Do You Have a Food Intolerance?
After suffering from migraine attacks for decades, Christy Nielson finally discovered that most of her attacks were being caused by what she was eating. A simple solution, but how easy was it to discover?
In her case, it wasn’t too difficult, but it took so long because food intolerance isn’t generally the first thing your doctor looks for. They may suggest some of the common migraine food triggers early on, but that’s not quite the same thing.
Christy ended up trying something that most of us have heard of, but many of us have never tried – an elimination diet. This isn’t just avoiding triggers. It’s avoiding the most common foods that cause problems, and then gradually re-introducing them.
Elimination diets track foods that are considered to be responsible for 90% of food allergies. Now, you may not have an allergy, but these foods may still cause problems, such as…
- Migraine
- Fatigue
- IBS
- Insomnia
- Joint Pain
- Acne
- Heartburn
So the plan is to cut out the following foods – 100% – for three weeks. That means carefully reading labels, and never cheating. It’s not long – you can do it!
Then you introduce one of the foods back into your diet for 2 weeks. Keep a diary – are any symptoms bothering you? If you’re good after a couple of weeks (there may be an adjustment period at the beginning), go on to the next food.
What follows is a typical list of 12 items. However, it’s not a complete list. Talk to your doctor for ideas. You might want to try these things first, and then move on to other possibilities as your doctor directs. You don’t want to get overwhelmed with an endless list right at the beginning.
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Citrus Fruits
- Corn
- Dairy
- Eggs
- Gluten
- Nightshades
- Peanuts
- Refined Sugars and sweeteners
- Shellfish
- Soy
Christy went on an elimination diet and also had lab tests – showing that eggs and wheat were the problem. Eliminating those led to a drastic improvement – read more here: How Trying a Migraine Diet Changed One Woman’s Life Forever
For more on elimination diets, check out these articles: