Switch To Plant-Based Diet Rids Man Of Chronic Migraines

People who live with chronic migraines suffer intense throbbing and pulsing, sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and vomiting. Could a plant-based diet, credited with a variety of positive health impacts, also help ease these chronic symptoms? Robert Preidt and Ernie Mundell reported for HealthDay News.

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Researchers in New York have published a case study of one man with severe chronic migraines who had tried everything to curb them and then switched to a plant-based diet -- loaded with a lot of dark green leafy vegetables.

He quickly found significant relief from the headaches, doctors reported Thursday in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

"This report suggests that a whole food plant-based diet may offer a safe, effective, and permanent treatment for reversing chronic migraine," wrote a team led by Dr. David Dunaief, who specializes in nutritional medicine and has a private practice in East Setauket, N.Y.

One expert in migraine who wasn't connected to the study was cautiously optimistic about the findings. “It is hard to make much from one case report, [but] it does illustrate the importance of all of these non-pharmacological, evidence-based treatments," said Dr. Noah Rosen.

He directs Northwell Health's Headache Center in Great Neck, N.Y. The 60-year-old man whose experiences are detailed in the report had endured severe migraine headaches without aura for more than 12 years.

Six months before his clinic referral, his migraines had become chronic, occurring anywhere from 18 to 24 days each month. He had tried a number of potential fixes, including the prescribed medications zolmitriptan and topiramate.

He also cut out potential "trigger" foods, including chocolate, cheese, nuts, caffeine, and dried fruit. Beyond this, the man also tried yoga and meditation to curb the attacks.

Rosen's team advised the man to adopt the Low Inflammatory Foods Everyday, or LIFE, diet. It's a nutrient-dense, whole-food, plant-based diet.

The regimen advocates eating at least five ounces by weight of raw or cooked dark green leafy vegetables every day, drinking one 32-ounce daily green LIFE smoothie and limiting intake of whole grains, starchy vegetables, oils, and animal protein, particularly dairy and red meat.

After two months on the diet, the man said his migraines had been dramatically reduced -- to just one migraine day per month, and even that headache was less severe.

At the same time, his blood tests showed a substantial rise in beta-carotene levels. Soon, the man stopped taking all his migraine meds. His migraines stopped completely after three months and haven't returned in 7 1/2 years.

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