According to the Mayo Clinic foods that trigger migraines can vary widely from person to person, and the best way to determine which foods affect you is by trial and error: if you notice the onset of a migraine after eating a certain food, make a note of the incident and avoid that food in the future. There is, however, a variety of foods that are common migraine triggers. A migraine sufferer can use this food list as a starting point for narrowing down their own food triggers.
Stimulants
Stimulants such as alcohol and caffeine have been known to trigger migraines; oddly enough caffeine withdrawal is also known to be a trigger. Chocolate is another common culprit, but whether it is because of the caffeine content or other ingredients is unknown.
Chemical additives
Several foods are migraine triggers because of the chemical additives in the ingredients, and so any foods that contain them should be held suspect. Examples are artificial sweeteners that may be found in gum, candy and other sweets, monosodium glutamate which is often found in processed foods and seasonings, and nitrates and nitrites which are commonly found in sausages, hotdogs, bacon, luncheon meats and other processed or pickled foods.
Miscellaneous foods
Depending on the person, a wide variety of common foods can be a migraine trigger. Examples are cheese and other dairy products such as milk; nuts and peanut butter, bananas, avocado, tomato and citrus fruits as well as onions and fatty foods are all common migraine trigger foods.
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