved ones. Several folks do not know that MSG is typically produced making use of cane sugar, so it is quite feasible for it to be a migraine trigger(5).
If sugar can be deleted from the diet for a period of two to four weeks, then reintroduced in a controlled test, then it may possibly be possible to pinpoint if it is causing a difficulty. Recording levels of blood sugar and plotting them against migraine attacks could be an interesting physical exercise. Like any food sensitivity, cravings for the trigger frequently occur, and rebound migraine is also a possibility.
Research by Grace Alexander
References:
(1) Food, Allergies and Migraine. Grant ECG, Lancet, Could 5, 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
(4) SOURCE: Cephalalgia, August 2005.
(5) Is MSG Causing Your Headaches? C. Young, LifeScript, Pub. June 23, 2008
