If eliminating migraine triggers doesn’t work, what can you do instead of drugs? Both men and women who suffer migraine are typically deficient in magnesium. An imbalance between magnesium and calcium is an important factor in premenstrual migraine. Intravenous magnesium often produces complete symptom relief during acute migraines, usually within 15 minutes or less, although it is more useful for migraine sufferers who experience an aura before the onset of headache. Taking magnesium supplements (preferably a calcium-magnesium tablet) will help, as will eating magnesium-rich foods.
The best foods for magnesium include amaranth greens (yin tsai), avocados, barley, buckwheat, pumpkin seeds, and oysters. Almonds, Brazil nuts, and chocolate are also good sources of magnesium, but they are also common migraine triggers, so chances are you should avoid them.
A clinical trial found that taking large doses of the B-vitamin riboflavin for two months led to at least a 50 percent reduction in the number of attacks in 59 percent of people taking it. Riboflavin may be especially helpful for women who take birth control pills and for both men and women on cholesterol-lowering medications. Good food sources of riboflavin include avocados, clams, duck, lamb, most mushrooms, pork, whole milk, and yogurt.
It’s also important to avoid the “wrong” foods. Excessive intake of foods containing the amino acid tyramine can set off migraine attacks. Try avoiding foods containing tyramine, including anchovies, beer, hard cheeses, chocolate, corned beef, dried meats, fava beans, fermented beans such as miso and soy sauce, lima beans, pickled herring, red wine, sardines, sauerkraut, and brewer’s yeast.
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