Beer, Wine, or Chocolate: Are These Migraine Triggers for You?

My husband and I have been attending Hops Club once a month for at least 10 years. We gather with fellow craft beer lovers at a local brewery and sample all kinds of different beers. I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t alcohol a well-known migraine trigger? The short answer is yes, it can be. Every migraine warrior has a different set of major and minor triggers. For some people, any amount of alcohol will set off an episode. For me, it depends on the type of alcohol, the quantity of alcohol, and the amount of water I drink along with it. I am a complicated woman.

When the Hops Club organizer begins describing a beer aged in a whiskey or wine barrel, I know I’m out. My husband gets to drink my sample of any barrel-aged beer. History tells me those types of beers are sure to trigger a migraine episode for me, so I decline even a tiny sip. The taste is not worth the painful price I will pay. I know my limitations and I also understand the importance of hydration for me. I drink several glasses of water before the event, a big glass of water during the event, and another when I get home.

When it comes to partaking of a glass of wine, a different set of rules apply. I can drink a small glass of white wine, but red wine is out of the question. Fortunately, I don’t like red wine. I love it when a migraine food trigger and my dislike for a certain food align like this. A rare occurrence indeed. A couple of decades ago, I figured out raisins are a minor trigger for me by the time I got about halfway through a box of raisin cereal. It tasted great while it lasted. Same with bananas. I love bananas but noticed my head started feeling different after eating one. I can eat a few raisins and an occasional banana, but I must be careful about exposure to other triggers at the same time. My minor triggers, no matter the source, are more apt to ignite an attack when stacked together.

An article about food triggers must address the most controversial food of all: Chocolate!

Some say chocolate lands at the top of the list of migraine food triggers. Some say chocolate isn’t on the list at all. You can find articles to support either theory. The internet is good for that sort of thing. I know people who swear chocolate is a major trigger for them. In contrast, some studies report chocolate cravings as a symptom, not a trigger. These reports suggest serotonin released in the earliest, undetectable stage of migraine can cause a craving for chocolate. Someone may satisfy that craving by eating chocolate, and then shortly thereafter the migraine episode progresses to a noticeable stage. The migraine warrior may misinterpret the chocolate consumption as the cause of the attack when in fact the migraine was already in progress.

Is this chocolate cravings theory fact or fiction? Is chocolate a migraine trigger or not? I don’t know the answers to these questions for everyone. All I can say is that chocolate isn’t a migraine trigger for me. Hallelujah! As for your food triggers, good luck sorting that out through your own system of trial and error. Journaling can be a helpful tool in this process. Here is a good article to help you learn where to start in identifying your food triggers: “Food Triggers for Migraines.”  

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Originally published at WebMD.com on 8/14/23.