Headaches affect nearly all adults; 90 percent of men and 95 percent of women have at least one headache a year, according to the National Headache Foundation. Some headaches, called secondary headaches, occur because of an underlying medical problem or injury. The causes of primary headaches, including migraines, tension headaches, cluster headaches and mixed headache syndrome, vary widely. Some individuals find that certain foods, smells, noises, bright lights and other external factors can trigger a headache.
Identifying Food Triggers
If you experience frequent primary headaches, you may find that eating certain foods, either individually or in combination, will trigger a headache. Tyramine, a by-product of protein breakdown, can cause the blood vessels in your brain to constrict and then swell, triggering a migraine headache. Although foods high in tyramine may trigger a headache in some individuals, you may not react at all. To identify headache triggers in your diet, you should keep a headache diary to record episodes of pain and what you ate before the headache started. You may need to limit or eliminate your intake of food triggers to prevent future headaches.
Dairy Products
If you are sensitive to tyramine, you should avoid aged cheeses---including Swiss, mozzarella, brie and provolone---that contain high amounts of tyramine, but you may be able to tolerate small amounts of Parmesan or Romano cheese. You can drink milk and eat cottage, American or cream cheese, but you should limit yogurt, buttermilk and sour cream to one-half cup per day or less. If you're taking an MAOI---monamine oxidase inhibitor---for depression, you may experience sensitivity to foods high in tyramine and should avoid them altogether. If you're not taking this medication or are not sensitive to tyramine, you may be able to eat small amounts of tyramine-containing foods, states the National Headache Foundation.
Meats
Certain meats can also trigger headaches. Processed meats, including bacon, sausage, ham, bologna, hot dogs or corned beef, can contain small amounts of tyramine. If you're tyramine sensitive, you should limit or eliminate these foods from your diet. Because the level of tyramine rises as foods age or ferment, you should avoid fermented fish, liverwurst, pickled herring, salami, pepperoni, and aged or smoked products. If you're sensitive to food additives, limit or avoid lunch meats and other products with nitrates or nitrites added to them. Permitted foods include eggs, as well as fresh meat, fish and poultry.
Plant Foods
Some plant foods may trigger headaches as well. If you're sensitive to tyramine, you should avoid broad beans, fava beans, sauerkraut, snowpeas, pickles and olives, as well as fermented soy products such as soy sauce, miso and teriyaki sauce. Other fruits and vegetables high in tyramines that may trigger headaches include pineapple, avocado, bananas, figs, raisins, passion fruit, papaya, raw onion and citrus fruits. Nuts and seeds, including peanuts, peanut butter, pumpkin seeds, walnuts and pecans, may trigger headaches in sensitive individuals.
Beverages
Caffeinated and alcoholic beverages can trigger headaches. If you usually consume more than 200 mg of caffeine a day, you may experience headaches on days when you consume less than that or if you stop consuming it altogether, according to the National Headache Foundation. These headaches, called rebound headaches, are caused not by the caffeine but by your body's reaction to a withdrawal from the caffeine it has come to expect. A 6-ounce cup of coffee contains 60 to 100 mg of caffeine, and a soda may contain 30 to 60 mg per 8-ounce serving. Alcoholic beverages that may trigger headaches include sherry, red wines, ale, beer, vermouth and sherry. You may be able to tolerate other alcoholic beverages, including white wines, vodka and scotch.
Other Foods
Other foods that may trigger headaches include homemade foods made with yeast, Asian foods that contain monosodium glutamate or MSG, and commercial soups made with food additives. About 90 percent of people who get migraines and one-third of all people experience brief headaches after eating ice cream or gulping an icy drink, according to the Cleveland Clinic. One serving of sweets containing chocolate counts as a serving of a caffeinated beverage, so you should limit chocolate if it triggers your headaches. Avoid mincemeat pie, which is made from high-tyramine dried fruits, including raisins, apples and citrus peel.
References
- "Cephalgia": Diet Restriction in Migraine, Based on IgG Against Foods: A Clinical Double-Blind, Randomised, Cross-over Trial; Kadriye Alpay, et al.; July 2010.
- National Headache Foundation: New Online Tool Helps People With Headache Take Control, Get Relief
- National Headache Foundation: Diet and Headache
- Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals: Migraine
- National Headache Foundation: Does Caffeine Trigger or Treat Headaches?
- Cleveland Clinic: Overview of Headaches in Adults
