TESTING TIMES: Suspect foods vary from person to person.

Many migraine sufferers have long believed that their headaches are triggered by certain foods, with chocolate, cheese, citrus and red wine being among the usual suspects. A recent survey not only suggests that these sufferers may be right but also offers new hope for controlling the condition without drugs.

Planning ahead

In the first study of its kind, 61 people with moderate to severe migraines were given a food intolerance test. Only one patient had no intolerances at all and the average participant had 5.3. Of those who eliminated the named foods from their diets, 80 per cent reported some improvement in their migraines and more than a third reported significant relief. More than 60 per cent of patients who reintroduced the suspect foods into their diets reported the return of their migraine symptoms.

“This piece of work gives some scientific validity to what people are doing already,” says Ann Turner, the director of the Migraine Action Association, which part-funded the research. “Previously, people eliminated various foods from their diet and reintroduced them slowly, noting the reaction. It was a long process that was difficult for people with busy lives.”

The most common intolerances that cropped up in the survey were, in order, cow’s milk, yeast, egg white, egg yolk, wheat, gluten, corn, cashew nuts, seafood, Brazil nuts, cranberry and garlic. “Triggers vary from person to person, so there is really no point in cutting out a food unless you know it is a problem for you personally,” says Turner. One woman who had avoided chocolate for years found that she was actually intolerant to milk and could safely eat plain chocolate.

Intolerance testing, which identifies the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies (produced by the immune system if the body is intolerant to a food) in the blood, has not been accepted by conventional medicine as a way of managing illness.

Extreme immune reactions, which trigger the release of IgE antibodies and produce the symptoms of anaphylactic shock, are well understood. The IgG reaction, however, is slower, taking up to four days to appear, and many in the medical profession believe it has no significant role to play.

“The fact that something is not at the forefront of medical science now does not mean it isn’t important ? it may just mean we haven’t noticed it yet,” says Dr Andrew Dowson, the director of Headache Services at King’s College Hospital, London, and chairman of Migraine in Primary Care Advisers, which monitored the study.

Pilot study

“This was a pilot study and we need some more definitive research. For example, a placebo-controlled trial that follows up people over the longer term. But it is an interesting piece of work, with encouraging results, and I see no reason why people with migraine should not take a test.”

The Yorktest food intolerance indicator shows whether or not you have any antibodies. If you do, you can then decide whether to take one of the more sophisticated tests, which identify the foods to which you are sensitive.

Food intolerance is only one possible cause of migraine and, even when it is implicated, may not be the only factor. Stress, exercise, travel and the menstrual cycle can also play a part.

“Testing is not a cure-all,” says Turner. “But because it is believed that migraine is triggered by an accumulation of factors ? a kind of points system ? if you can avoid your potential food triggers, you are less likely to accumulate enough points from other sources to trigger an attack.”